BRIEFING

GREEN TECH COMPANY WINS EXPORT AWARD

UK ARCHITECTS SET TO DELIVER FOR RIO 2016

Left to right: Dr Alex Mardapittas, managing director EMSc (UK) Ltd, Paul North, international business development manager EMSc (UK) Ltd with Mark Robson, UK Trade & Investment regional director

EMSC, MANUFACTURER of the Star® range of energy-saving solutions, has won the Yorkshire UK Trade & Investment Exporter of the Year award. Operating in Cyprus, Spain, Malta, Greece, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Australia, the company’s flagship product is Powerstar, a unique triple-wound voltage optimisation system with a patented design that actively reduces a considerable percentage of a building’s electrical energy consumption. International business development manager Paul North

said: “We are not only extremely proud to have won the award, but also to have been nominated by UK Trade & Investment. ‘Made in the UK’ is an internationally recognised brand and we hope our success will inspire manufacturing companies everywhere.”

PINGU LANDS IN KUWAIT

THE ANIMATED television character Pingu is being used in Kuwait to teach pre-schoolers to speak English through Pingu’s English, a unique English-language course for young children developed by the UK’s Linguaphone Group. The course is already transforming the way that young children learn English in more than 15 countries worldwide, using a wide variety of imaginative activities and multimedia resources to teach 3-8+ year-olds this vital communication skill. The first Pingu’s English centre in Kuwait is based in Kaifan, with four classrooms and a capacity for 15 children in each. Boubyan LLC for Training Institutes has been appointed as the exclusive Kuwait licensee.

APPG LEADS MISSION TO SINGAPORE AND INDONESIA The mission started in Singapore where

THE ALL-PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP (APPG) for Trade & Investment has taken a group of UK businesses and education providers on a trade mission to Singapore and Indonesia to boost UK exports. The mission, led by APPG chair Margot James MP and supported by Barclays, Prudential Plc and the UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC), is the first time an All-Party Parliamentary Group has taken a trade mission on a visit in conjunction with UK Trade & Investment. Fifteen UK firms from the education and infrastructure sectors participated, including Warwickshire College, the University of Reading and Spark Architecture.

the group met key figures from the public and private-sector education and business communities. Highlights included visits to the Institute of Technical Education, Singapore’s largest provider of career and technical education, and the iconic British-designed Gardens by the Bay. In Indonesia, delegates networked with

government and business officials and visited the World Trade Centre 2, the first certified green building in Jakarta’s Central Business District, and the highly influential Indonesian Chamber of Commerce.

TWO UK architecture firms have won prestigious contracts to deliver venue designs for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. AndArchitects is teaming up with Rio-based practice Lopes, Santos & Ferreira Gomes, which has won a contract to provide designs for the handball arena. Additionally, 3DReid, which worked on the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, has secured a position on the team delivering Rio’s Olympic Velodrome. It will work with local practice BLAC Architects as specialist venue consultants, advising local designers on the design, development and delivery of the velodrome. These latest successes mean that UK companies now have 30 contracts related to the FIFA World Cup 2014, also to be held in Brazil, and Rio 2016.

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OONAGH BLACKMAN WRITER AND BROADCASTER

Luxury has defied gravity during the bleak years of recession with the sector far outstripping GDP growth, thanks to the appetites of high net worth consumers around the world. Serious double digit growth for UK luxury goods exports is predicted between now and 2015. With the UK’s reputation for great craftmanship, creativity and innovation, this leading edge in luxury must be maximised as one part of a general drive to take the British High Street global. The e-commerce opportunities alone are enormous with up to 3bn new consumers expected online over the next two years. London is the world’s shopping capital, and the Government’s Retail Action Plan will help to ensure Britain’s retail sector breaks into the right overseas markets. One year ago, London 2012 dazzled the world and the amazing success of the Olympics is still fresh in the minds of people and businesses across the world. The glow around the GREAT Britain brand can be leveraged to ensure British retail gets the high-value opportunities overseas, bolstering jobs back home and increasing inward investment.

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