PARTNERS
THE BRITISH AMERICAN BUSINESS COUNCIL IS COMMITTED TO PROMOTING TRANSATLANTIC TRADE AND INVESTMENT BETWEEN THE US AND THE UK
Contractual failures scupper exporting
A Across the pond: Chris Hawkes in Seattle Time well spent on
Seattle secondment Chris Hawkes, senior manager at the Birmingham office of accountant PwC, recently spent three years on secondment at the firm’s Seattle office. Here, he gives a brief account of his time in the US.
Specialising in advising companies about
worker mobility, what better way to find out what it feels like than to try working overseas myself? About eight years after joining the firm, in 2008 an opportunity arose to take part in a three-year secondment at the firm’s Seattle office.
‘Seattle is a buzzing city and business life is definitely fast-paced’
Specifically, my role involved working with a number of large corporates, advising them about how to manage the placement of workers on short or long term contracts in Europe, Africa, the Far East and South America. Seattle is a buzzing city and business life is
definitely fast-paced. After my first few weeks at the city centre office, I was aware that while we may think we talk the same language and share the same business principles as our US counterparts, the reality is very different. It was clear to me that in Seattle and probably in other North American cities, work is a very big part of people’s lives. There is a long-hours culture, despite the fact that work life balance and flexible work patterns are encouraged. Business interactions are also different – there is less time for the niceties and clients expect clear business advice that is ready to action quickly and easily. After a short induction period, I was
introduced to one of the firm’s key clients – a major North American corporate with a workforce of more than 2,500, spread across four continents. I was immediately struck by the scale of the job at hand as I set to work advising the employer on tax liability matters as they apply in different countries and making sure that individual employees are aware of what they must do. Three years on, I have gained a tremendous amount of experience about a wide range of inbound and outbound worker mobility issues.
20 CHAMBERLINK OCTOBER 2011
n expert in commercial contracts says many firms engaged in exporting their products and services were
doomed to fail, due to the antics of their blinkered sales directors. Warwickshire-based Mark Bull, of Mark Bull
‘Sales managers often believe that expediency of decision making is more important than the quality of it’
Consulting, said a major reason why many firms – particularly small to medium enterprises (SMEs) – were unsuccessful with their overseas activities, was because they failed to take proper advice about contractual matters. He accused many UK sales directors of deliberately blocking attempts by firms to use contractual
experts. He said: “The fact of the matter is that too many SMEs in the UK are currently failing to exploit all
the know-how within their businesses because too many boards refuse to address their limitations and obtain external contractual and trade financing advice. “Many sales directors are always lobbying managing directors and finance directors not to bother with obtaining external advice because sales managers often believe that expediency of decision making is more important than the quality of it.” However, Mr Bull, who has 21 years’ experience of contractual and commercial legal experience, said
it was vital that firms engaged in exporting were able to deal with and overcome the problems caused by the administrative and legal requirements posed by different regions of the world. He added: “International terms and conditions, sales agreements and commercial agreements are
easy to agree and enter into providing you possess some first-hand experience of the territory you are exporting to, have carried out adequate research and are committed to a high quality approach to selling your products and services into new territories.
Job swop (left to right): Javier Doval, Alan Webb and Kevin Morgan Accountants’ global job swap
Birmingham accountant RSM Tenon has arranged a temporary job swap for one of its employees in a bid to boost its overseas credentials. In the swap, Birmingham audit manager Kevin Morgan will be working at RSM McGladrey in America, while Spanish colleague Javier Doval, audit supervisor for RSM Gasso in Spain, will be coming to the Midlands for 18 months. Alan Webb, regional director of RSM Tenon West Midlands, said he believed the two placements
would help inwards and outbound investment to the Birmingham office. American bound Mr Morgan said: “The McGladrey’s client base will help me to develop my career. It will mean learning new rules, standards and working practices but I am looking forward to the challenge. I’ll be feeding back what I learn to my colleagues in Birmingham so we can help our UK clients better engage with the USA.”
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