GLASGOW BUSINESS MAY/JUNE 2013


CONTENTS/PRESIDENT


Varry McMenemy, President president@glasgowchamberofcommerce.com


Air routes are vital for growing the local economy


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One of the important things that the Chamber does is to help our members improve access to overseas markets. In April, I was proud to lead a


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delegation to Düsseldorf and host an Influencers’ Dinner to mark the return of Lufthansa to Glasgow Airport after a gap of about 20 years. Lufthansa’s presence is an important step in the development of Glasgow Airport and the Chamber is delighted to do all we can to support the management team of the airport in this. The dinner allowed us to begin the work of building relations with the strong Chamber there and other representatives of the business community. The work of Lufthansa and Glasgow Airport brings into existence a business critical link to Düsseldorf. We shall continue to work alongside Scottish Development International, Scottish Chambers of Commerce and British Chamber of Commerce to develop more such routes for our city. The members of Glasgow


News Chief Executive welcome


Chamber news Glasgow news Partner news Member news New members


Events


Past and forthcoming events 14 World brands Glasgow Talks


Glasgow Business Awards Training


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5 6 8


10 12 47


Features Economic leadership


Hiring a marketing and communications agency


Staff training advice Member chat


Chamber champion Membership benefits The Pitch


Column BIG talks


Cover image: John Gemmell, Trading Director of Heineken UK. Courtesy of Great Scot Photography 22


Investments across Glasgow 24 Tax update


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Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Glasgow Marketing Board and Glasgow City Council are all key actors in using the new air link and in helping to make it a success and gaining the most benefit for the local economy from it. The kind of increased access that this link provides is a key driver in attracting more delegates to conferences and exhibitions in Glasgow and so will benefit further the award-winning work done by the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau. In addition, the Düsseldorf link


gives business travellers from the west of Scotland access to the wider Lufthansa network and thus many hundreds more potential onward destinations and the resulting increased global connectivity.


We collectively need to do all that


we can to support the new route and develop business relationships and trading links with the city of Düsseldorf and the wider North Rhine-Westphalia region. The airport is investing £10 million in the next phase of its upgrading, which will give a new look to the main terminal building, particularly international arrivals, in time for the Commonwealth Games next summer and the significant tourism opportunities it presents. However, that needs to be


accompanied by work by other agencies to improve the surface access to the airport. Because of the bottleneck on the M77, there are currently too often traffic-related delays in getting to and from the airport. The Scottish


Government needs


to take action on these issues to ensure that air travel brings the biggest possible benefit to the


wider economy in Glasgow and


the west of Scotland. Improving surface transport


access to Glasgow Airport is an issue that has not gone away. Improved public transport links to the airport are a must and as a Chamber we will do all we can to highlight these issues and to have the need addressed. Another key issue is Air Passenger


Duty, which is a very unequal tax that works to the detriment of Scottish businesses. So, Westminster also has its role to play in addressing the effects on our businesses and on the potential economic gains that are not being realised at this still-difficult time where there remains a strong need to do all we can to stimulate growth. Your Chamber will be constantly


making that case and making every effort to highlight the importance of air routes to the growth of the economy.


Glasgow Business . 3 www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com


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