BABC NEWS


THE BRITISH AMERICAN BUSINESS COUNCIL IS COMMITTED TO PROMOTING TRANSATLANTIC TRADE AND INVESTMENT BETWEEN THE US AND THE UK


Event to offer update on US-EU trade agreement


household £450 a year through the availability of cheaper goods and services. That’s the good news – the bad


news is that some kind of trade agreement was first mooted years ago, and it was only in 2011 that the politicians decided that it was an idea whose time had come. At that point, a working group of


government experts was set up to see how things might move forward. Even though that was three


Steve Allen: trade agreement would be a ‘huge benefit’


T


he British American Business Council (BABC) is to hold a special event


in June to update members on the progress of a much- vaunted trade agreement


between the US and Europe. The proposed agreement would remove a wide range of trade


barriers, including tariffs and red- tape, and would make it easier to buy and sell goods and services for both the US and the EU. If implemented, the agreement –


known as the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP) – would touch everyone’s lives. It is estimated, for example, that it would save the average EU


years ago, talks about any agreement are likely to go on for a long time yet. BABC vice-president Steve Allen, partner at law firm Mills & Reeve, said: “The importance of TTIP cannot be underestimated. It would be of huge benefit to member companies of the BABC both here and in the US as well as boosting GDP in the US, UK and other EU countries and adding billions to the already massive trade and investment relationship between Europe and the United States.” The BABC event will take place


at the Colmore Row offices Mills & Reeve on 3 June.


For further information, please contact Helen Grice on 0121 607 1938


BanaBay fruit range expands


Banana importer and BABC member BanaBay is set to introduce another tropical fruit to its range, specifically to cater for demand from the US. The Birmingham-based


company is to offer pineapples, sourced from plantations in Ecuador, which is also where its bananas come from.


Pineapples are indigenous


to South America, and are very popular in the US, where BanaBay has recently launched operations under the leadership of its president, Tom Burke. BanaBay managing director Mark O’Sullivan said: “We are very excited about the start of our pineapple business. “The introduction of this


new line was initially driven by our commitment to supporting Tom Burke and his team in developing the US market, but the news has also been positively received by customers around the world, including New Zealand and Malta.”


Ambassador to speak at business forum


The US ambassador to the UK, Matthew Barzun, is to be the keynote speaker at a transatlantic business forum organised by BABC member Deyton Bell. The forum – the third to be


staged by Deyton Bell – takes place at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambridge, on 24 June. Deyton Bell is a business


development consultancy, and was launched in 2005. The company works with firms of all sizes across all sectors. The transatlantic forum will focus on UK/US trade. There will be expert advice, opinion and information on issues emerging from transatlantic business and will also provide valuable networking opportunities for delegates. Deyton Bell managing director Chris Parkhouse said there was no


doubt about the importance of transatlantic trade, but he believed that the special commercial relationship between the UK and US was in danger of being overlooked, due to the recent focus on newly emerging markets. “The US has the largest and most


powerful economy in the world and is the leading single market for nearly every significant business sector,” he said. “The US and the UK share the


world’s largest direct investment partnership, with both countries being the largest investor in the other and the US remains Britain’s largest single export market. “The UK and US have always


enjoyed a special commercial relationship but in recent times these familiar markets have often been ignored in favour of newly emerging opportunities elsewhere.”


Ambassador Barzun was a key


figure in Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, and was previously the US ambassador to Sweden. Prior to that, his business career has largely been focused on the internet – during the 1990s he held various posts at American media website CNET Networks, which is now part of CBS Corporation. During his time at the company, he launched Download.Com, which grew to become CNET's biggest site, and he was a key figure in the launch of the first comparison shopping sites on the internet, Shopper.Com. After leaving CNET in 2004,


Ambassador Barzun has advised and invested in many start-up internet companies.


For further information, please contact Helen Grice on 0121 607 1938.


Internet pioneer: Ambassador Matthew Barzun


MAY 2014 CHAMBERLINK 17


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