Dear Members and Friends,
This is our last newsletter before we take a summer break, though I know that we will be seeing some members during August and we will be very happy to hear from you if you would like to be in touch. Our next newsletter will appear on 30 August with plenty on the upcoming agenda.
This is then a good moment to reflect on the past few weeks, with much excitement in the UK and beyond, and to look forward. I’ll leave the geopolitical speculation to our friends at British Foreign Policy Group – there’s plenty to read on their website. In the UK, the new Government has moved quickly with plenty of announcements based on the five missions set out by the Prime Minister. As an indication of the value we can add, we are well placed to play a role in at least three. Since our own core mission is to support our members based across the UK to operate and export around the world, success for any of you contributes to growth which, as the Prime Minister and Chancellor keep reminding us, is key to all the rest. The work we do with members on climate and nature – highlighted in our reports – is part of making the UK a clean energy superpower and more broadly meeting our net zero and biodiversity commitments.
Education is also a top priority for the Government: although the mission is essentially UK-focused, our members (some of whom are also active in our UK-focused sister organisation, D Group) are developing innovative approaches to education, skills, training and evaluation which can help enhance outcomes both in the UK and overseas.
With our origins within the wider public sector family, we are fortunate to benefit from a very close, I’d say daily, working relationship with counterparts across Government, starting of course with DBT and FCDO, but also encompassing an increasing number of other departments such as DESNZ and DEFRA. We have also built strong ties to many Governments around the world both direct with Ministers and their teams as well as through London Embassies. We will continue to work with officials across Whitehall as well as with the new Ministers and their advisers, to understand where we can best contribute on their top priorities, as well as promoting British business in a wider range of markets, for example by helping SMEs to participate in large projects and to support major events in the UK as well as trade missions. While the Government's role is absolutely crucial – there’s nothing like a Minister leading a well-prepared delegation in support of UK involvement in major initiatives – it’s vital that we leverage all the resources, public and private, at our disposal and BEI is keen to play an active part.
In international development, our members have the technical expertise and disciplines to deliver large innovative solutions at pace. Their innovative heft can make a real difference on the ground to the UK’s capacity to support the poorest countries and, as we have seen most graphically in Ukraine, to address pressing humanitarian and infrastructure needs. We work not only with FCDO colleagues – and I’m really grateful to the time and attention they devote to their engagements with us – but also with other bilateral donors, IFIs and development banks. The Government is committed to the UK being a major player in development. There is a strong record in effective delivery of bilateral UK programmes and a commitment to scrutiny as evinced by the role of ICAI. We look forward to continuing to work with government to make a strong case for the benefits to the UK – in security as well as prosperity – of a strong development programme supported by (to coin a phrase) British expertise. At the same time, as it becomes clear that globally public finance will be insufficient to meet needs both in climate and development, we are looking increasingly to engage with private sources of capital, including of course funds established by some of our members. This will be a priority for us in the months ahead.
Yesterday, our Group CEO Robin chaired a joint BEI/D Group workshop on ‘Creating a National Blueprint to Address the Skills Gap’ at which Senior Adviser Nick Forbes and members considered the optimal approach to ensuring that a National Industrial Strategy is linked to a regional and local model and pipeline of effective skills development. We were grateful to Natasha Armstrong, Head of Impact Strategy at NFER; Toby Barnard, Managing Director – UK Public Sector at QA; and Freya Thomas Monk, Managing Director, Vocational Qualifications and Training at Pearson for the case studies they shared reflecting practical experience of strategic skills development. This is a theme we shall be pursuing actively over the coming months, in support of the Government’s skills and industrial policies.
For those who are not about to head off for August, I should remind you of our meeting with a senior delegation from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 20 August, covering a wide range of sectors under the heading of “innovation for development”. The event will be hosted by Arup in London. More details on registration here.
Please mark your calendars now for our September programme, which starts on Tuesday 3 September with a Skills and Training Working Group, which will look at the importance of taking a sectoral and thematic approach to international skills provision. It will be led by Jonathan Ledger, Skills and Professional Bodies Specialist at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and new Expert Adviser to our Working Group; and Jane Rexworthy, FInstLM, Chartered FCIPD, Executive Director at People1st International and Chair of the UKSP.
On Tuesday 10th September, we will host our Ethiopia - Market Opportunity Overview with Sarah Hird, Country Director, DBT and colleagues from the Department for Business and Trade at the British Embassy in Addis Ababa. This webinar will provide an opportunity to learn more about market dynamics and explore how UK businesses can contribute to and benefit from Ethiopia’s growth trajectory.
Also on 10 September, we have the next meeting in our “SME wider community engagement with the FCDO SME Advisory Forum” series. We are delighted to continue providing a forum for members of FCDO’s SME Advisory Forum to engage with the wider SME community. Please join us for our second virtual meeting led by the FCDO SME Advisory Forum members: Charlie Duff, Managing Director and Vice President, Alinea International; and Sue Griffiths, Managing Director, Social Development Direct.
Finally, I’m delighted to welcome formally to British Expertise International TMF Group, which has now acquired part of our established member Sannam S4. TMF Group is a leading provider of administrative services, helping clients invest and operate safely around the world. This covers global entity management (setting up and managing entities), accounting and tax. and HR and payroll. They have their own teams on the ground in 87 countries.
You might be interested in looking up some of TMF Group’s assets. Country profiles can be downloaded free from the website and help with orientation into a new market, with plenty of useful detail from basic facts and figures, legal structures and incorporation procedures, compliance requirements, ongoing requirements, tax implications and details of the local labour environment. Also, TMF has just published its latest (eleventh) edition of its Global Business Complexity Index. The annual Index covers 79 countries and tracks 292 indicators. In addition to the report itself, the dashboard allows the reader to dig into detail and compare countries against the key indicators and is an excellent way to assess the relative complexity of operating in a particular country and to plan accordingly. If you’re interested in a conversation with TMF, we would be very happy to make an introduction.
That leaves me only to wish you an enjoyable summer break. That said, don’t hesitate to get in touch if we can help in the meantime,
David Landsman
Executive Chairman
British Expertise International
Recordings of recent past events:
- View our recent recordings here.
Key events coming up include the following:
- 20th August 10:00– 15:30 BST: Asian Development Bank: Dialogues for Innovation in Development - Join us at Arup’s offices (8 Fitzroy Street, London, W1T 4BJ) as British Expertise International host a senior delegation from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as part of their UK Roadshow programme. Our overarching theme for the event is ‘Dialogues for Innovation in Development’, and participants will have the opportunity to discuss a range of cross-cutting themes with the ADB’s sector teams.
- 3rd September 2024 11:00 – 14:00 BST: Skills & Training WG: Skills - Sectoral Approach - Our September Skills & Training Working Group will look at the importance of taking a sectoral and thematic approach to international skills provision. This session will be led by Jonathan Ledger CMgr FCMI, Skills and Professional Bodies Specialist at the Department for Business and Trade(DBT) and new Expert Adviser to BEI’s Working Group; and Jane Rexworthy, FInstLM, Chartered FCIPD, Executive Director at People 1st International and Chair of the UK Skills Partnership (UKSP).
- 10th September 2024 10:00 – 11:30 BST: Ethiopia - Market Opportunity Overview - Join us for an insightful Market Opportunity Overview, featuring colleagues from the Department for Business and Trade at the British Embassy in Ethiopia. This webinar is a unique opportunity to understand the market dynamics and explore how UK businesses can contribute to and benefit from Ethiopia’s growth trajectory. Don’t miss out on this chance to engage with experts and discover new business potentials in Ethiopia.
- 10th September 2024 15:00 – 16:00 BST: SME Wider Community Engagement with the FCDO SME Advisory Board - BEI is delighted to continue supporting the members of FCDO’s SME Advisory Forum to engage with the wider SME community. Join us for our second virtual meeting led by the FCDO SME Advisory Forum members: Charlie Duff, Managing Director and Vice President, Alinea International & Sue Griffiths, Managing Director, Social Development Direct.
- 17th September 2024 16:00 – 19:00 BST: Climate Change Networking Evening - Join us for an evening of thought-provoking conversation, potential new partnerships and the chance to meet with members of our Climate Change Working Group.
- 19th September 12:00 – 13:00 BST: Water Resilience Working Group - The UK has a distinctive offer and world-leading expertise in sustainable and climate-resilient water services. This group, in partnership with the UK government, IFIs and other key stakeholders, aims to define that offer and leverage it to increase exports.
- 23rd September 2024 15:00– 18:00 BST: Creating a Skills Agenda To Support a High Tech Economy: a Case Study and Round Table with Victor Hoskins - As the UK looks to build scale in its position as a science and technology super-power and invest in building regional hubs focused on high tech industries, join us for a fascinating round table with Victor Hoskins, President of the Fairfax County Economic Development Agency. He will examine and share how he and his team have created a skills agenda to support and underpin the economic success of the County.
- 26th September 2024 14:30 – 16:30 BST: Scaling Infrastructure Decarbonisation Through Digital in Emerging Markets - EBRD Green Cities, Connected Places Catapult and Mott MacDonald will explore how the UK’s leadership in digitally-driven infrastructure decarbonisation can be effectively adapted and scaled in emerging markets. By exploring insights from the technical, funding, and government spheres, attendees will gain actionable ideas to accelerate decarbonisation efforts within their organisations and client networks.
Register for an upcoming event →
External Events
- 5th August 2024 09:00 – 11:15 BST: Navigating the Future: Exploring Opportunities in the Ethiopian Ports and Logistics Sector - Join the DBT for a webinar designed to showcase the export and investment opportunities in the Ethiopian ports and logistics sector for UK businesses. This event will feature insightful presentations from government officials, industry experts, and foreign businesses already operating within the sector. The webinar will provide a platform for UK companies to ask questions, network, and connect with relevant stakeholders and potential future business partners.
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