Looking beyond our shores puts Birmingham on the map

WITH less than a month to go before Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce host the Global Business Conference – one of the highlights of our calendar – it’s timely to consider the current market conditions and reassess the appetite for international trade across our region.

The general climate for business was not improved by last week’s announcement that some lenders were going to raise their interest rates on new fixed-deal mortgages, which is very disappointing because the expectation was that the Bank of England may start to reduce rates. Obviously everything in the market is affected by these sort of decisions.

Alongside that, the new food inspection charges come in from this month, which will undoubtedly have an impact on food prices. I think this is once again part of the cost-of-living battle that has been going on for some time.

But despite these factors, overall there are many grounds for optimism.

I think established businesses will meet their expenses, although costs have gone up. Fuel and energy costs have increased and a year ago the minimum wage went up by 10 per cent, which obviously had an impact on the business sector.

Nevertheless, we have to remain optimistic – if we are in business we have to survive come what may.

After all, it is not long since we went through the pandemic and came out fighting the other side.

As a business you are always aware that there will be challenges and you have to ensure that you are prepared.

Since Covid, we have also seen the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, which have had an impact on transport costs.

This is something that businesses will have to live with and work around. Where delivery times are affected, I always say to businesses they have to be prepared and have back-up stock.

Despite these difficulties, the Global Business Conference on June 4 at Birmingham City University’s Curzon Building will enable us to concentrate our minds.

Globally, post-Brexit we still haven’t explored new markets as much as we should – it is very, very important that we do that across the business sector.

Whether you agree with it or not, Brexit has made businesses look far and wide.

We are free to explore new markets and look at how we can capitalise on those markets.

Hence global missions to new territories will hopefully help in that respect.

We should be looking at the developing countries for new export markets, Africa in particular.

If we are going to do business with countries from whom we have not imported previously then those countries will also look favourably at importing from the UK – there will be bilateral benefits rather than just one-way.

Indeed, I am looking forward to exploring new trade opportunities with Rwanda on our forthcoming chambers trade mission from May 26 to

31.

With that in mind we have to explore new opportunities. It will take time, we were in Europe for 40 years, so there will not be change overnight. Many companies and manufacturers are still working within contracts that were in place when we were in Europe.

But as those contracts start coming to an end, then some firms are looking elsewhere.

I always reiterate that a lot of companies are not aware of the value of ‘Made in the UK’ and the

Union Jack on their products. It is still very respected and a sign of quality.

This country has a lot to shout about – we have a really rich history. We are one of the oldest industrial nations with a great tradition of commerce, particularly here in the West Midlands.

Those traditions compare with anywhere in the world.

We are in business to grow and create employment.

If you grow companies you are going to import more, you are going to export more and you are going to sell more.

With all that in mind, I think the Global Business Conference is a great initiative by the chamber.

This is our fifth year of reaching out globally through the conference, and the event surely proves that doing business internationally really does put Birmingham on the international map, and also makes countries outside of Europe understand that the UK’s business sector is not just London-based.

This country has a lot to shout about – we have a really rich history... particularly in the West Midlands