Widening horizons as UK faces momentous year ahead

facing the same rocky road right up until the end and beyond.

That is why at the Chamber we shall press on with everything we have been doing well in 2018 in an effort to make sense of everything Brexit is throwing at business.

Our online Brexit Toolkit is proving a huge help as businesses strive to assess how it will impact and we shall continue to focus on those issues.

Many firms will be looking to make significant changes in the way they operate as they seek to maintain business and seek new markets.

Not the least of those is in export potential – an area which worries many businesses, especially those new to trading overseas.

That is why the Chamber is stepping up its international operations.

We have already created the International Business Hub, a single stop for all, whether they are new to imports and exports or widely experienced.

As well as being able to tap into the expertise of international trade advisers, businesses can seek assistance with export documentation, market information and contacts, language and translation services and foreign currency exchange. The International Business Hub (IBH) also provides international trade training through a series of events and seminars, as well as organising marketing visits and exhibitions overseas.

We also established the Greater Birmingham Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce to help seek new markets away from the EU and it is already making a significant impact.

And all of this is now being overseen by the key appointment of our new IBH director, Mandy Haque, after spending 16 years in key roles at Birmingham Airport.

And Mandy already has close links with the Chamber through her involvement with the British American Business Council.

As we edge closer to Britain’s departure from the EU, our international activities will become even more important. Mandy will play a central role in shaping how we deliver those existing services and create new products as we become even more the go-to place for companies trading overseas.

We shall also be striving to maintain a tremendous record of growth during 2018. A record 300 new companies signed up in Quarter 3.

This helped our year-on-year growth to reach 10 per cent and gave us a great start in our target of reaching 4,000 members by the end of 2019.

Wish us luck as we wish everyone a most successful new year. Paul Faulkner is chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers

of Commerce

It seems businesses will be facing the same rocky road right up until the end and beyond...