Olympic summits to provide £1bn boost for British business - Fresh Business Thinking

By Marcus Leach

The 2012 Games are the greatest business networking event in the global calendar where companies from all over the world will come to London to meet, interact and do business.

To take full advantage of this unique opportunity to deliver a worthwhile and lasting business legacy across Great Britain, the Government will be hosting the biggest ever investment conference Britain has ever seen.

The bold and innovative programme, run by UK Trade and Investment, will enable international companies to come together and discuss both opportunities and the major issues affecting them and will, over time, generate more than £1 billion of additional revenue for British businesses.

The Government has developed an exciting Games time programme of networking opportunities, conferences, summits, seminars and face- to- face meetings for British and international businesses.

As the platform for showcasing international business partnerships and the best of British expertise and skill, the Olympics conference series is the key element of this programme running from the eve of the Games on July 26th to end of the Paralympics on September 7th.

"This summer's Olympics will put the eyes of the world on Britain as we host not just an unparalleled sporting spectacle, but also a chance for companies from across the globe to interact and do business here in the UK," Prime Minister David Cameron said.

"A wide range of British companies will be involved alongside the world's leading business figures in this exciting programme of events, putting the UK at the forefront of efforts to resolve the economic challenges that face us all.

"We are working hard to make sure the whole country can seize this once in a generation opportunity. We expect these events to generate at least £1bn for British businesses and they are vital to our efforts to secure a long-term return to... continued on page two >

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2012 offers opportunities for UK importers and exporters - Fresh Business Thinking

By Marcus Leach

2012 will be a year of great opportunity for the UK’s exporters and importers, despite the bleak outlook for the UK economy, according to foreign exchange provider Global Reach Partners.

Stewart Blake CEO of Global Reach Partners, which helps hundreds of British businesses trade internationally, says there is plenty of hope for success.

“There is a lot of opportunity for success in 2012 for small and mid-sized businesses through international trade, as long as they take precautions against the wider financial problems," he said.

“For instance, the Government recently announced that it will be pledging £95million to Britain’s SMEs, to ‘unlock the UK’s exporting potential’. Another opportunity this year is the Olympics. It will mean lots of overseas business people will be coming to Britain to watch it: so I would urge businesses to arrange meetings with them to generate sales and meet with potential new suppliers.”

Foreign trade can appear costly and risky to businesses that have not done it before. One of the main risks, and one that is often overlooked, revolves around currency movements. In the current environment, currencies may change suddenly in value, having an impact on the business and its profits.

The economic climate and downturns of the last three years has meant that small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have had to be proactive and take measures to protect their businesses in different ways. Exporters need be particularly careful if their profitability is tied to the exchange rate, they must make sure they have a plan to protect this budgeted rate.

Hedging against currency fluctuations is one way to do this, but risk can also be reduced through good financial housekeeping, such as tight budgeting and forecasting. For example, if both your suppliers and customers use the same currency,... continued on page two >

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