Lisa Nicholson
Head of Membership & International Trade
Black Country Chamber of Commerce
In 2014, our team has helped clients win over £40m in international sales, which is on average £2m each in international business as a direct result of the help received from our team..
We are delighted to be recognised by the British Chambers of Commerce for our Excellence in International Trade Services. In 2014, our team has helped clients win over £40m in international sales, which is on average £2m each in international business as a direct result of the help received from our team. It gives our team a lot of job satisfaction to know they have had such a huge impact on their clients.
Our Chamber awards application included a number of examples of companies we have worked with, including Creatives Loop. The company is a unique international business development consultancy, specialising in the film TV and digital sectors. The company accelerates the deal making process through a range of different services, matching producers and brokering introductions with industry professionals in key territories including North America, Europe, Scandinavia, South East Asia and Australasia.
Achieving the majority of their business through word of mouth recommendations in 2006, exports were worth just 11% if Creative loops turnover and most business came from the UK. In 2010 the company started working with us to find out more about assistance available to reach new global markets.
The relationship between the International Trade team and Creatives Loop goes back many years and the company has taken advantage of a range of support including the Gateway to Global Growth programme. Meeting with an International Trade Advisor enabled Creatives Loop to talk to someone ‘intelligent and professional that could understand and grasp very quickly what we do and how they could help’ and as a result international trade is now 98.3% of Creatives Loop’s turnover.
We want to build on this success and use our expertise to help as many companies as we can. We have lots planned for the next few months so that local businesses can benefit from our support. In January, we are running an event so that companies can have a 1:1 with an International Trade Adviser and get some free advice on their international strategy. We are expecting some visitors from Colombia, Chile and Mexico in February, to give businesses the opportunity to find out about these markets and investigate their export potential.
The Black Country Chamber of Commerce is lucky to have such a dedicated team and to win an award that gives them the recognition they deserve. We are committed to helping raise the value of exports in the region as part of our aim to double the size of the Black Country economy in the next ten years. Although the risks in exporting have increased in some parts of the world, there are significant opportunities for our home grown, high quality niche providers to demonstrate what the industrial heart of the UK is capable of manufacturing.
