On Tuesday 6th & Wednesday 7th September 2016, Scottish Chambers of Commerce embarked on its most ambitious & high-level business trip to London, including a Business Reception at Westminster, meetings with senior MPs, the Market Open Ceremony at the London Stock Exchange and a B2B event at Dover House.
Over 50 businesses came together to celebrate and share the successes of the Scottish business community and build stronger partnerships with London-based businesses and Members of Parliament. The strength and breadth of Scotland’s sectors underlines the importance of building connections across the UK, particularly in London, as the Chambers look to expand and identify growth opportunities for Scottish businesses.
During the various engagements, business attendees recognised the importance of good connectivity between Scotland and London. Partnering with SCC during this trip was London City Airport, who operate frequent flights between the UK capital and Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and with its recent planning permission approved for a £344 million development, its expansion will ensure existing Scottish routes can continue to flourish and open up the prospect of new routes.
Nora Senior, Chair, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: “As we charter new arrangements with the European Union in the wake of Brexit, collaboration between business and government is key if we want to identify and take advantage of the growth opportunities out there and deal with the challenges in our economy.
“As Scotland’s largest private sector membership network, we believe that SMEs are, and will continue to be, the driving force behind a strong Scottish economy. These SMEs are often leading innovation and new technologies, which in turn bring highly skilled jobs into our economy, which fuels growth of our communities and cities.”
On the Market Opening by the Scottish Chambers’ Network, Donald Brydon, Chairman, London Stock Exchange Group, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Scottish Chambers of Commerce Network and so many excellent Scottish businesses to London Stock Exchange. I’m proud that our two organisations continue to forge ever closer ties and together, we are committed to connecting high growth Scottish companies with the global business and investment community. These businesses are driving innovation, job creation and economic prosperity up and down the country.
“We already support over 100 companies in Scotland, through our growth market AIM, our business support programme ELITE and our ‘Inspiring Companies’ reports. We look forward, together with the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, to expanding opportunities for Scottish companies in the future.”
