Global Utah Weekly

Susan Haird, Deputy Chief Executive of the UK Trade & Investment and representatives from Fitzgerald & Law (Tom Redfern and Gabriel Parrish) came to Utah to educate local business representatives about best practices of starting and expanding their ventures into the United Kingdom. They were joined on the discussion panel by Utah international professionals from the World Trade Center Utah (Lew Cramer, President and CEO), US Commercial Service (David Fiscus, Director of the Utah Export Assistance Center), Franz Kolb (Regional Director, GOED), and Mark Garfield (Senior VP of International Banking, Zions Bank).

 

Lew Cramer welcomed participants and reviewed educational and networking opportunities available in Utah through collaboration of local experts. In opening remarks, the Executive Director of GOED, Spencer Eccles, reflected upon his business experience in the UK, particularly cooperation with the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and emphasized services available through GOED, while Elizabeth Goryunova (Executive VP and COO of the World Trade Center Utah) talked about the special relationship between the US and UK based on their shared language, values and political and judicial systems. Susan Haird of the UK Trade and Investment reviewed latest economic development opportunities and various incentives available for the US investors. Tom Redfern and Gabriel Parrish of Fitzgerald & Law discussed various ways to set up businesses in the UK as well as managing expansion into other European jurisdictions and markets (download presentation here – powerpoint format). Other discussion topics included financial services available for local businesses (Mark Garfield), update on Utah exports to the UK (Franz Kolb) as well as US-UK trade and investment statistics and services offered by the US Commercial Service (David Fiscus). Currently, the UK is Utah’s top export destination (over $3 billion in 2008), with primary metal manufactures leading the way, followed by transportation and machinery manufactures and computers and electronic equipment. Nationwide, the UK is the number one foreign investor in the United States, with more than $300 billion in investments. Almost 5 million visitors come to the US from the UK yearly for business and tourism purposes while 40,000 US students study in the UK each year, strengthening dynamic links between our countries. Companies interested in learning about assistance provided by the UK Trade & Investment could contact their LA offices at (310) 996-3024 (Andrew Lewis), Tel: (310) 996 3030 (Alannah Isherwood). The presentation can be downloaded, in powerpoint format, by clicking here.