Export Event – Successfully Doing Business in the Middle East
- Date: Tuesday 14 October 2014
- Venue: Carn Brea Castle, La Belle, Carnkie, Redruth, Cornwall TR16 6SL
- Time: Registration 10.00
- Event: 10.30 – 14.30
To book a place at this event, please email: to one person per organisation.
This event is open to any trading business in Cornwall, and there is no charge to attend, so booking is essential. A Middle Eastern mezze lunch will be provided by our local Jordanian hosts.
Join us for this free seminar, which will be thought-provoking, motivating, and provide you with practical information to take your business forward in this region.
Hosted by Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, this informative event will be delivered by experts with years of experience to offer.
With your hosts for the day, Sarah Hildersley and Kim Conchie, this event will cover:
- Introduction by Kim Conchie, CEO of Cornwall Chamber
- Discovering opportunities in the UAE by Joe Hepworth, CEO, British Centre for Business, UAE
- Discovering opportunities in Saudi Arabia by Chris Innes-Hopkins, UK Saudi Joint Business Council
- Middle East markets: what are the challenges and what will sell where? by Sarah Hildersley, Regional Coordinator-South West, International UK Business Network
- Expert Panel discussion: how to effectively win business in the Middle East – followed by case study
- Interactive workshop: cross cultural marketing, building relationships and closing business in the Middle East
Chris Innes-Hopkins
Chris is CEO of the Saudi British Joint Business Council; previously Director of UKTI Saudi Arabia; Director of Policy and Corporate Affairs for BG Egypt; Director Trade & Government Relations for the Middle East Association, and has held various other senior Foreign Office roles in Turkey, Egypt and Jerusalem.
Joe Hepworth
Joe is founder of the British Centre for Business and first CEO. He has been in the UAE since 2008 and in that time has managed a burgeoning SME retail brand, overseen more than 50 entries to market and company formations as Commercial Manager of The Links Group and more recently managed the set-up and subsequent growth of UK SME Event Marketing Solutions (EMS) in the region.
Sarah Hildersley
Sarah is former Head of UKTI in Jordan and set up UKTI’s Baghdad office having run the commercial operation for Iraq during that time. She also covered regional coordination with Syria, Lebanon and Israel from Jordan. Sarah previously held roles as Consul in Jerusalem, Beirut and Sana’a as well as other commercial roles. She now leads the effort to connect British Chambers in the South West with their accredited partner networks in high growth markets, including in the Middle East.
Ameeta Virk
Ameeta is Language and Culture Adviser at UKTI. She has worked in a range of sectors, from founding an interior design retail store in San Francisco, English language teaching in Spain, China, UK and USA, to pharmaceutical sales with Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson. Upon moving to the UK, she co-founded a start-up flash sales site focusing on the eco/organic childrenswear market. At UKTI, Ameeta drives intercultural competence as a means to gaining a competitive edge in export for businesses in the South West.
Neil Payne
Neil grew up in Kuwait as an expat child, to return to the region for travel and study later on in life. Having spent time across the Arab world from Morocco to Yemen, Neil is passionate about the region and the people. He now runs Kwintessential, a localisation and translation agency with offices in Somerset and Dubai, which helps business overcome language and cultural issues in trade.
Places are strictly limited, so please book your place no later than Friday September 26th by emailing: BCB