Member Article

We are International campaign gathers pace with three local export events this month

Three local export networking events are being held in October as part of Leeds City Region’s We are International campaign.

The two-hour afternoon events, which start at 4.30pm, are being held in Huddersfield on October 22, Harrogate on October 28 and Silsden on October 30.

The Textile Centre of Excellence, which provides training and pioneering research in textiles is hosting the Huddersfield event; well-known international tea company, Taylors of Harrogate, blender of Yorkshire Tea, is the venue for the Harrogate meeting and global manufacturer, Advanced Actuators is the host in Keighley.

Each event will include a talk, a factory tour and a chance for novice exporters to make contract with some of the region’s most successful exporters and gain help and advice which can lead to long-term, free-of-charge mentoring.

The events are part of a programme being organised by international trade specialist, Chamber International, as part of a Local Response Fund Capacity Building Project, a Skills Support for the Workforce Contract, managed by Leeds City College.

The Response Project benefits from £11.8m from the European Social Fund made available through the Skills Funding Agency to finance training for working people and aims to help SMEs, with fewer than 250 staff, in the ten local authority areas within Leeds City Region invest in developing the skills of their workforce.

Chamber International has already run a series of networking events over the last 20 months – backed by the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership’s We are International Campaign – providing practical support for dozens of novice exporters and leading directly to overseas orders which aim to bring in an additional £1.6bn to the ten local authority areas and create thousands of jobs by 2018.

Chamber International director, Tim Bailey, says: “The We are International campaign is the best ever exporting initiative in this region. In terms of the help and support available, there has never been a better time for businesses to get involved in overseas trade and we look forward to seeing as many as possible at these events.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mike Clarke Communications .