‘Sustainable International Trade’ Business Lunch co-hosted by The Future Economy Network and HSBC.
This week’s event took place near the river in central Bristol on Thursday 18th July 2019 for a business lunch on International Trade. The lunch was hosted by HSBC and took place at their offices with a beautiful view in Temple Quay. It was attended by public, private and third sector representatives and came about from an obvious need to discuss how international trade can play a part in sustainable business.
Attendees were welcomed by the Recruitment Director of The Future Economy Group, Richard Murphy. Richard then spoke about the benefits of subscribing to the network, our Festival of Sustainable Business, and our upcoming weekly events programme.
A presentation was then delivered by Brendon Bester, Director and Associate from Sulis Import Solutions. He spoke about incoterms, how to work with new suppliers and factories, how to be compliant, important key holiday dates, and environmentally sustainable supply chains (especially in relation to shipping and digitalisation).
This was followed by a two-part presentation by Carl Spencer and Tom Lloyd Jones, International Trade Manager and Deputy Head of Corporate Banking at HSBC. Carl presented on how the world of trading is changing, and how important digitalisation is becoming, especially in relation to blockchain. Tom then presented on HSBC’s sustainable commitments, the transition risk of becoming more sustainable, and their brand new ‘Green Loan’ that is directed to small and medium enterprises.
Richard concluded the presentations with an informative Q&A, and by talking about The Future Economy Network’s upcoming Festival of Sustainable Business, and other upcoming events. Finally, there was an exciting 60 second pitch session, where everyone heard from Bishop Fleming, Department for International Trade, Kate Strong, City To Sea, West of England Growth Hub, International Trade Matters, Feed Video, IMEX China Trade and Institute of Directors. What a busy pitch session!
The seminar was concluded with some lively networking over a diverse range of lunchtime snacks. The Future Economy Network would like to offer sincere thanks to all of our speakers and to HSBC for their support. Also, a huge thank you to all attendees – we hope you found it an interesting and exciting event.
