These are a selection of comments from people in business who
have been on the Lord Mayor's overseas trips:
Sir Thomas Harris, KBE CMG, Vice Chairman
Standard Chartered Capital Markets Ltd.
"Standard Chartered Bank operates in over 75 different markets
but we still find participation in Lord Mayoral visits overseas
helpful for our business. In some countries where we already
operate, they provide an opportunity to raise our profile and to
discuss policy concerns at the highest level; in in others such
visits provide excellent opportunites to assess market potential
for the future."
Nick Tolchard, Sales Director,
Invesco
"We initially were introduced to the opportunity of joining a
Lord Mayor's delegation five years ago when we were launching our
Middle East business. As the region is very relationship driven,
but with little published information, we found the Lord Mayor's
introduction to both UKTI and Embassies who could brief us on the
opportunities and backdrop to the region, as well as senior
executives of prospective clients, to be extremely helpful in
reducing our prospecting time. Many of the larger deals we have won
have been in consequence of these original introductions. We now
have exceeded our business targets in the region and continue to
enjoy an excellent level of support from the Lord Mayor's
office."
"Over the past decade I have participated in many Lord Mayoral
visits to nearly twenty different jurisdictions. The objective for
participating in these visits has been to maintain high level
contacts in countries I already know well, develop knowledge and
relationships in countries that are new or not so well known to me
but of great future interest, and to support generally the work of
the Lord Mayor's Office in promoting London as a predominate
financial services centre for global trade and development.
"As a mission member, the visits have also proved very useful
not only in building new relationships with other members of the
business delegations but also in maintaining good and close
dialogue with policy makers and planners in the City of London as
well as with British diplomatic and trade missions in the various
countries visited whose support is always essential..
During missions, I have participated in specialist Q & A
sessions, spoken at seminars and round tables and established
invaluable top level contact levels for the enhancement of business
opportunities. As specialist financial service missions go
encompassing wide ranging expertise in financial services
expertise, Mayoral missions are unique and have proved time and
again to be extraordinarily effective in enabling personal
objectives to be achieved.”
David Royce, Partner, Transaction Advisory Services,
Ernst & Young
LLP
"During the year I participated in two Lord Mayoral visits,
firstly to Argentina and Brazil, and then to Russia; one of my
colleagues also joined the trip to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Our
objectives for participating in these visits were to support London
as a Global Financial Centre and develop a stronger relationship
with the Lord Mayor's Office; to further develop our relationship
with businesses interested in listing on the London Stock Exchange;
and to identify further opportunities for working with local
businesses, particularly in the Mining and Metals, Infrastructure,
and Agriculture Sectors. The visits also provide a valuable way of
developing our own relationship with our local E&Y Offices, and
for forging new relationships with other members of the business
delegation.
"During the visits we had access to meetings with senior
political and business leaders which provided a great insight into
the current economic, political and business climate. During these
meetings members of the business delegation were given an
opportunity to participate in Q&A and, where appropriate, to
promote their personal, or their Firm's, credentials.
"The schedule of activities can be demanding although the
different format of events, from breakfast meetings and formal
roundtable discussions, to informal evening dinners and receptions,
provides a varied framework for developing new business
relationships. The organisation of the visits, including the events
organised "in Country", was excellent; and relationships developed
with the local British Embassy staff are also likely to be of
benefit in the future.
"During the visits, we met with a number of businesses who met
the criteria for listing in London with whom we now have an ongoing
dialogue. Overall the visits met our expectations and will continue
to form an important part of our business development
activity."
If you have been on a Lord Mayor's overseas trip and would
like to offer some feedback for these pages, please email
hugo.deadman@cityoflondon.gov.uk.