Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom

Author: admspanish

ANNUAL GOLDEN AWARD 2018 | CAF

The Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain celebrated its Annual Golden Award on the 12^TH April at the Spanish Embassy in London. This is one of the main corporate events that the Chamber organises each year and acknowledges the significant commercial activity of a Spanish company in the United Kingdom during the previous year.

This year the company who received the award was CAF, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, a leader in the railway industry with a workforce of approximately 8,500 people. Mr. Andrés Arizkorreta, President of CAF, received the award on behalf of the company and express his gratitude for this recognition.

The event began with the Ambassador H.E. Mr. Carlos Bastarreche, who is also the Honorary President of the Spanish Chamber, welcoming the attendees and congratulating CAF for their outstanding activity in the UK.

Following his speech, the President of the Chamber, Mr. Javier San Basilio, introduced the awarded company and provided further information about the achievements of CAF in the UK, which began in 1994 when they won the contract to manufacture Heathrow Express trains. Since then they have worked on large scale projects such as the diesel trains for Northern Ireland Railways and the tram networks in Edinburgh and Birmingham.

Mr. Arizkorreta shared with attendees his feelings of gratitude for receiving such an important recognition for the outstanding work of CAF and its international strategy, which has led up to them currently working with Arriva, First Group, Serco and West Midland Trains for the provision and maintenance of new trains that will operate on various routes covering the north of the country.

He recounted that last year CAF acquired the prestigious British engineering firm BWB Consulting, which has enabled them to establish their presence in the UK as a trusted provider within the transport sector.

Approximately 200 guests were present at the event, representing member companies from both Spain and the UK. This was a great opportunity for all of them to expand their networks and meet new professionals from the Anglo-Spanish business community in an environment as the Embassy.

We take this opportunity to thank our kind sponsors on this special occasion. We are grateful to our patrons Ibérica Restaurants and Raventós Codorníu for providing the ibérico ham and the cava; to benefactor Estrella Galicia for the beers served at the event and finally, to our member Marqués de Cáceres for providing the wines.

Finally, we would also like to thank our members for joining us on this very special occasion.

We encourage you to browse the UPCOMING EVENTS section of our website in order to keep up to date with future Spanish Chamber corporate events, seminars and other activities.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

23/04/2018
COMING SOON: OUR 131ST ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

We are pleased to announce that our 131^stAnnual General Meeting will be held on Thursday 5^th July at the exclusive One Great George Street, located in the centre of Westminster.

This corporate event is one of the most important annual activities organised by the Spanish Chamber and is attended by leading representatives from a wide range of British and Spanish companies. As tradition dictates, the event will be presided by H.E. the Ambassador of Spain, Mr. Carlos Bastarreche Sagües.

We are furthermore delighted to welcome The Rt. Hon David Lidington CBE MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster as our Guest of Honour for the occasion and would like to take this opportunity to introduce him and the Cabinet he represents.

Mr. David Lidington studied History at Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge. He was elected Member of Parliament for Aylesbury in 1992 and has held a number of prominent positions including Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2003 to 2007 and Shadow Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2007 to 2010. He also served as Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) from May 2010 until July 2016. Mr. Lidington was Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council from July 2016 to June 2017.

He went on to become Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from June 2017 to January 2018, when he was appointed Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duty of Lancaster. Outside from politics, he has worked for BP and RioTinto – Zinc Corporation (RTZ) before spending 3 years as Special Adviser to Douglas Hurd in the Home Office and Foreign Office.

The Minister for the Cabinet Office is responsible for the policy and work of the department, and attends Cabinet. His responsibilities include advising the Prime Minister on developing and implement government policy, chairing and deputy chairing Cabinet committees, realising task forces and overseeing the consequences of devolution of Britain’s exit from the EU.

With such a distinguished Guest of Honour, we are certain that attendees will enjoy this opportunity to meet Mr. David Lidington and to hear his views over the course of the evening. This is one of our most eminent annual events and it is anticipated that over 200 leading representatives from Spanish and British companies will be in attendance, providing an excellent opportunity to network and meet new Chamber members.

Please remember that places for this event are limited, so do not forget to book yours in advance to avoid disappointment. For further information on this event and how to submit your booking, please click here.

If you are interested in sponsoring this event please contact hannah.sanders@spanishchamber.co.uk

16/04/2018
II ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON ENTREPRENEURIAL TALENT EDUCATION

This month we had the pleasure of participating for the second time in the “II Annual Conference on Entrepreneurial Talent Education” event organised by the Vicente Cañada Blanch Spanish School, which aims to promote entrepreneurship outside of higher education.

The event took place on Tuesday 6th at the school’s premises. Our Secretary General, Mr. Igor Urra, along with the school’s director, Ms. Carmen Pinilla and the Head of the Spanish Embassy Education Office in the U.K., Mr. Gonzalo Capellán, welcomed the students and gave them a brief summary of the history of the Chamber and the various services it provides.

He also encouraged the students to think outside the box and reminded that they had a lot to offer employers given their dual Spanish and British background.

After this introduction the event continued with a series of speeches about the labour market given by representatives from some of our member companies. The participants included: Ms. Nuria Corominas from Román y Asociados PR Consultants, Mr. David Lucas from Bluefin Group, Ms. Raquel Barrera and Ms. Mar Gayá from Diversitas Institute, Ms. Patricia Témes from Forma 5, Mr. Juan Carlos Machuca from Uría Menéndez, Mr. Mikel Lotina from IDOM UK and Mr. Nacho Morais from Frank Consulting.

On Thursday 8th March, some of the students from the Vicente Cañada Blanch school visited the Chamber’s offices to learn more about our activities and meet some of our staff. Nerea Esgueva, Head of Corporate Relations and Abel Plasencia, Foreign Trade Manager, discussed their career paths with the students and what the main responsibilities of their current roles.

They went on to speak about the wide range of job opportunities that London can offer to young people and they both agreed on the great value of being fluent in English. Finally, they encouraged the students to always do their best and to find what they are passionate about.

The students then went on to visit the Spanish Tourism Office where the Head of the Office, Mr. Javier Piñares, explained the main responsibilities of the Office and the vital importance of tourism to the Spanish economy. He discussed with them the main differences between Spanish and British tourists and the future prospects for this sector.

We would like to thank the Vicente Cañada Blanch Spanish School for organising such an insightful and interesting event and for including the Spanish Chamber in its organisation. We sincerely hope that the event was helpful for all of the participating students and has shed some light on their future prospects.

We encourage you to check the Upcoming Events section of our website to keep up to date with future Spanish Chamber events, seminars and other activities.

29/03/2018
CAF WILL RECEIVE THE ANNUAL GOLDEN AWARD 2018

On Tuesday 12th April the Spanish Chamber of Commerce will hold its Annual Golden Award event at the Spanish Embassy.

The Annual Golden Award is one of our most important corporate events of the year which identifies a Spanish company with a presence in the UK whose performance in the previous year has been outstanding. This year CAF will receive this recognition for their remarkable achievements over the course of 2017. Mr. Andrés Arizkorreta, President of the company, will be present at the event to receive the award.

With over 100 years since its establishment, CAF has been operating in the UK since 1994 when it won the contract to manufacture Heathrow Express trains. Since then they have worked on large scale projects such as the diesel trains for the NIR and the tram networks in Edinburgh and Birmingham. The firm is currently working with Arriva, First Group, Serco and West Midland Trains for the provision and maintenance of new trains that will operate on various routes covering the north of the country.

Last year CAF acquired the prestigious British engineering firm BWB Consulting, which has enabled them to establish their presence in the UK as a trusted provider within the transport sector. They are currently building a new factory in Newport (Wales) which will begin operations later this year.

CAF is a multinational firm which manufactures trains and conducts feasibility studies, civil works, electrification, signalising and maintenance and system operations. The company boasts a workforce of 8,500 people across their main factories in Beasáin, Zaragoza Irún, Castejón and Linares; as well as others in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, France and the UK.

In addition, CAF’s sales reached 1,447 million euros in 2017 and they achieved a net profit of 42.5 million euros. Moreover, the firm has undertaken projects in over 35 countries including providing metro units in Washington, Rome, Mexico City, Bucharest and Sao Paulo; as well as trams in Belgrade, Edinburgh, Nantes, Sydney and Stockholm. They have also fabricated diesel and commuter trains in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and the USA and high speed trains in Turkey and Norway.

Finally, in Spain CAF is one of the most prominent providers within the Red Nacional de Ferrocarriles Españoles (RENFE), providing metro units, trams and the latest innovative trains to cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Vitoria, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga and Granada.

We would like to thank our Patron Ibérica Restaurants and our Benefactor Estrella Galicia for kindly providing the ibérico ham and the beer that will be enjoyed during the ceremony.

This event is exclusively for members of the Spanish Chamber. For further information about this award and to find out more about the activities that we organise for Chamber members, we encourage you to visit the UPCOMING EVENTS section of our website and our WordPress blog.

26/03/2018
SACYR | NEW PATRON OF THE CHAMBER

We would like to welcome Sacyr as a new Patron of the Spanish Chamber.

Sacyr is a global infrastructure and services company, expert in turning challenges into achievements. Operating in nearly 30 countries and a workforce of 30,000 professionals, it is one of the main global contractors and is already among the 10 largest in Latin America.

Innovation, international growth, sustainability and the execution of complex projects have made Sacyr and its subsidiaries an international benchmark.

Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructures stands out thanks to its high qualification rate and experience in all types of construction. Among its works, stand out more than 3,300 km of highways and express roads, 64 km of tunnels and more than 107 km of viaducts; hydraulic works such as the Third Set of Locks for the Expansion of the Panama Canal; airport works; ports; hospitals; residential building and urbanization works.

Sacyr Concessions is ranked sixth developer worldwide in the PPP market, currently managing 35 assets distributed in 10 countries that include: highways (3,755 km), social and health projects (more than 2,500 beds) and transport interchanges.

Sacyr Industrial designs and builds waste treatment and recovery plants, electrical infrastructures, Oil & Gas, EPC water projects, among other projects.

Sacyr Services develops a wide range of businesses: environmental services, full water cycle and other related activities. It´s permanently focused on providing a complete service for its clients and meeting all their needs.

Valoriza Agua is the sixth largest company in the world for desalinated water capacity and carries out the water management cycle, it has designed and built more than 100 brackish and sea water desalination, purification, and reuse plants.

Valoriza Conservación de Infraestructuras is the Sacyr company devoted to maintenance work on all kinds of road infrastructures (10,000 kilometers of roads and highways in Spain, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay and Peru), dams, ports, irrigation canals and hydroelectric power plants.
Should you want to know more about our new Patron, please visit their website:

www.sacyr.com

15/03/2018
‘ARE YOU READY FOR GDPR?’ SEMINAR

On Tuesday 27^th February the Spanish Chamber held the seminar “Are you ready for GDPR?” in collaboration with Technorizon UK, member of the Chamber, and SCA Ontier, patron of the Chamber.

On this occasion Igor Urra, Secretary General of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, received attendees on behalf of our institution and introduced the speakers Ricardo Ena, UK Regional Manager at Technorizon, and Yao Trinh, Associate at SCA Ontier.

Ricardo began with a brief introduction of Technorizon by explaining the company’s values and main services in the field of IT Security.

After this brief introduction he explained what the new GDPR regulation is, who has to comply with it and when it will be enforced. He also explained the principals of the new regulation which include Lawfulness, Fairness and Transparency. These refer to the validation and legitimation of the data and the Storage Limitation principle that how data should be stored.

Ricardo went on to describe the existing approaches to this new regulation and explained the essential controls, policies and actions for IT Risk Management. He concluded by advising attendees on how to prepare for the new GDPR.

The event then moved on to the Q&A session, in which Yao of SCA Ontier responded to the guest’s legal related questions. Once the session finished, participants had the opportunity to network over breakfast while sharing their thoughts and discussing further the subject matter of the talk.

If you would like to find out about other activities that the Spanish Chamber of Commerce is organising, we encourage you to keep an eye on the UPCOMING EVENTS section of our website. You can also subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter to receive updates on the Chamber’s activities.

13/03/2018
‘The importance of knowing your organisation’s Gender Pay Gap’ seminar

On the morning of Tuesday 6^th March 2018 we held a seminar titled ‘the importance of knowing your organisation’s Gender Pay Gap’ seminar at the Spanish Chamber. The event was held in collaboration with Chamber member Diversitas Institute, a London-based management consultancy company which specialises in diversity and inclusion in the workplace and offers training sessions, workshops and coaching. The topic of this seminar is of great pertinence, having featured frequently in the British news headlines in recent weeks, being heavily analysed and with many firms revealing the gender pay gaps amongst their employees.

The talk began with Raquel Barrera of Diversitas Institute, the speaker at this event, providing a definition of the concept of the gender pay gap and explaining its context in our society; both past and present. She explained why the gender pay gap does not equate to unequal pay and the issue of unconscious bias affecting our views and behaviour; of which no one is exempt. She went on to emphasise the 4 key causes of the gender pay gap: unpaid work, part-time work, discrimination and segregation. Part-time work was highlighted as being important to take into account given that part-time jobs generally pay less than full-time, and there are substantially more women working in these roles than their male counterparts. Moreover, she commented on how despite efforts to change this, women still remain underrepresented in STEM roles.

Moving on, Raquel addressed the issue on how we can work to decrease the gender pay gap, highlighting actions such as awareness, recruiting with a gender perspective, supporting staff with caring responsibilities (i.e. with the option of flexible working) and mentoring programmes to remove bias from promotion opportunities. She concluded by pointing out that companies with over 250 employees are required to report on their gender pay gap, suggesting that they accompany this with an analysis of their findings and the creation of an action plan to address the issue.

This was a very successful seminar which prompted a great deal of discussion and debate amongst all of our members in attendance. All agreed that although it is a step forwards that the spotlight is now on this matter, there is still a great deal of work to be done in the effort to close this gap. The seminar was followed with an opportunity for participants to network and discuss their opinions of the seminar over breakfast.

We would like to thank Diversitas Institute for their collaboration and for sharing their great expertise with us on this occasion. If you would like to find out about the seminars and other activities that the Spanish Chamber is organising, do keep an eye on the Upcoming Events section of our website. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to receive bi-weekly updates of our notices and events schedule.

08/03/2018
ELEVATOR PITCH XXXIII EDITION

On Tuesday 2^nd February we held the XXXIII edition of our Elevator Pitch networking event which on this occasion took place at the Chamber’s offices in central London.

The event was chaired by Igor Urra, Secretary General at the Spanish Chamber, who began by explaining the format of the event:

-Participation is limited to one representative per company and a maximum of 16 companies can take part in each edition.

-Only two companies of the same sector can register for the event.

-Each attendee has two minutes to explain the work of his company to the other participants. Following this, everyone has the opportunity to ask questions to their fellow participants about their companies. Attendees then are able to network more informally and without the previous time constraints over a late breakfast.

On this occasion, a wide variety of sectors were represented among the 10 participating companies: Audiense (Communications, IT and Network), Babel (Business Consultancy Services), Desamianta (Construction), Diversitas Institute (Businness Consultancy Services), DLF (Transport of Good, Storage and Handling Goods), El Ibérico (Press and Publishing Services), Fastrack to Refocus (Coaching, Education, Training and Learning), Hotel Indigo Kensington (Hotels and Accommodation), Melia White House (Hotels and Accommodation), Stonehealth Clinic (Health).

We would like to thank all attendees who took part in this edition of the Elevator Pitch and we hope that they found it profitable.

If you have not yet participated in an Elevator Pitch event and are interested in doing so, we encourage you to keep an eye on our newsletter (released twice a month) as well as the UPCOMING EVENTS section of our website for information about the next one.

21/02/2018
“Infrastructure and Procurement opportunities in the West” event with Freeths LLP

On Tuesday 6^th February 2018 the Spanish Chamber of Commerce held an event titled “Infrastructure and Procurement Opportunities in the West” in collaboration with Freeths LLP; member of the Chamber. Freeths is a major UK law firm with 11 offices in key cities, specialising in construction, energy, real estate and planning. The event took place at the firm’s head office in Manchester and constituted the Chamber’s first event to take place outside of London, marking the start of our efforts to carry out more sectorial events in different parts of the United Kingdom.

The event saw a great turn out of 30 guests from approximately 25 companies from sectors ranging from construction to engineering, with many having travelled from cities such as London, Birmingham and Darlington. After an early start, guests had the opportunity to meet each other over a coffee before being asked to take their seats. They were then welcomed to the event and a series of introductions were made by James Driver, Partner at Freeths, who explained the structure of the day’s event.

Steve Burns, Head of Economic Development at Bolton Council, was then the first to speak. He spoke about the town’s ‘Bolton 2030’ strategy for growth which focuses on factors such as employment, health, business growth, housing, embracing a digital future and the Bolton Vision partnership. He spoke about the scheme’s challenges but also the opportunities it brings, including housing and employment growth, before going on to describe Bolton’s town centre framework and the recent investment in this.

Martin Lawton of Blacc Consulting LLP spoke next on the topic of manufacture led construction. He began by introducing his firm and what they do, detailing how they are construction, project, programme and portfolio management specialists who have a great deal of industry experience. He then described Blacc’s vision for revolutionising the construction industry and the evolution of the modular assembly toolkit, before providing a variety of case studies; looking principally at the layout of schools.

David Fisken, Head of Business Attraction at the West Midlands Growth Company was the next to speak. He spoke of the company’s 7 remit areas before giving an introduction to the West Midlands and their recent major developments. He then spoke of the firm’s regional economic plan and the transformational and enabling sectors that this involves, highlighting the vital importance of digital in this. He highlighted the opportunities with transport, energy, life sciences and healthcare, housing, the High Speed 2 project and transformational regeneration projects. He finished his talk by highlighting the main motivations for investing in the West Midlands, which include connectivity, its rich and growing talent pool and the fact that it is the most successful UK region for FDI.

Following a coffee break in which guests had the opportunity to share their impressions of the speakers, Andris Bankovskis spoke on the subject of UK energy. He began by highlighting that the three objectives of UK energy policy are the security of supply, sustainability and least cost before going on to speak about new energy technology and the opportunities developing in refurbishment, smart technologies and waste management to name a few. He finally went on to speak about several of the current energy projects in the UK.

The final speaker of the morning was Jason Richards, Partner at Freeths, who spoke about the legislative framework for Public Private Partnerships and the UK Organisational Structure. He described the key features of a PPP framework, giving examples, before speaking about the main features of the UK’s organisational framework. He finally spoke about the Five Case Model, touching on Brexit, before providing a summary of the issues faced by investors.

Following the last talk the guests had the opportunity to network with each other over lunch. As the attendees discussed the talks it was clear to see that they had found them useful and highly insightful. The success of this event was promising and we look forward to organising more events of this nature in the future.

If you would like to know more about this kind of events and others organised by the Chamber, do take a look at the Upcoming Events section of our website or subscribe to our electronic newsletter for biweekly updates.

13/02/2018
NEW YEAR’S DRINKS RECEPTION 2018

On Tuesday 30^th January the Spanish Chamber of Commerce held its annual New Year’s Drinks Reception, the first corporate event of 2018. This year the event was held at Skinner’s Hall, a beautiful and traditional Grade 1 listed building in the City of London. On this occasion the event welcomed Rt Hon Greg Hands MP as Guest of Honour. Mr. Hands was appointed as Minister of State in the Department for International Trade on 15 July 2016, and was elected the Conservative MP for Hammersmith and Fulham in 2005, and for Chelsea and Fulham in 2010.

The event began with guests being welcomed into the main hall as they arrived where they were offered a glass of wine or cava. There was then an extended opportunity for them to meet and network with each other over a selection of freshly cut Spanish ham and cheeses.

It was soon time for the speeches. Mr. Javier San Basilio, President of the Spanish Chamber, began proceedings by welcoming attendees and providing a brief summary of the Chamber’s principal achievements from 2017, including an announcement of the new Patron members that we are pleased to have gained. He went on to thank all members for their ongoing support to the Chamber as well as describing its principal aims for the coming year, before concluding by highlighting the importance for both Spain and the UK to maintain their special relationship regardless of the outcome of Brexit.

The President went on to welcome Greg Hands to the podium and thanked him profusely for joining us for the occasion. Mr Hands went on to speak about the prosperous commercial relationship between Spain and the UK, two countries whose diplomatic ties go back 500 years. This included recently the visit of King Felipe and Queen Letizia to London last summer; demonstrating the strength of the two countries’ longstanding bilateral relationship. He went on to speak about the vital importance of Spain as the UK’s 7^th largest trading partner, with figures showing that UK exports of goods to Spain had increased by over 15% in the year to November 2017 compared to the same period a year ago; with equally impressive statistics of investment in each other’s economies. He also highlighted that Spanish banks have the largest presence of all foreign banks in the UK. He went on to speak about Brexit and his belief that it is critical that the UK and Spain continue to collaborate as global advocates of free trade. He described why he is certain that the strong economic ties between the two countries will not only withstand the changes brought about by the UK leaving the EU, but also be able to continue become stronger.

The evening proved to be another great success and we were pleased to see so many of our members in attendance, with over 150 representatives of both Spanish and British companies having been present. Following the speeches guests had a further opportunity to meet and wish each other a happy new year while continuing to enjoy the high quality products which were so kindly provided by our sponsors.

We would like to sincerely thank our Patron Codorníu Raventós for providing the generous and curated selection of cava and red and white wine that was served during the evening as well as Nicolás y Valero, member of the Chamber, for their contribution of the delicious Spanish ham and cheeses.

If you missed the reception, you can watch the video here and see the full image gallery here.

We also encourage you to browse our Upcoming Events section in order to keep up to date with future Spanish Chamber corporate events, seminars and other activities.

07/02/2018

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