Author: Spanish Chamber

A cool Mahou beer served al fresco with some delicious and traditional Spanish tapas on a warm summer’s evening created the perfect opportunity to connect with new people, while catching up with colleagues.

Last Monday the 8^th of July, Mahou San Miguel invited each guests at the annual Summer Mahou Party to chill after work with a bottle of its popular Mahou Cinco Estrellas, in an event organised by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Benefactor Mahou and Patron Ibérica Restaurants. The Summer Mahou Party was held at Ibérica’s gorgeous La Terraza, a trendy and serene oasis in the heart of the frantic busyness of Canary Wharf.

This informal event was a good opportunity for our members to meet each other and to become better acquainted in a more relaxed environment, as well as a chance to do some networking and talk about past, present and future projects.

Ibérica Restaurant served a selection of Spanish cured meats and cheeses, complimented perfectly by patatas bravas, tortilla, pan con tomate and Padrón peppers; which are some of the favourite specialities of Spanish cuisine and the most missed dishes by Spaniards abroad.

We would like everyone who joined us at the party and made it such a beautiful evening, with a special mention to our sponsors at the event: Mahou and Ibérica Restaurants.

On Tuesday 25th June the Spanish Chamber of Commerce hosted its 132nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) and dinner, one of the most important events of our annual calendar. This year the event took place at the stunning Draper’s Hall, one of the most prominent livery halls situated in the heart of the City of London; the capital’s primary financial district.

On this occasion we were honoured to welcome Mr. John Glen MP as our Guest of Honour. Mr. Glen is Member of Parliament for the Salisbury constituency and also Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister, for which he has responsibility for banking and financial services policy.

As it is the case each year the event began with the Annual General Meeting itself, which is held exclusively for members of the Chamber. This year the meeting took place at Chamber member White & Case’s London office, a stone’s throw from the venue where the meeting’s proceedings would soon take place.

During the meeting the Executive Committee of the Chamber presented the financial statements of 2018, along with a memorandum of the activities and events which the Chamber had organised over the course of the year gone by. The meeting was presided by H.E. the Ambassador of Spain, Mr. Carlos Bastarreche Sagües, the President of the Chamber, Mr. Eduardo Barrachina and the Secretary General of the Chamber, Mr. Igor Urra.

Following directly on from the meeting a cocktail reception was held in the Court Room of Draper’s Hall, in which members who had participated in the Annual General Meeting were joined by the rest of the guests as they arrived. Just across from here in the beautiful Drawing Room, the Spanish Ambassador and other esteemed guests in attendance including various Lords and members of the British government, as well as Patrons of the Chamber, were invited to participate in a more exclusive drinks reception during which they had the opportunity to meet with the Guest of Honour himself. During the reception as a whole, guests were able to enjoy Spanish beverages including Catalan cava Anna de Codorníu Blanc de Blancs Reserva, kindly provided by Raventós Codorníu (Patron of the Chamber), wo also provided us with Viña Pomal Reserva red wine which was served accompanying the main course of the dinner. Excellens Verdejo white and Excellens Rosé wines were served too courtesy of fellow Patrons Marqués de Cáceres, as well as 1906 Reserva Especial beer from our member Estrella Galicia. Guests were also able to indulge in freshly cut Ibérico ham provided by our Patron Ibérica Restaurants, as well as a selection of delicious Spanish cheeses and accompaniments from our member Hispania.

Following the drinks reception and once almost everyone had arrived, including the Guest of Honour, all guests were ushered into the Livery Hall itself. Once everyone had taken their seats, a loyal toast was held to the King and Queen of both Spain and the United Kingdom, before the official anthems of both countries were played. It was then time for the speeches, of which the Chamber’s President was the first to be announced by the Toastmaster. Mr. Eduardo Barrachina talked about the activities carried out by the Chamber over the course of 2018 as well as touching on the current political situation. He highlighted the importance of a Brexit deal being reached which would allow for a crucially important readjustment period for British companies; stating that: “Britain must rise to the challenge and ensure that it’s departure from the EU does not disrupt business”.

The Ambassador of Spain then expressed in his speech his sincere gratitude to the institution, in which he also highlighted the common history of both countries: “Despite all the complex challenges we are facing, both British and Spanish societies are amongst the most developed, modern and vibrant democracies of our planet”.

Finally, our Guest of Honour, Mr. John Glen MP, started his speech with a brief introduction in Spanish, which led to a great round of applause from the audience, followed by a highly engaging speech. He also affirmed that “Spain is the largest European investor in UK financial services and I have no doubt that we will continue to build on 500 years of shared commerce between our two great nations.”

Once the speeches had concluded, guests enjoyed a delicious three course dinner of smoked salmon followed by beef Wellington, a British classic, before ending with a citrus chiboust. The various courses even incorporated various Spanish gourmet ingredients such as capers from Almería, pimentón of La Vera, lentils from La Armuña. Members and their guests were able to meet and become well acquainted with each other, establishing new contacts and exchanging their impressions of the evening.

We would very much like to thank our members and their guests for joining us on the occasion of our 132nd Annual General Meeting and for sharing with us such a special evening for our institution. We are truly grateful to all of our members who contributed with high-quality Spanish products: Raventós Codorníu, Marqués de Cáceres, Estrella Galicia, Ibérica Restaurants and Hispania.

Please click here to access the complete gallery of pictures of the 132nd Annual General Meeting. For a short video on how the evening went, please click on the following link.

For further information about the Chamber’s events in 2019, do not hesitate to visit our NEWS section at www.spanishchamber.co.uk, or subscribe to our newsletter to receive fortnightly updates delivered straight to your inbox.

On the 19^th of June we were pleased to hold a special event at the Embassy of Spain: The Awards Ceremony of the Charity Tennis & Padel Tournament. Following on from the tournament that had just taken place, this cocktail reception was the perfect occasion to announce and award the prizes of the winning teams. As guests who had taken part in the tournament as well as those from companies which had made generous donations met and caught up with each other they were able to enjoy delicious ham from 5 Jotas and a selection of artisan Spanish cheeses from Hispania; members of the Spanish Chamber. Wines from our Patrons Codorníu Raventós were also being served for all to enjoy.

But it was not all about sports- the main purpose of this event was to fundraise for the Fundación Mario Losantos del Campo (FMLC, www.fundacionmlc.org), which provides support for those in developing counties going through a grief process. This organisation was created in 2000 by the Losantos Ucha family and since then they have undertaken support projects in countries including Spain, the Dominican Republic, Mozambique, Kenya and Bolivia, working to improve the quality of life of people around the globe.

Beginning at 6:30pm on a warm summer’s evening, the reception took place in the cool and leafy foyer area of the Embassy which is located in Belgravia. Following the arrival drinks and a speech from representatives from the Losantos family, the highly anticipated charity raffle prize draw took place. Many of the hopeful ticket holders were already dreaming about the incredible prizes:

– Round-trip flights for two people to a variety of destinations in the American continent (mainly in Latin America), courtesy of Air Europa.
– Dinner for two people at the acclaimed Japanese-Mediterranean fusion restaurant Zela.
– Luxury beauty products kindly donated by specialised Natura Bissé cosmetics.
– A two night stay for two people (w/ breakfast) at the exceptionally located 4 star Meliá White House Hotel, in London.
– Dinner for two at luxurious Hispania restaurant in the heart of the City of London.
– A two night stay for two people at H10 Arts Gallery Barcelona, a superior 4 star hotel located in the Eixample district.
– Professional dental whitening services at Stonehealth Clinic.
– A box of wine from Marques de Cáceres.
– A box of wine from Raventós Codorníu.

We would like to thank all of the participants for taking part in this charity event which we look forward to repeating next year. Particular special thanks go to our sponsors: Cinco Jotas for the tasty jamón, Hispania for the delectable cheeses, Marqués de Cáceres for the quality wine and Raventós Codorníu for their delicious cava. We hope to see you all again in 2020!

On 5^th June we teamed up with our member the British Spanish Law Association to hold a seminar on the subject of English Law. As was appropriate, the event was held at the 23 Essex Street Chambers located in Temple, the historic legal quarter of the City of London.

The BSLA’s aim is to promote and strengthen relations between lawyers in the United Kingdom and Spain, drawing members of both jurisdictions. They provide a network of legal professionals with expertise in all areas in Spain and the United Kingdom and to cultivate personal and professional relations between members of the profession in both countries.

The seminar brought together more than 40 guests, both professionals and non-professionals and from various different industries and sectors for an evening of clearing up any doubts and uncertainties surrounding the legal system administered by the courts in England and Wales.

here were various topics covered by the panel which included experts from the following fields: Family by Paula Piquer Ruz (Senior Solicitor & Abogada), Inmigration by Sophie Barrett-Brown (Senior Partner & Head of UK Practice), Mental Incapacity by Nicole Gallop Mildon (Director, Solicitor & Diplômée Notaire), Succession and Estate planning by (Álvaro Aznar TEP | Abogado and English Solicitor) and Criminal Law by Richard Saynor (Practitioner).

Following on from the various talks there was the opportunity for the guests to ask any questions they had to each of the panellists in turn. As it was a pleasantly warm summer’s evening, the networking reception which followed took place on the Chamber’s beautiful outdoor terrace. During this time, the guests were able to meet and get to know each other while exchanging their impressions of the evening over a glass of Spanish wine.

The common sentiment was certainly that all in attendance had found the seminar to be highly insightful, productive and useful, and we would like to thank the British Spanish Law Association for collaborating on it with us!

In May the Chamber were delighted to launch a brand new event series: the New Member’s Drinks Reception.

To welcome our newest recruits to our ever-expanding network, we invited our new members to come along to get acquainted with the Chamber’s staff, including the President of the Chamber, Mr. Eduardo Barrachina as well as the board of directors in an informal setting in which they could also meet representatives from other new members of the Chamber.

The first edition took place at Chamber member Boqueria’s stylish Battersea restaurant where our guests enjoyed a few drinks and a delicious selection of tapas including a various cheeses, croquettes and jamón.

It was a very pleasant evening in which the opportunity to network with other Chamber members as well as the board was appreciated and enjoyed by all. Thanks again to Boqueria for hosting us, as well as to all who came!

The next edition of this event will be carried out in the autumn, which will bring together our members who have joined our ranks over the most recent few months. Before then, you can also check out our future events in the UPCOMING EVENTS section of our website and also sign up for our newsletter which is sent out every two weeks to keep up to date with the Chamber’s various activities.

Our second Elevator Pitch of the year took place on Wednesday the 15th of May, at the Chamber’s main office in Marylebone, London.

The guests arrived bright and early and introduced themselves to each other over coffee and tea. Then everyone took their seat before Hannah, our events manager, opened up the event by welcoming all of the participants and providing a recap of the rules:

– Participation is limited to one representative per company.

– A maximum of sixteen companies can take part in each edition.

– A maximum of two companies of the same sector can participate in each edition.

– Each attendee has a maximum of two minutes in order to explain the work of their company to the other participants.

After each representative has finished giving their pitch the question session ensues, in which each attendee has the chance to ask any questions to their fellow participants about their companies, what they specifically offer and how they work, etc. They then have the opportunity to network more informally over some light continental breakfast. Everyone leaves with a business card of each person who took part in the event.

This time 10 companies from a wide range of sectors joined us: Vamos Let’s learn Spanish (Spanish language schools), AG Design & Construction (design consultancy & construction management), Hiberus (business & technology consultancy), Moneycorp (foreign exchange specialist), Stonehealth Clinic (dental & medical centre), Technorizon (IT security solutions), Grant Thornton (assurance and taxation), Zela London (Japanese-Mediterranean fusion cuisine), England A Medida (English language stays in the country) and Smartive (wind turbines management).

The session proved to be a great success with a strong dialogue, and everyone received interesting questions from the other companies’ representatives. We also would like to thank all attendees who took part in this edition of the Elevator Pitch and we hope they found it to have been as useful and enjoyable as we did!

If you have not yet participated in an Elevator Pitch event but are interested in doing so, we encourage you to keep an eye on our newsletter, as well as the UPCOMING EVENTS section of our website for more information about the next one!

We would like to welcome Green Network Energy UK as a new Patron of the Spanish Chamber.

Green Network Energy UK is an independent energy supplier, founded in 2016 by Sabrina Corbo with the objective of bringing an Italian touch to the UK market. It serves 420,000 residential and 2,800 business accounts and offers tariffs to suit different requirements (including a 100% renewable electricity tariff). It plans to grow further and challenge larger UK providers.

Parent company, Green Network, is a major Italian energy supplier (the fourth largest for volume of electricity), launched in 2003 following deregulation of the market. It commands a €2bn+ turnover, invests in renewable energy generation schemes across Italy and in Romania and plans further expansion across the European markets.

Green Network Energy comprises a team of enthusiastic professionals who share a common vision and the company has grown successfully in Italy by focusing on their customers and giving them more choice about how they manage their energy needs.

Today the company generates energy from renewable sources, supplies thousands of homes and business, offers advice on how to save energy and employs nearly 200 people.

Green Network Energy believes that renewable energy provides sustainable benefits for the climate, the economy and is an investment for our futures. A ‘green’ energy company must do more than simply offer green tariffs; it must invest in green energy itself.

That’s why the Green Network Group invests in renewable energy technology and promoting energy conservation to homes and business.

You can read more about their operations by clicking here.