Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom

Categoría: Members

BREAKFAST SEMINAR: FINANCING INNOVATION FOR BUSINESSES

On Thursday, 10^th November, we had the pleasure of holding the seminar “Financing Innovation for Businesses”, at the premises of the Spanish Chamber. We held this seminar in collaboration with F. Iniciatives, member of the Chamber.

On this occasion, Cristina Carmona, Head of External Relations and Communications of the Chamber, gave a warm welcome to all attendees on behalf of our institution and gave the floor to the speakers of the session: Mr. Antoine Abbatucci, Business Development Manager and Mr. Eneko Igartua, International Grants Consultant.

Mr. Abbatucci, began the session introducing the schemes of the Research and Development Tax Incentives. The main aim of this tax incentive is to increase the competitiveness of the UK companies and to guide them through their R&D activities expansion.

Mr. Eneko Igartua presenting during the seminar.

After that, Antoine explained the requirements that HM Revenue & Customs have established for companies to be able to access grants, and he then introduced the R&D tax relief for SMEs. He started by defining the concept of an SME following the European Commission criteria and then he went on to describe the Calculation of the R&D Tax Relief and the benefits SMEs can have through the claiming process which works by self-assessment.

After Antoine finished the introduction, it was the turn of his colleague Eneko Igartua who introduced to attendees the UK´s Innovation Agency, which funds, supports, and connects innovative British businesses through a unique mix of people and programmes to accelerate sustainable economic growth.

Antoine Abbatucci (far right) could greet attendees before the session started.

As Eneko explained, there are a series of initiatives currently running to foster research-based and innovation-driven projects, including the European R+D+I Grant, Horizon 2020. This is a funding framework programme for all EU research and innovation-related activities being carried out between 2014 and 2020. With a budget of 70.2 billion euros, Horizon 2020 was created with the aim to strengthen the EU’s position in research, innovation, and technology matters.

To conclude the seminar, Antoine Abbatucci offered an overview of the Brexit impact for R&D Funding; for now there are no changes in the participation of British companies within European programmes until the Brexit become effective, but after Brexit multiple scenarios are possible and it is key to be informed of different European grants and funds to react accordingly.

Participants had time to continue the discussion after the seminar.

After the session, all attendees had the opportunity to exchange their impressions and ideas about the points covered in the seminar while enjoying some breakfast.

We would like to thank all attendees for joining us and particularly Antoine Abbatucci and Eneko Igartua from F.Iniciatives for delivering such an insightful seminar.

If you want to find out about other activities organised by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, we encourage you to keep an eye on our UPCOMING EVENTS section on our website. In addition to this, you can also subscribe to our weekly newsletter in order to receive updates and information about our events.

24/11/2016
BREAKFAST SEMINAR: MANAGING VIRTUAL TEAMS

On Wednesday 5th October, we had the pleasure of holding the workshop “Managing Virtual Teams”, organised in collaboration with The London School of International Communication, which is part of The London School of English, member of the Chamber.

Virtual team working is nowadays the norm for many organisations, yet many teams fail to meet their objectives due to poor communication, language barriers, feelings of isolation and a lack of team cohesion.

On this occasion, our Secretary General, Igor Urra, gave a warm welcome to the attendees on behalf of the Chamber and introduced Ms. Cathy Wellings, director of The London School of International Communication, who began the session with a brief introduction to the concept of managing virtual teams and its importance considering that around 66% of international companies deploy employees across the globe.

Mr. Igor Urra welcomed attendees and introduced our speaker Ms. Cathy Wellings.

To kick off, she explained the aim of the session, which was to show participants how to minimise the challenges and maximise the benefits of working across different geographies. This explanation was followed by a group dynamics in which attendees -paired up back to back- tried to communicate with their partner. The aim of this exercise was to provide participants with a first-hand example to illustrate the communication problems that may arise when we are not able to speak face to face with someone.

After this group exercise, the speaker went on talking about the importance of launching a good and successful remote team. It is essential, she argued, to make sure that the organisation is prepared to support virtual work in the first place. Likewise, one of the most challenging situations consists in choosing the right people when we may not know them in person, which leads to the importance of building trust among the members of the virtual team in order to make it work.

The session covered the main challenges and benefits of working with virtual teams.

The Director of the London School of International Communication continued her talk with further examples regarding how to measure trust and what constitute relevant criteria to assess if the members of a remote team are effectively dependable.

To conclude the seminar, Cathy elaborated on the ideal sort of behaviours the virtual team manager should have to encourage teams. She highlighted that building a relationship based on trust, being accessible to the employees and encouraging collaboration among them was paramount to pave the way for creating and developing a successful virtual team.

Before the seminar was over, participants were invited to enjoy breakfast, whilst given the opportunity to discuss the session’s ideas and concepts further with the speaker.

Ms. Wellings providing an example of how a virtual manager should behave to encourage team cohesion.

We would like to thank all attendees for joining us, and particularly The London School of Communication, part of The London School of English, and its Director Cathy Wellings for delivering such a dynamic, interesting and useful session.

If you want to find out about other activities organised by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, we encourage you to keep an eye on our UPCOMING EVENTS section on our website. In addition to this, you can also subscribe to our weekly newsletter in order to receive updates and information about our events.

17/10/2016
INFORMAL SUMMER PARTY

On Tuesday 5^th July we welcomed the summertime with our traditional Informal Summer Party which on this occasion was kindly sponsored by PortAventura World, member of the Chamber.

This is one of our most popular events as it marks the end of our activities until September, so members take this opportunity to say farewell before their holidays and share their summer plans.

The party was a great success and over 150 guests gathered together, with the opportunity to learn first-hand about the new projects of PortAventura World while sipping delicious cocktails and canapes. The venue certainly contributed to create a relaxing but engaging atmosphere and allowed attendees to catch up with fellow members.

The spacious venue allowed attendees to mingle in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.

Once the event was in full swing, our Secretary General Mr. Igor Urra, welcomed guests on behalf of our institution and introduced the representatives of PortAventura World: Ms. Coro Miguel, Head of Sales, and Mr. David Sánchez, Senior International Sales Manager.

They took the floor to thank everyone for joining such a wonderful evening and explained in further detail how PortAventura World will be welcoming new and exciting projects in 2017, including a Ferrari-themed park. They went on to show a video presentation that allowed attendees to discover and learn about the full extent of the PortAventura World experience.

From left to right: Mr. David Sánchez, Ms. Coro Miguel (representatives of PortAventura World) and Mr. Igor Urra (Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain).

After the speeches, it was time for the prize draw, where guests were in with the chance to win a weekend stay at PortAventura World. The lucky winners were Javier Arbina, from Arbina restaurant; Jose Saras, from Preiskel & Co., both members of the Chamber; and Paula Enríquez, from SCA Ontier, Patron of the Chamber.

One of the winners of a weekend stay at PortAventura World.

We would very much like to thank everyone who shared this evening with us and congratulate the winners. We are also extremely grateful to PortAventura World for having kindly sponsored this event and allowing our members to learn first-hand about their new projects.

The event gathered over 150 guests from different business sectors.

This Informal Summer Party is the icing on the cake to a fantastic first semester and it is now time to work on new activities for the rest of the year. We will be back in September with the next edition of the International Wine Tasting on Tuesday 20^th September, so please save the date in your diary.

If you missed our Informal Summer Party or just want to find out about other activities that the Spanish Chamber is organising from September onwards, we encourage you to keep an eye on our UPCOMING EVENTS section within our website.

14/07/2016
ELEVATOR PITCH | XXVI EDITION

On Thursday 30^th June, we held the XXVI edition of our Elevator Pitch networking event. This edition took place at Kantox, member of the Spanish Chamber, whose premises are outstandingly located in the heart of The City of London.

On this occasion, Mr. Brad Newton welcomed everyone on behalf of Kantox and Igor Urra, our Secretary General and Nerea Esgueva, Corporate Relations Manager, explained the dynamics of this activity to the attendees, whose main purpose is to provide participants with the possibility to expand their network and to explore further avenues of collaboration with the rest of participants.

From left to right: Mr. Brad Newton, FX Specialist at Kantox and Mr. Igor Urra, who welcomed attendees on behalf of The Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain.

Should you be interested in participating in the next edition of this networking event, there are just a couple of things you need to know regarding this format: Usually there are up to 16 participant companies, and only one representative per company is allowed. However, it is possible to have up to two companies from the same business sector. Therefore, attendees are able to meet a wide variety of companies from different sectors and exchange their business cards.

On this occasion, there was a wide variety of sectors represented among the 15 companies that took part in this edition: Arbonne International (Health and Wellness), Banco Popular (Banking Financial Services), Bluefin Insurance Services (Insurance), Docexpresso (Communications, IT and Networks), F-Initiatives (Banking and Financial Services), Grupo Konecta (Business Consultancy Services), H10 London Waterloo (Hotels and Accommodation), Haymarket Risk Management (Business Consultancy Services), Kantox (Foreign Exchange), Mindjuicer Communications (Advertising and Marketing), Preiskel & Co (Legal Services), Safe Computing (Communications, IT and Networks), Stonehealth (Health), The London School of English (Language Services) and We Find Group (Recruitment Agency).

Attendees had two minutes to introduce their companies to the rest of participants.

After the round of questions, everyone had the opportunity to chat and continue networking over a delicious breakfast provided by the host company.

Thank you to all the professionals who have been part of the last edition of the Elevator Pitch and our gratitude to Kantox for kindly hosting the event and welcoming us.

After the event, participants had the opportunity to enjoy a delicious breakfast offered by Kantox.

If you missed this event or simply want to know what we are up to next, have a look at the UPCOMING EVENTS section on our website or subscribe to our electronic newsletter for weekly updates.

08/07/2016
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS AND HUMAN RELATIONS PREVIEW

On Tuesday, 14^th June we held the workshop “Effective Communications and Human Relations Preview”, organised in collaboration with Dale Carnegie, Benefactor member of the Spanish Chamber. This two-hour workshop provided attendees with useful tools and techniques that would help them communicate more effectively and strengthen interpersonal relations.

Our Secretary General, Igor Urra, gave a warm welcome to all attendees on behalf of our institution and gave the floor to Ms. Alina Maraghelis, the speaker for this session.

Ms. Alina Maraghelis, the speaker from Dale Carnegie Training.

To kick off, she introduced the objectives of Dale Carnegie’s programme and talked about the three essential aspects to keep in mind in order to achieve success, what is also known as the Triangle for Success or Pyramid of Success: Skills, Knowledge and Attitude.

After that, Alina briefly highlighted the importance of using memory links while communicating. This explanation was followed by some practical exercises in which attendees were put to the test and had to remember the name of the rest by linking them to images and ideas.

All the participants had the chance to put into practice their memorization skills with some practical exercises.

Taking as a reference Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, she went on to explain the main principles that apply if we are to improve human relations in an effective way and mentioned how emotional and behavioural changes in individuals lead to better results in their communication styles.

Once the session finished, Alina encouraged attendees to share their thoughts and comment on her contributions. The Q&A session provided participants the opportunity to enquire further on how to enhance relationships and foster cooperation at working environments.

The attendees during the Q&A session.

Before the event was over, participants were invited to enjoy the breakfast, time when both the attendees and the speaker were able to discuss further the ideas the session had covered over a cup of coffee.

We would like to thank all attendees for joining us and particularly to Ms. Alina Maraghelis from Dale Carnegie for delivering again such an interactive and productive presentation on effective communications and human relations.

If you want to find out other activities that the Spanish Chamber of Commerce is organising, we encourage you to keep an eye on our UPCOMING EVENTS section within our website. In addition to this, you can also subscribe to our weekly newsletter in order to receive updates with our events.

30/06/2016
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AT WORK

On Tuesday 7^th June we had the pleasure of holding the workshop “Emotional Intelligence at Work”, organised in collaboration with The Client Academy, Benefactor of the Spanish Chamber.

On this occasion, our Secretary General, Igor Urra, received attendees on behalf of our institution and introduced Ms. Mónica Hernanz, Managing Director of the company and our speaker on the day.

To kick off, Mónica started the talk by explaining relevant information about the background of the company and herself before tackling what would be the main content of the workshop: what Emotional Intelligence is and its applicability on some working areas.

Ms. Mónica Hernanz, the speaker from The Client Academy during the session.

Furthermore, Mónica went on to describe the main features of highly emotional intelligent individuals and talked about how this concept has changed throughout the years. In particular, she focused on the EQi 2.0 test, which is considered as the most used and validated Emotional Intelligence test in the world and consists of 5 different areas: self-perception, self-expression, interpersonal, decision making and stress management.

To elaborate on this, the speaker provided attendees with an Emotional Intelligence self-scoring test by following the EQi 2.0 model, in order to evaluate their skills in comparison to most business people they know while explaining every relevant concept.

The attendees listened attentively during the workshop.

To conclude the workshop, Mónica briefly summed up the whole presentation and showed how an investment in Emotional Intelligence produces tangible results in businesses by sharing some successful cases in multinational companies.

Once the session finished, participants were invited to enjoy the breakfast; time when both the attendees and the speaker were able to discuss further the ideas the session had covered.

Participants had the opportunity to network and exchange their opinions about the session.

We would like to thank all attendees for joining us and particularly to Ms. Mónica Hernanz from The Client Academy for delivering such an interactive and productive presentation on Emotional Intelligence.

If you want to find out other activities that the Spanish Chamber of Commerce is organising, we encourage you to keep an eye on our UPCOMING EVENTS section within our website. In addition to this, you can also subscribe to our weekly newsletter in order to receive updates with our events.

22/06/2016
BREAKFAST SEMINAR “EMPLOYMENT LAW: WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2016”

On Thursday 14th April, we had the pleasure of holding the seminar “Employment Law: What to Expect in 2016”, organised in collaboration with Levenes Employment, part of Levenes Solicitors, member of the Spanish Chamber.

On this occasion, our Secretary General, Igor Urra, received attendees on behalf of our institution and introduced the speakers from Levenes Employment: Rachel Lester, Senior Solicitor and Shahzad Ayub, Solicitor.

From left to right, the speakers from Levenes Employment: Shahzad Ayub, Solicitor and Rachel Lester, Senior Solicitor.

To kick off the session, Shahzad Ayub introduced the company and revealed the main four aspects that would be covered during the session: Holiday Pay, National Living Wage, Gender Pay Reporting and Zero Hours Contracts.

After this brief introduction, he made reference to the minimum requirements and recent decisions taken on Holiday Pay, as well as explaining what payments should be included and how to calculate them properly.

Afterwards, the speaker focused on the five different rates of National Minimum Wage according to the different categories of worker by age. More importantly, he emphasised on one of these; the National Living Wage, which was introduced on 1 April 2016 and applies to workers aged 25 or over, and concluded this part of the talk explaining which workers are entitled to be taken into account.

The attendees were listening attentively throughout the session.

Once Shahzad had finished his discourse, Rachel Lester took over to talk about the Gender Pay Gap Reporting, which is expected to come into force on 1^st October 2016 in order to guarantee that male and female receive equal pay for equal work. In this sense, she focused on the information that employers will be required to publish and explained how to calculate both the mean and median pay.

Rachel then went on to explain which employers are affected and covered, as well as the consequences of non-compliance and the steps that employers should consider to prepare themselves for the new requirements.

To conclude the seminar, the speaker provided the attendees with useful information about the Zero Hours Contracts, which set out the terms of the relationship between an employer and a casual worker, and summarised how they can be of assistance with these issues.

The event then moved on to the Q&A session, where the representatives of Levenes Employment responded to all the questions from the attendees. Once the session finished, participants could enjoy an interactive networking breakfast while sharing thoughts and discussing further all the ideas covered in the talk.

Attendees had the opportunity to discuss further during the networking breakfast.

Before finishing, we would like to thank all attendees for participating as well as the team of Levenes Employment for creating a very enjoyable and dynamic atmosphere and for delivering such a practical and interactive talk.

Last but not least, we encourage you to keep updated on all the activities of the Spanish Chamber by visiting our UPCOMING EVENTS section. You can also subscribe to our weekly electronic newsletter in order to receive updates on the latest activities of the Chamber!

29/04/2016
EVENING TALK | JUMPING BARRIERS WHEN MOVING ABROAD.

On Thursday 17th March we held the evening talk “Jumping Barriers When Moving Abroad”, organised in collaboration with Kantox, member of the Spanish Chamber.

This two-hour event was the perfect occasion to show the participants how to mitigate risks when moving abroad by explaining which possible barriers should be taken into account to succeed during this process.

On this occasion, Brandon Smith, Country Manager at Kantox, welcomed attendees and briefly introduced himself before moving on to presenting the guest speaker for the evening: Daniel Evans, Chief Financial Officer at Dating Factory, who provided a practical example of the different barriers businesses must overcome based from his first-hand experience.

From left to right: Daniel Evans, Chief Financial Officer at Dating Factory and Brandon Smith, Country Manager at Kantox.

To kick off, Daniel started by explaining relevant information about the background of the company and where it came from before tackling the main content of his speech: the issues that arose when relocating the company from Ukraine to Bulgaria.

He then elaborated on this by explaining the struggles Dating Factory had to overcome during this process, which were mainly related to the following issues: legal aspects, technology, banks and financing, employees, cultural issues and currency approach. In this sense, he emphasised the relevance of having a proper FX strategy when entering a foreign market where local currency was difficult to get from traditional banks and explained the crucial role played by Kantox in their successful case.

The attendees were listening attentively throughout the session.

To conclude the seminar, Daniel provided an overview about the topics discussed in the talk and highlighted the importance of preparing a good plan in advance, learning quickly from mistakes and having constant communication at all levels. More importantly, David emphasized on the figure of the project manager and how having one can make a big difference to ease the hassle that arises from moving the company and its workforce abroad.

The event then moved on to the Q&A session, where the speaker provided further examples to answer the questions from the participants. Once the Q &A session was over, attendees and speakers could network and share their opinions over some drinks and nibbles while enjoying the breath-taking views over London.

Once the talk had finished, attendees had the opportunity to network and exchange their opinions about the session.

Last but not least, we encourage you to keep updated on all the activities of the Spanish Chamber by visiting our UPCOMING EVENTS section. You can also subscribe to our weekly electronic newsletter in order to receive updates on the latest activities of the Chamber!

05/04/2016
AN EVENING AT ST. PAUL’S

The Spanish Chamber of Commerce hosted a very special cocktail evening on 20^th October 2015. Our members had the privilege to enjoy the dazzling views of St. Paul’s Cathedral from the exclusive Sky Bar atop Grange St. Paul’s Hotel.

Set up ready for the presentation of the partnership at Grange St. Paul’s.

The event gathered around 120 representatives from other member companies who were introduced to the benefits of the partnership that the Chamber has acquired with Grange Hotels, including discounts in some of their services, special rates and much more!

On such an occasion, we had a premium selection of cured meats & Ibérico ham kindly provided by Arte Ibérico UK.

Igor Urra, the Spanish Chamber’s Secretary General, welcomed attendees to the event at Grange Hotels’ flagship property.

The Secretary General stated: “The Spanish Chamber of Commerce is always keen on exploring synergies and new avenues of collaboration that can also add value to our members. The partnership we have acquired with Grange Hotels is a great example of this, as one of our main goals lies in the promotion of relations between member companies.”

Igor Urra, Secretary General of the Chamber, pointed out the openness of the Chamber to exploring new partnerships.

Igor presented Tony Matharu, Managing Director of Grange Hotels, who took the stage and addressed a very eloquent speech about the history, milestones achieved and philosophy of Grange Hotels, highlighting its involvement in, and the value of “establishing long-term relationships”.

Tony Matharu, Managing Director of Grange Hotels Group, during his engaging speech about the story behind the business.

Grange Hotels has 17 luxury hotels in London, all 4 or 5 star rated, and has developed and extended partnerships with some of the capital’s most iconic attractions.

The partnership agreement we have acquired with Grange Hotels will allow member companies from the Spanish Chamber to benefit from a great range of advantages included in the collection’s loyalty scheme: from discounts in accommodation, to offers at some of the top local attractions, such as the city’s latest art exhibitions and concerts. This programme has been created by Grange Hotels along with their global representation company, Global Hospitality Services (GHS), which was also represented on the evening.

To round off a magnificent presentation and official launch of this agreement, we hosted a raffle that gave one of the attendees the chance to enjoy a super luxurious Champagne night for 2 at Grange St. Paul’s Hotel. The lucky awardee was Adriana Agudo, from Scornik Gerstein.

Beauty sight view of St. Paul’s Cathedral from the hotel outdoor terrace.

The star on the night was, undoubtedly, the outdoor terrace and the magnificent view of St Paul’s Cathedral which many of the guests indulged in. It could well be a symbol of what Grange Hotels represents: tradition and luxury, with a local twist.

04/11/2015
First international conference of businesswomen in rural areas

The Spanish Chamber of Commerce has helped bringing together 60 entrepreneurial and businesswomen from several rural areas in Spain and the UK in what it has been an unprecedented event that took place in Edgmond last Wednesday 5th June, at The Regional Food Academy of Harper Adams University .

Participants of the first international conference of businesswomen in rural areas

The core of this event is the European Women in Rural Business Association that was developed amongst some Chambers of Commerce in Spain and leaded by the Soria Chamber of Commerce. The whole project is supported by the Consejo Superior de Cámaras.

European Women in Rural Business Association is an innovative project financed by the European Union and the Spanish Government, aimed to foster businesses run by women in rural areas. It was launched in July 2011 and it will be running activities until November 2013. The aim of this initiative is to create an interactive platform to support entrepreneurs, directives and businesswomen and address them throughout the use of technology and the tools to ease the internationalisation processes. As part of their scheduled activities they planned this conference in Great Britain so as to get to meet the situation of their British colleagues and discuss some best practices together.

The event was introduced by Mr. Rubén Fernández, Head of International Trade & Business Development, followed by a welcoming speech delivered by Mr. Igor Urra, Secretary General of the Chamber. Ms. Polly Gibb, Director at WiRE, the association for Women in Rural Entreprise in the UK, continued pointing out the importance of this sort of organisations for the development of their businesses potential.

Mr. Igor Urra during his speech. Next to him and standing up, Ms. Polly Gibb

Business women from different sectors shared their know-how by giving some practical tips and advice to start and run a business, and pointed out the need of creating more forums so as to encourage more women to develop their very own projects. After the coffee break, five round tables were set in order for attendees to learn deeper about their foreign homonymous. The 60 participants were split in groups with equal numbers of Spanish and UK delegates and also with an interpreter per table, so as to give the chance to all of them to introduce their businesses and to do some networking in order to explore synergies.

Attendees in the round table sharing their experiences as entrepreneurs.

All attendees found this experience very inspirational and productive, taking advantage of some great tips and wise testimonies to move their businesses forward. We would like to thank participants and organisers, especially to the Soria Chamber of Commerce for their initiative and make this event happen and to WiRE for their tremendous support in the organisation of the event . We wish a great success to all the businesswomen involved!

11/06/2013

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