We would like to welcome GRUPOTEC RENEWABLES as a new Patron of the Spanish Chamber.
Grupotec Renewables is an international company that offers engineering and consulting services; and develops, builds and finances renewable energy projects.
A multinational company with 17 years of experience. Throughout this time, they have developed projects in 12 countries worldwide, being the leading company of solar photovoltaic energy in the United Kingdom, which is the country of reference of this sector. Since 2011, they have installed 200 MW and developed 32 solar farms in the country.
Grupotec focuses their activity in different business areas: Renewable energy, environment, industry and construction. The company provides integral solutions that range from project development, EPC projects and operation and maintenance services of their own-development plants (230 facilities in 4 countries).
For additional information, please visit their website www.grupotec.es
On Thursday 21st November the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain organised an exclusive blind tasting evening for Patrons in collaboration with The Haciendas Club, members of the Chamber, at their venue by the riverside.
It was a chilly evening outside, but guests felt relieved when they got into the warm “Magister Room” where the tasting took place. There stood a big table set with The Haciendas brand artisan and organic produce and the wine selection that attendees would taste later on. Everything was immaculately laid out and arranged for the tasting to begin.
If you have not attended a blind tasting before, you might think your wine knowledge is passable, at least. However, once you have six glasses filled with different wine varieties and the only thing you can tell about them is “this is a red, a white or a sparkling”, or “this smells a bit stronger or sweeter”, then you realise you know nothing about it!
In fact, you can even be wrong altogether because it is the grape skin that confers the colour to the wine, so you can get a white coloured wine from dark grapes. After this experience, you might change your mind and accept wines are complex and begin to assume that getting to be a connoisseur requires care, attention, time and effort.
Lucy Mounter guided attendees throughout what turned out to be not only a wine but also a food tasting.
Once guests took their seats, Ms. Lucy Mounter, Brand Ambassador for The Haciendas Membership Club, began to introduce participants to what turned out to be an interesting journey around several Latin countries. Attendees had the chance to enhance their palate by tasting different flavours from Italy to Spain and flying over to Argentina. Not only did they taste them, they learned some techniques and clues to identify the grape variety (or varieties), origin, name of the wine and even how to get a close idea of its retail value!
The blind tasting was also presented as a quiz, so as to encourage guests to concentrate on the different aspects that make each wine unique. As speculation ensued amongst attendees a bottle of the house brand olive oil was also passed around the table for the participants to taste it while racking their brains in order to get some right answers about their wine tasting. In truth several attendees possessed some previous experience and good skills regarding wine culture and were able to share them with rest of the guests.
Attendees focused on the talk and took the quiz very seriously!
We would like to thank The Haciendas Club for kindly providing our Patrons with this exclusive and flavourful event, and hope attendees enjoyed it. Should you wish to learn more about the Spanish Chamber exclusive “Patron’s Club” and the rest of the advantages this membership brings to companies that join as Patrons, do not hesitate to contact us. You can also keep posted for future activities by subscribing to our newsletter or browsing our Upcoming Events section on our website www.spanishchamber.co.uk
On Tuesday 15th October representatives of the Patron companies from the Spanish Chamber attended the England vs. Poland FIFA World Cup European Qualifying match at Wembley Stadium. The event turned out to be an exciting game as the outcome decided the certain qualification of one of the teams.
Club Wembley kindly provided our Patrons with a champagne reception at the Bobby Moore bar and offered them the chance to mingle and make their bets on the game before the match started.
Wembley stadium hosted the decisive match between England and Poland.
The match was decisive, since it led directly to classification to the World Cup in Brazil next June, and England did not disappoint the crowd that came to Wembley to support them. The match was really thrilling with England scoring two goals against the Polish team.
Supporters from both teams vibrated with emotion in every play and phase. Our Patrons proved to be passionate by showing their excitement and jumping off their seats every time some player got close to the opponent side.
We would like to thank Club Wembley for providing us with the chance to experience an evening at Wembley Stadium premises and for the care and attention given to our Patrons.
We would also like to thank Patrons for their participation and we look forward to seeing them at the the next Patrons’ Club Event: a blind tasting which will be held at The Haciendas Club, member of the Chamber, on 21st November.
It is quite likely you have asked yourself this question in the early stages or your membership or prior to joining our institution. Maybe even after becoming a member.
For some of you it may have been clear from the beginning: having access to a highly varied network of both British and Spanish businesses from a wide range of professional sectors. Others may favour the institutional visibility provided by the status of becoming a Patron of our institution, while some others may have decided to join simply because they want to be part of the big family that the Chamber has become since its foundation back in 1886. Needless to say it has grown to have quite a lot relatives over the years.
Whatever your reason for joining, members expect to make the most of their membership, which honestly is fair enough. So with this in mind, we would like to remind you that at the Spanish Chamber there is always something for everyone according to their specific needs.
So what’s in it for members in terms of …
Events and Networking
We may be a small team, but we try not to let this hold us back from planning an ever growing calendar of events with a wide range of formats, and with over 50 activities per year each member can find the right one for them.
In addition to our own activities, we collaborate with other institutions and foreign Chambers from time to time in order to increase the events on offer for our associates, allowing them to have access to an even bigger professional network.
We also offer companies the possibility to increase their brand awareness by sponsoring some of our activities, and to organise events in collaboration with us – and so it is in this capacity that we encourage partners to get in contact with us should they wish to explore scope for working together on an event. Our Events and Communication team will be happy to assist and help you choose the right format for your specific needs.
If you have never attended our events or do so very rarely, we strongly recommend that you try to take part in them – if for nothing else than to meet new members and to catch up with old ones. We are in attendance to all the activities that we organise, so it will be our pleasure to welcome you whether it is the first time you attend them or not.
Although they all followed the instructors’ explanations very carefully, none were able to figure out when the “drinks bit” actually started
Trade and Commercial Services
The Chamber does not live on networking events only, and so if you are looking to explore new business opportunities and seek to approach potential new clients or professional partners, our Foreign Trade Department has the right tools to assess specific commercial strategies suitable to your company.
From individual commercial agendas to multi -sector trade missions, the department covers different scenarios to ensure each business can find the adequate means to explore possible avenues of collaboration in the British or Spanish markets, providing guidance and information throughout the process.
Other services
We are always looking to improve the membership experience we offer to our associates and with that in mind we have created different sections on our website to allow members to interact with each other. For instance, did you know we have a dedicated M2M (Members-to-Members) section where associated companies can advertise exclusive offers and promotions for other members? Or that you can promote the activities you organise via our Members’ Events section?
We have also created a Spanish Chamber of Commerce group in LinkedIn so our members can share and exchange information, create discussion groups, or simply network online if you cannot always make it to our events. We know you prefer the real thing but as the saying goes “half a loaf is better than none”.
In addition to the above, if you have any questions, suggestions or ideas you would like to share with us, do not hesitate to contact us. We will be more than happy to hear what our members have to say to help us grow and improve as an institution.
And as the big family the Chamber has grown to be, it is just worth remembering that we are also here to give a helping hand. So next time you are in doubt whether we can be of assistance, just let us know.
On 27th of September, the Spanish Chamber held one of its exclusive Patron’s Club events: Breakfast with Mr. Jaime García-Legaz, Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign Trade.
The breakfast was a great opportunity to rub shoulders with business world elites from the the UK & Spain, who kindly support the Spanish Chamber of Commerce through patronship. The atmosphere was jovial, but it was also an opportunity for a frank discussion of one of the key economic issues of our time – how it is that businesses can get to grips with the ways in which the Spanish economy can look to improve, and ultimately to emerge as a strong world competitor in the coming years.
Mr. Jaime García-Legaz, Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign Trade.
The former economic and financial analyst at the Bank of Spain, who also has experience in the position of Director General of Financial Policy at the Economic & Finance Ministry, took to the podium. He stressed the need to reform the Spanish financial architecture and again reaffirmed that he will endeavor to maintain Spain as a part of the euro.
Mr. García-Legaz pointed out that there is still the need for extensive labour reforms as a key tool to overcome the current crisis in Spain, which links directly with the fundamental commitment by the current centre-right government to budgetary stability. These measures, in the words of García-Legaz, are aimed at economic growth.
However, his speech was full of optimism, and stated that Spain would begin to see the first signs of recovery within the 3rd quarter of 2013, which are otherwise starting to be reflected in foreign investment figures. This positive shift is currently being supported by a structural correction being brought about through the generating of an unprecedented trade surplus.
CEO’s and other high-level deligates from our Patron companies milling around during the breakfast.
In conclusion, he reiterated the importance of betting on the policy adjustments of the government and, in particular, to trust leading Spanish companies, many of them present at this breakfast, since it is they who are ultimately the ones that generate sustainable growth and stimulate the economy. This is, he remarked, essential in order for Spain to emerge stronger from the crisis.
Patrons of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce representatives attended the event along with H.E. The Ambassador of Spain Federico Trillo Figueroa and the President of The Spanish Chamber, Mr.Fernando Pérez.
The Spanish Chamber of Commerce was honoured to have Mr. John Cridland, Director-General of the Confederation of Brithish Indrustry, as the Guest of Honour for an exclusive Patrons’ Club event at the Meliá White House, member of the Chamber. Our Patrons were invited to enjoy an afternoon tea while listening to Mr. Cridland’s interesting speech about the relationship between British and Spanish markets.
There was a great expectation among the attendees on what John Cridland had to say about the current economic climate and its impact on UK-based business and European markets. The President of the Spanish Chamber, Mr. Fernando Pérez, introduced Mr. Cridland, who began his speech mentioning an Spanish figure that he claimed to admire greatly: Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as “El Cid Campeador”, a Middle Age nobleman and military leader very popular in Spain. As an anecdote, he told the attendees he has been to Spain several times with his family just to follow the steps out where “El Cid” walked by.
Apart from outlining a brief path on business relations between GB and Spain, John Cridland also went deeply into the Eurozone crisis, how it is affecting the British market and the perception within British industries of what is being done wrong but also some tips on how to move forward. In regard to this particular issue, he sounded quite optimistic but still realistic enough to show British companies concern and fears about the Eurozone, and mainly about Spain.
Likewise, John Cridland pointed out the interest of SME’s in the British market and the CBI commitment with these companies when trying to convince government to create a mid-size bond market in the UK.
Last but not least, there was time for Q&A that turned out into a very interesting discussion between our Patrons, who participated actively asking questions on many different topics, and Mr. Cridland. After this, the attendees found time to network and enjoy the delicious scones, tea and savory sandwiches courtesy of the Meliá White House Hotel, our kind sponsors for this Patrons’ Club event.
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