Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom

Tag: Spanish Chamber in Great Britain

A NEW EDITION OF THE “TWO WEEKS PROGRAMME” IN LONDON

On Friday 29^th July the Spanish Chamber of Commerce hosted an informative session that was part of “The Two Weeks Programme”, an initiative jointly organised by the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and the Valencia University (UV).

This is the fifth year in a row in which the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain takes part in this exciting initiative. The delegation that came to London was led by Mr. Antonio Reig, Prof. Dr. Industrial Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and coordinator of the programme.

The “Two Weeks Programme” takes place once a year and it gives 20 students from the above universities the opportunity to travel to London for a two-week stay. During the programme the participants attend a course about recruitment processes and visit prestigious companies from different industries related to their field of studies, such as Energy, IT, Industrial Production, Technical Consultancy, Financial Engineering, Construction and Real Estate.

The participants of the “Two Weeks Programme” from the UPV.

The session hosted at the Spanish Chamber provided further information about the role of the institution and the opportunities available in the UK for young graduates.

To start off, Ms. Cristina Carmona, Head of External Relations and Communications, welcomed the participants on behalf of our institution and spoke about the main services provided by the Chamber and the activities we organise throughout the year. This topic proved of special interest for the students, who took the opportunity to enquire further about it.

Ms. Cristina Carmona (Spanish Chamber of Commerce) welcoming the participants along with Mr. Geoff Curran (Energy Live News).

The next speaker was Ms. Sofía Vázquez, Co-founder of Bookingenglish, a company specialised in sourcing English courses, assessing candidates CVs and finding placements for graduates. She offered the participants of the Two Weeks Programme useful tips to be successful at interviews and selection processes, and highlighted the importance of making a first good impression.

She also mentioned other things to take into consideration such as the need to be flexible in a competitive and demanding market and shared her experience as co-founder of a business and the challenges it presents.

Ms. Sofía Vázquez, Co-Founder of Bookingenglish, during her talk.

Finally it was the turn of Geoff Curran, Founder and Commercial Director of Energy Live News, a leading energy news site in the United Kingdom. Mr. Curran shared relevant information about the background of the company and focused on explaining how to survive and thrive in business by providing an inspiring talk full of day-to-day examples to follow based on his previous experience.

Ms. Cristina Carmona closed the informative session and received a commemorative plaque from Mr. Antonio Reig as a memory of this fifth collaboration between our institution and the participants of the “Two Weeks Programme”.

Mr. Antonio Reig (UPV) handed a plate to Ms. Cristina Carmona (Spanish Chamber of Commerce) to mark this visit.

We would like to thank all the speakers of this informative session as well as the students who have taken part this year in the “Two Weeks Programme” for their interest and involvement.

If you wish to obtain further details about the programme and how it works, have a look at the following video on last year’s edition.

03/08/2016
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
BREAKFAST SEMINAR “WHAT IS COACHING? NEUROSCIENCE APPLIED TO COACHING”

On Thursday 23rd October the Spanish Chamber of Commerce held a seminar “What is Coaching? Neuroscience Applied to Coaching” in collaboration with Oryent, member of the Chamber.

On this occasion, our Secretary General Igor Urra received attendees on behalf of our institution and introduced the speaker of the seminar, Montserrat Rodríguez Conesa, Managing Director at ORYENT.

To kick off, Montserrat showed attendees a diagram demonstrating the points that would be covered during the session and she asked them what they thought that coaching meant in order to begin to draw them into to the concept. She defined coaching as a technique that improves and maximizes performances by helping the person to think deeper.

After this brief introduction, she explained the meaning of neuroscience applied to coaching and she pointed out that our thinking process creates feelings, and our feelings in turn affect our behaviour. This said, through a constant process we are able to change a thought into a behaviour and this would eventually lead to creating a habit. The process that paves the way for this is as follows: Think – believe – feel – processing feelings – habit. As Montserrat explained after getting used to these dynamics, people adopt a new habit without realising.

She gave attendees an example to illustrate this process with an everyday situation. If a professional believes that he/she is the adequate profile to get a promotion he/she is then going to do their best in the job, and it possible that this positive thinking helps him/her to reach the goal of getting promoted. The process works both ways: a negative thinking process leads to behaving passively which prevents us from reaching our goals.

Montserrat covered different aspects of coaching and how we all can benefit from it.

Expanding on this, she talked about some of the benefits of neuroscience applied to coaching, such as that it helps people to transform their thinking in order to unblock their mind from obstacles and release their potential. The most important point is to programme our brain to think positive in order to be successful. In addition to this, she highlighted that to be able to coach a person, it is essential that this person is willing and allow the professional to guide him/her.

To conclude the seminar, Monserrat surprised attendees by simulating a real coaching session with the help of one of the attendees, who volunteered to take part in this mock coaching session.

Montserrat replying to attendees during the Q&A session that followed the talk.

Once the session finished, all attendees could enjoy an interactive networking breakfast while sharing thoughts and discussing further all the ideas covered in the talk.

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.

30/10/2014
ATTEND “GOING GLOBAL LIVE” AND LEARN HOW TO TAKE YOUR BUSINESS WORLDWIDE

The Chamber is pleased to collaborate with Prysm Group on one of their top international exhibitions Going Global Live 2014, taking place at Olympia London on the 27^th and 28^th of November. The event is supported by the UKTI, member of the Chamber, and is an exhibition tailored to SMEs wanting to expand its business internationally.

The Spanish Chamber of Commerce will be one of the exhibitors and partners at this event, and we will also have our Secretary General, Igor Urra delivering a brief speech, “Spain is back in business”, to introduce trade and investment current opportunities in Spain.

The agenda includes a wealth of educational seminars, workshops, networking events and interactive features. If you are interested in knowing further details on the great list of speakers that are taking part on the show, you can do so by clicking here.

Going Global Live is an unmissable opportunity for SMEs to network and gain information or assistance in exporting products or setting up overseas operations – particularly in Europe and the BRICS markets (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). It is a complete event for companies looking to trade overseas and learn about business, find suppliers and network in an international atmosphere.

If you wish to order a free ticket for this international event, you can access the register for free online here.

To learn more about Going Global Live and access the full programme, we would like to encourage you to visit their complete website: www.goinggloballive.co.uk

29/10/2014
A CORUÑA EXPORPYMES

On the 8^th October the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain organised an Outward Trade Mission to Galicia. The aim was to give British companies the chance to attend the first edition of “A Coruña Exporpymes”, a trade fair organised by La Coruña Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain, which is a formal member of, and some other organisations.

On this occasion, our Secretary General , Igor Urra and our Foreign Trade Manager, Jesús Agra travelled to La Coruña alongside three British importers and distributors within the Food & Wine sector. These importers had the chance of meeting some of the most important Galician food and wine producers as well as the opportunity to taste their products. Similarly, Galician exhibitors had the chance to introduce their produce to these new importers and distributors.

The area where attendees could network and exchange opinions about the products/services.

Exporpymes welcomed importers and distributors from around the world, including representatives from France, USA, China, Latin America and Eastern Europe among other countries and regions. During the fair about 150 Galician companies s had the opportunity to promote their products/ services from a wide range of sectors such as food, jewellery, construction, among others.

To kick things off, Jesus Agra and Igor Urra held meetings with 10 Galician companies from several sectors that are interested in exporting their products/services to UK or to get more information about this market.

In addition to this our Secretary General, Igor Urra, was the speaker of a seminar aimed at young Galician students. The main topic was the British market, also covered were more specific issues such as the identification of the most dynamic sectors of the British market, specific characteristics about the British economy and cultural factors that should be take into account when doing business.

Our Secretary General, Igor Urra after giving the talk to young Galician students.

Once the exhibition finished, attendees had the opportunity to indulge in a delicious lunch that consisted of products from the region while they exchanged opinions in an international environment.

We would very much like to thank everyone who took part in this mission and especially to La Coruña Chamber of Commerce for their great effort organizing this Exhibition.

If you want to find out about other activities that the Spanish Chamber is organising in the coming weeks, we encourage you to keep an eye on our UPCOMING EVENTS section within our website or subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

20/10/2014
Financial Forum: European Emerging Markets.

On Thursday 9th July the Financial Forum of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce organised it’s third meeting since it was launched in January 2014. The gathering was held in London at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The Financial Forum belongs to and is managed exclusively by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain. Its main function is to bring together Spanish professionals from the City and provide them with a platform to promote the dialogue, share best practices and exchange ideas about the current economic and financial context.

The meeting took place at the EBRD premises in central London.

The session, which was presided by Prof. Ahmad Rahnema, Chairman of the Forum, focused on “European Emerging Markets: the Ukrainian and Russian Crisis”. Mr. Philip Bennett, First Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of the EBRD and member of the Bank’s Executive Committee, addressed attendees and highlighted the importance of long term investments for the economies of these countries to move forward. As he explained, Ukrainian economy is going through a painful adjustment in order to attract foreign capital while Russia presents a much more delicate scenario where the confidence of the investor is weakening.

From left to right: Mr. Eduardo Barrachina, Mr. Antonio Oporto, Mr. Philip Bennett, Prof. Ahmad Rahnema and Mr. Javier Fernández Hidalgo.

The Forum counted with the privilege attendance of Mr. Antonio Oporto, Board Director for Spain and Mexico of the EBRD; Mr. Javier Fernández Hidalgo, President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain and Mr. Eduardo Barrachina from White & Case and Treasurer of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce. This time, representatives from BBVA, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Dragados, EBRD, Ferrovial, HSBC, IESE, JP Morgan, Lloyds Bank, Mapfre, Morgan Stanley, Société Générale, and Uría Menéndez were in attendance.

Attendees greeted each other moments before the event started.

After the session and subsequent Q&A, attendees were kindly invited to move on to the reception area where they could enjoy a selection of products from the markets where the EBRD is currently present. Some of the great products they enjoyed were Efes Pilsen, a refreshing Turkish beer as well as Marani red & white wines from Georgia.

Our guests tasted some original products during the cocktail.

We would like to thank all guests and the kind host EBRD for their support and participation in the Financial Forum of the Spanish Chamber. Lastly, if you are interested in the events of the Chamber and want to be informed on our current activities, please click on this link to complete the form that you will find at the bottom of the page and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

28/07/2014
Discover the New Flavours of La Tasca!

On Wednesday 14th May we celebrated the spring weather with an informal party at the Covent Garden restaurant of La Tasca, member of the Chamber.

To kick off, guests were welcomed with a glass of refreshing Spanish sangria upon arrival and were then led to a private area within the three-floor restaurant for them to enjoy the evening. The event was the perfect opportunity for our members to taste the new tapas menu and discover the Covent Garden restaurant, which has been recently renovated.

A glass of refreshing sangria awaited our attendees.

Since it is well known that man does not live on tapas alone, La Tasca had a surprise in store. In fact, as soon as guests realised the tools to cook paella were laid out at the back of the room, they gathered with anticipation around the cooking area to find with delight that one of the chefs was getting ready to prepare this traditional Spanish recipe.

The chef from La Tasca while cooking the tasteful paella.

With the paella slowly cooking, our members chatted and enjoyed the relaxing environment over a glass of wine. And it did not stop there. At the beginning of the evening our guests had entered a prize draw and minutes before serving the paella, our Secretary General Igor Urra was in charge of announcing that Ms. Anna Wu and Ms. Susy Calleja, both from Meliá White House, were the lucky winners of a dinner for two at La Tasca and a bottle of wine, respectively.

The winners of the prize, Susy Calleja (L) and Ana Wu (R) from Meliá White House with our Secretary General, Igor Urra.

After the winners had been announced, the chef informed that the paella was ready and so guests made their way towards the cooking stand to have their share. Rounding off a perfect evening, attendees received a goodie bag which contained pimentón de La Vera and rice from Calasparra, two ingredients that would allow them to reproduce at home some of the recipes they tasted at the event.

Attendees could enjoy drinks and tapas in a pleasant atmosphere.

If this had not been enough La Tasca posted a Club Platinum Dining Card to all attendees after the event, which gives them a wide range of benefits as exclusive discounts at any La Tasca restaurant in the UK.

We would very much like to thank everyone who joined and shared this evening with us. We are also extremely grateful to La Tasca for having kindly hosted this event. If you would like to learn more about the brand, host your own event at La Tasca or just enjoy the taste of the new tapas menu with friends, please click on the image below to access their contact details.

If you missed this event or just want to find out about other activities that the Spanish Chamber is organising in the coming weeks, we encourage you to keep an eye on our UPCOMING EVENTS section within our website or subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

23/05/2014

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