Region to Host Largest Meet the Buyer Event in the UK

18/11/2009

International businesses actively looking for suppliers are being targeted by Yorkshire Forward to work with regional businesses in the largest ‘meet the buyer’ event in the UK.

Going Global – Meet the Buyer Event 2010 will take place on 17 March 2010 at the Events Centre at the Great Yorkshire Show Ground in Harrogate and is being organised by Yorkshire Forward in association with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).

This unique event will combine a ‘meet the buyer’ trading platform, along with Master Class workshops and a Global Village, to ensure regional businesses, who have the capability of trading internationally get the support they need. 

Over 900 delegates are expected to attend the event from key industry sectors which have strong export potential such as food and drink, advanced engineering and materials, construction, digital, environmental technologies and healthcare.

International buyers already signed up include companies from the USA, Canada, Brazil, China, India, Germany and France. And local businesses are being urged to register early to take advantage of the event.

The event will give regional businesses the opportunity to either sign up to meet potential buyers, or just attend Going Global 2010 to network in the Global Village, learn new skills in the Master Classes and meet world market and international trade experts from both regional and international support organisations to find out about trading opportunities relating directly to their company.

Master Classes on the day will offer local businesses the chance to explore the following areas: Winning and delivering export business; managing export risk; identifying business opportunities resulting from the multi-billion pound Global Fiscal Stimulus Programmes; defining successful overseas sales strategies, exploring different routes to market; and meet the world market and international trade experts.

“Going Global 2010  will provide a fast track for over 500 regional  businesses to be put in front of potential customers that we know are actively looking for suppliers, as well as giving new and experienced exporters the opportunity to test different routes to market, all in one location ” said   Theresa Lindsay, Assistant Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward.
 
“We have a significant number of businesses in the right sectors who could exploit international trade to grow their business and we are determined, especially in the current economic climate, to provide the right practical support to make this happen.”

After attending last year’s Going Global event Little Valley Brewery based at Hebden Bridge started working with UKTI and joined their Passport to Export (P2E) programme. Linked to P2E they have undertaken various master classes to help them prepare for exporting and as a result they attended their first overseas exhibition in March at the ‘A taste of Britain’ event in Norway. The company also travelled to Las Vegas and Dublin and as a result, they are now in detailed discussions with importers from Europe and the US.

Going Global – Meet the Buyer Event 2010 is free for those delegates attending the Global Village and Master Classes. For companies who want to participate in the ‘meet the buyer’ event, there is a nominal £50+vat fee (allowing up to two delegates to meet the companies) payable once the company is approved.

Businesses interested in attending please visit www.yorkshire-forward.com or contact events@yorkshire-forward.com or call the YF events team on 0113 394 9711/12.