How businesses can cash in on Commonwealth markets

The Commonwealth will come under the spotlight in the West Midlands like never before for the duration of the Games - and forward-looking businesses can cash in to swell their order books, writes Jon Griffin.

Businesses throughout Greater Birmingham can now tap into dozens of potentially lucrative markets thanks to the UK 's only dedicated Commonwealth Chamber set up under the umbrella of the area 's Chambers of Commerce.

The Commonwealth divisional arm of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) was established in early 2018 as the first Chamber organisation to promote new business opportunities for firms seeking to trade in largely untapped markets across the globe.

The Chamber has already made key inroads into forging new commercial links with the Commonwealth after Brexit forced many West Midland companies to re-assess their trading ambitions.

One Chamber member, long-serving Birmingham-based PR company Liquid, is one of several organisations grateful for the new opportunities afforded by the Commonwealth Chamber.

Elisabeth Lewis-Jones, chief executive of Liquid, said: “We don 't have to explain to our clients in Canada, the United States, Luxembourg or South Africa where Birmingham is any more. Many are already aware of the city and our links with the Chamber have helped to open doors and provide important business introductions.

“When you 're looking at a new office you are making an important investment both in terms of time as well as financially. The links Mandy and her team at GBCC have provided have reduced time spent on initial research and enabled us to move quickly on location, legals and the set up of our new venture. ”

Liquid, with a string of international clients and links to an array of worldwide locations including Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, the British Virgin Isles, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong and others, say the Chamber has been able to link the PR firm into offshore Trade and Investment teams and make invaluable introductions.

Mandy Haque (pictured), the Chamber 's international director, said the establishment of the Commonwealth Chamber “served a real purpose ” to promote bilateral trade for organisations seeking to diversify their order books.

“It was post-Brexit, the fact that we were leaving Europe and wanted to encourage businesses to think about trading with other markets. Many businesses were trading with Europe already and as a Chamber we wanted to ensure that businesses had the support and the information that they would need to look at Commonwealth markets.

“We share common values, common languages and common legal practices with the countries of the Commonwealth. It is a great opportunity to look at markets they would not have looked at previously.

“Over the last three or four years we have established some really valuable relationships with High Commissions in the Commonwealth. Covid has been a challenge but we have done some excellent virtual events to showcase trading opportunities with the Commonwealth. ”

Mandy said trading with the Commonwealth - which comprises 54 largely English-speaking countries with a combined population of 2.5 billion covering one third of the globe - was still well below commerce with Europe.

“It is still very low considering all the untapped opportunities and the enthusiasm of Commonwealth countries to trade with us. This is about promoting the ease of trading bilaterally with the Commonwealth.

“This is the only Commonwealth Chamber in the country - I have a good relationship where I can ring up senior trade commissioners and say we have members here and they are interested in trading in your country.

“We know the right people to speak to, we can speed up the process due to the relationships we have established.

“If anybody would like to learn more about the Commonwealth division, they should get in touch via the website or approach myself personally at [email protected] ”