As we move into the Spring we think about the businesses which have already established in the UK under the Bridge to Growth program, and look forward to the next group of seminars in all the Nordic capitals during April.

Read on and you will find more information and some success stories about establishing in the West Midlands region to develop your business across the whole UK market.

Best regards,
Martin Williams
UK Business Club

Bridge to Growth

The Bridge to Growth Program has enjoyed a very successful year in 2007. There are now 36 companies established in the West Midlands Region directly as a result of the initiative, and there are more to come.

Since the start over 1000 delegates have attended the seminars across the Nordic region, and 154 personnel from 119 companies have actually visited the West Midlands for individual discussions with the Bridge to Growth Partners.

Future Seminars
The next opportunity to attend a Bridge to Growth seminar and hear how it can help your company expand into the UK market will be during week 16 when we will be visiting Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland over four days.

The actual dates and times are:

Monday 14th April 1500-1700 - Copenhagen
The British Embassy, Kastelsvej 36, 40 2100 Copenhagen

Tuesday 15th April 1300-1500 - Oslo
The British Embassy, Thomas Heftyesgate 8, 0264 Oslo

Wednesday 16th April 1300-1500 - Stockholm
The British Embassy, Skarpögatan 6-8, Stockholm

Thursday 17th April 1300-1500 - Helsinki
The British Embassy, Itäinen Puistotie 17, 00140 Helsinki

Please contact Ulf Ström of Advantage West Midlands for more information on ulfstrom@advantagewm.co.uk

Bridge to Growth Success Stories

There have been many successes in the Bridge to Growth program, and just two of them, Purus and Be-Ge, are shown here.

Richard Butler, Head of Inward Investment at Advantage West Midlands said “I am delighted that the joint Bridge to Growth initiative of Advantage West Midlands and its partners is now resulting in valued companies setting up in the West Midlands Region. As we promote the BTG offer further into the Nordics territories during 2008, we hope to welcome an increasing number of companies who will gain benefit from both our central location and the considerable assistance offered by our partners”.

PURUS establishes its UK Head Office in West Midlands

Be-Ge takes a seat in the West Midlands

UK Legal Know How

National legal systems in Europe share many common principles - especially in areas related to consumer protection, product liability, and employees rights, but they also come from varied traditions, and so have significant differences in their character.

The Nordic legal systems are statute law based, and codified. In these countries commercial agreements tend to be short, and embody only the essential terms, on the basis that the general terms do not need to be incorporated as they can be found in the code.

Full Article

Marketing Strategies in the UK

Companies planning to break into the UK market can benefit most by working with an experienced, media-neutral partner when it comes to investing in specialist marketing advice.

Wyatt International boasts over 50 years in B2B and consumer marketing and, as a full service agency, it has been particularly successful in helping companies to launch and build market share in the UK.

Full Article

Blue 1 Starts new Helsinki - Heathrow Direct Daily Service

Blue1, the Finnish member airline of the SAS Group, will be introducing a new daily direct service from Helsinki to London Heathrow, which is less than 90 minutes from Birmingham and the University of Warwick Science Park.

The airline's new service considerably improves connections to Birmingham and Bridge to Growth facilities for Finnish Companies.

Full Article