Benham Publishing Businesss Magazines December 2013 | Page 3

InspireContents Editorial and General Enquiries Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce MacLaurin Building, 4 Bishops Square, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9NE 01707 398400 Tel: Fax: [phone] Email: [email protected] Web: www.hertschamber.com Chief Executive: Yolanda Rugg Publisher Benham Publishing 4th Floor, Orleans House, Edmund St, Liverpool L3 9NG Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Email: [email protected] Web: www.benhampublishing.com Up Front Herts Chamber Awards 24 Hours Ask the Expert Getting Started Spotlight On New business BCC Awards Chamber Branding Big Interview International Trade 4-12 14-15 17 18 19 20-21 24 25 26-27 28-29 30-31 Ambassador Programme Chamber Policy Business News Forum News Member Spotlight Business Services Chamber Chatter Chamber Events New members Last Word 33 34 35-37 38-39 41 44 45 47 48-49 50 Published November 2013 © Benham Publishing and Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce. Think Global! Advertising and Features Karen Hall 0151 236 4141 Tel: Email: [email protected] Last month saw the launch of our new brand, adopting the super brand of the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC), with the ‘B’ denoting the vision to grow business, locally, nationally and globally. Production Manager Fern Badman Tel: [phone] Email: [email protected] Media No. 1387 Disclaimer Inspire is published for Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce and is distributed without charge to Chamber members. All correspondence should be addressed to Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce. Views expressed in Inspire are not necessarily those of Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce. Reprinting in whole or part is forbidden except by permission. © 2013. Please note that submitting an article does not guarantee publication. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of material published in this journal, Benham Publishing and its agents can accept no responsibility for the veracity of claims made by contributions in advertising or editorial content. Benham Publishing cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies in web or email links supplied to us. We have timed the launch in line with the recent announcement of the accreditation of 21 overseas British Chambers and a new Regional Trade Advisor being employed for accredited chambers within our East of England region to connect businesses with overseas partners within the BCC global network, sharing knowledge of demand for the supply of UK products and services to their overseas businesses. 2014 will be our ‘Year of International Trade’ and we will be stepping up our Program of International Country awareness seminars, and give existing and potential exporters a path into fast growing economies, supported by our partners in UKTI and UK trade and Finance. Our International Team boasts over 53 years of experience, and last year helped ship over £165m pounds worth of goods, and processed over 6600 export documents. In a major international trade survey published by the British Chambers of Commerce recently, the share of businesses who are exporting has risen from 32% to 39%, but highlighted the most common reason holding businesses back is lack of understanding on overseas markets. There is a real need for culture change so that more business and government think global, with a renewed focus on language skills in schools and in the workplace to help business communicate, and creating more incentives for businesses to compete internationally. Yolanda Rugg, Chief Executive Officer, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce INSPIRE 3