54 MEET THE BUYER
Minority Supplier Development UK( MSDUK) is the only UK focused, private sector-led organisation with the aim of harnessing business opportunities and providing a direct link between minority businesses and UK plc to establish mutually beneficial corporate relationships.
MSDUK Grow Diversity from Strength to Strength
MSDUK is experiencing an unparallel level of growth and development with a 25 % increase in corporate membership within the last 3 months. MSDUK is proud to welcome its 25th new member, Accenture, to the MSDUK family.
Momentum is also building in the number of people attending MSDUK outreach events and consequently winning business with our corporate members.
Explains Mayank Shah Director Business Development for MSDUK:“ Since the beginning of this year we have held six high profile‘ Meet the Buyer’ events across the country attracting over 300 suppliers and 70 buyers. These events provide EMBs an opportunity to better understand how large organisations buy, allow businesses to discuss opportunities directly with buyers and provide networking opportunities for corporate members and other small firms. Nearly £ 2m business has been won by EMBs as a direct result of attending these events.’
What the suppliers said:
“ I am certain that this is the only way to have face to face meetings with corporate buyers that will enable me to expand my business”
“ The networking opportunities are tremendous and you get the chance to meet buyers that you wouldn’ t have access to otherwise”
“ For us as a company it has proved to be successful as we are currently in the process of securing work from an MSD partner. In addition to this we have also generated business from other companies attending.”
Businesses that have successfully won business with our corporate members over the last 6 months provide services as diverse as joinery services to fax machines to packaging design to corporate gifts a complete print management solution with corporate members including Lehman Brothers, IBM, PepsiCo, Frank Haslam Milan and Exxon Mobil.
MSDUK constantly strives to create increased numbers of opportunities for EMBs and as such has an active program of events and seminars planned for the next 5 months:
27th October – MSDUK is co-hosting an International Supplier Diversity Reception in Miami, Florida for over 120 corporate representatives.
28th – 31st October – MSDUK is attending and exhibiting at the National Minority Supplier Development Council( NMSDC) Conference, our US affiliate.
28th November – Pre-event Supplier Orientation evening, London. Kindly sponsored by Pfizer.
30th November – MSDUK’ s 8th Meet the Buyer event, London. Our largest event to date with 14 corporate members attending including CISCO Systems, JP Morgan, Hewlett Packard, Pfizer, Dell, Bank of America and Capital One.
14th December – Supplier Diversity Professional Services Sector seminar, generously hosted by Ernst & Young.
Concludes Mayank:“ We all know about the entrepreneurial talent available within ethnic minority communities. MSDUK is proud to bring some of the most talented ethnic minority businesses in front of the corporate world and these businesses have proved that when it comes to providing quality, prices and service levels, they can beat anyone!” engage | uk ISSUE FIVE 2007