LCCI
LONDON STANDS TALL as a global city making positive change across the world
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James Watkins, Head of Policy and Public Impact at London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, talks to Sarah Dale about new initiatives adopted by the LCCI to benefit London and its business community and their work to forge stronger international links.
ames Watkins has recently returned from a “moving and emotional” business trip to Ukraine to build on the work LCCI Chief Executive Richard Burge and his team started in January.
“What struck me most was how determined the people are, their resilience and their positivity,” said James, Head of Policy and Public Impact at LCCI.
“It was a very practical visit, but it was very emotional too to be honest. The resilience of the people is remarkable. I have never been to a country at war before, so I knew I had to be mentally prepared before I went. In Lviv, there was an air raid warning because a Russian missile struck nearby.
“Our trip was to build on the incredible visit by Richard in January,” said James, who has been inspired to learn Ukrainian to further assist his work with the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce.
We were talking to small business owners when the news of another missile attack came through. We went for a walk in a park in Kyiv and there was another air raid warning, but there was nowhere for us to go so we kept walking. A woman was singing Hallelujah and a ballet dancer was dancing and they just carried on. Normally, there would be applause, but everyone just stood together and took a moment.”
“We achieved a number of successes. We signed an agreement which will bring the UK and the UAE together to support Ukraine; we are working with the Ukrainian Government and SMEs in Ukraine on how to engage with
The LCCI and Liverpool Chamber of Commerce are working together to hold regular webinars for Ukrainian businesses in addition to face-to-face meetings in Krakow, Poland and Dubai.
Igor Bartkiv, Ukraine Project Officer at LCCI, accompanied James on the trip, which included visits to Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv.
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the UK market; we have agreed to develop an online platform to bring Ukrainian and British businesses together; and we are working with another Ukrainian Government department to work on identifying Joint Venture projects.
The Chambers formed strong links through working together during Eurovision, which was held in Liverpool in May. Another way the LCCI is hoping to support the Ukrainian business community is by working with London Fashion Week in February to showcase Ukrainian fashion designers. Further afield, 12 London-based businesses went with Marta Kozlowska, Head of International at the LCCI, to Bangalore in India for a Start-Up Festival. This global approach to working with businesses has led the LCCI to offer an international membership. “London is a global city and it is about recognising our responsibility as such,” he said. In London, the economic landscape is “looking good”, says James. “We can fall into the trap of talking down London, but fundamentally, London contributes over 20% towards UK GDP and it’s still the base for Fintech, the pharmaceutical industry, some American films are filmed in Soho, most of the
