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We’re your gateway to international trade, providing a unique combination of expert knowledge, essential documentation and the business connections needed to capitalise on new market opportunities overseas and succeed in a global marketplace.
What is cultural intelligence and why is it important?
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Top Tips from Iwona Lebiedowicz, founder of PAB Languages Centre
As the world seems to be getting smaller and smaller, people all around the globe find themselves much closer to each other - collaborating and connecting, regardless of their native culture or language. Perhaps you are already working in a cross-cultural environment, whether you’re recruiting internationally, looking to move into new markets, or work with non-English speakers in your community? If so, congratulations! Diverse and inclusive teams and communities are providing organisations with a competitive edge over their peers. The Wall Street Journal’s corporate ranking that examined diversity and inclusion among Fortune 500, which included 26 British companies, confirms that socially and culturally diverse groups are more innovative and productive than homogeneous groups. However, for global cross culture collaboration to unlock business success, regardless of the size of the business and type of organisation, we need cultural intelligence. Harvard Business Review describes cultural intelligence as “an outsider’s seemingly natural ability to interpret someone’s unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures the way that person’s compatriots would”. Cultural intelligence refers to the ability to work effectively and smoothly in culturally diverse situations. It goes beyond our existing cultural awareness by highlighting certain skillsets and capabilities needed to successfully navigate cross cultures and prosper in a multicultural environment. As globalisation makes the world a more dynamic and competitive business environment, organisations that incorporate cultural diversity are more likely to attract businesses and top talent. For example, by encouraging applications from cross-cultural candidates, companies can increase their chances of recruiting the best talent with high cultural intelligence. An individual possessing cultural intelligence is not just aware of different cultures – they are able to culturally adapt and tune to the values, beliefs, and styles of communication of people from different cultures. Promoting cultural intelligence amongst the team can help develop others’ ability to adapt to an emerging demographic while also creating an environment in which everyone feels comfortable enough to voice their opinions. Having a diverse team will boost innovative ideas and bring fresh perspectives. As a result, the team’s ability to identify opportunities for innovation, such as developing and implementing new strategies to sell a product in a new territory, increases significantly. Furthermore, diversity improves a cultural intelligent company’s performance when competing within the global market by bolstering confidence in interactions outside of its domestic market. Equally highly diverse teams under leadership lacking cultural intelligent will perform worse then homogonies teams. Cultural intelligent needs to be present through the business from top to bottom. If the team is highly diverse, but the leadership is lacking in cultural intelligence, it will affect performance. Lack of cultural intelligence is one of the key reasons why we go wrong about each other - resulting in misunderstanding and conflicts. However, the good news is that, according to researchers, knowledge combined with a practical training can improve cultural intelligence. That’s why – drawing on our research and the input of a global community of senior professionals from PAB Languages and ilc Communications – we have developed Intercultural Communications Training that helps leaders and their teams to understand inclusion, biases, and cultural differences and increase their cultural intelligence. To download our brochure and learn more about our Intercultural Communications Training, and to find out how we can support your organisation go to https://www.pabtranslation.co.uk/ brochure-download/
Business tips: how to choose a supplier
Here are some top tips from WorldFirst to help you streamline your supply chain and improve your procurement process. More companies are investing in technology to gain the visibility and insight they need to act quickly. Creating a register of all suppliers can help a business react to swings in demand or disruptions such as the coronavirus pandemic. Over-reliance on practices designed to reduce costs has left many businesses with few options when traditional supply chains are disrupted. Reliability and security of supply should now be seen as far more important than price. Using multiple suppliers helps to build resilience by reducing risk and the potential for operations to be disrupted. Trust through association is another powerful approach, and networks of companies are starting to pool resources and work together. Due diligence when selecting new suppliers is as critical now as it has ever been. Organisations need to be confident a supplier doesn’t pose a risk to their reputation or the efficiency of their supply chain. For five tips to help you choose a new business supplier, visit worldfirst.com/uk
The James Webb space telescope is delivering greater clarity deep into the beginnings of the universe, even this modern marvel would struggle to see how Andrew Bailey the governor of the Bank of England (BofE) is able to achieve his commitment to two per cent inflation! ‘Let me be quite clear, there are no ifs or buts in our commitment to the two per cent inflation target. That’s our job, and that’s what we will do’ is a line used by Mr Bailey a few times recently. Commentators are finding it hard to believe him. Bailey had previously conceded that over 80 per cent of the current inflation levels were due to global events, primarily the war in Ukraine and covid-19 related supply chain bottlenecks. Global energy prices have again spiked and with the consumer energy price cap now reviewed every three months, global events could account for as much as 90 per cent of the 13.3 per cent inflation forecast from the BofE. By publication, the BofE monetary policy committee (MPC) has met again, with an increase from 1.75 per cent to 2.25 per cent expected. Recently appointed Prime Minister Truss will be under pressure to DO SOMETHING to support individuals and businesses. The establishment is being urged to think differently and be proactive. The war in Ukraine is not ending anytime soon, hoping for a mild winter is not a credible plan. Sterling will face off against the Euro over the winter months. With the markets increasingly bought into the narrative and actions of the American Federal Reserve, a strong US Dollar has breached parity versus the Euro for the first time in 20 years. For now, forecasted, and actual inflation differentials between the UK and Euro Zone are not a factor. The Markets accepts transitional inflation however should commitment and actions (of central banks and politicians) not be sufficient, any sign of structural inflation would put pressure on either currency. Sterling has deviated 16 per cent against the US dollar and six per cent against the Euro over the past year. Currency market volatility is one of the factors contributing to the increasing cost of doing business. There is often a subconscious as a well as conscious bias to any one individual forecast of a particular currency. As such, specialist support as provided by companies like Ascendant, can fill a gap not provided by larger financial institutions. For more information on how Ascendant can benchmark your current supplier and to hear about how we are reducing the cost of foreign exchange for local businesses, contact karen.benson@ascendant.world
52 week range for GBP (up to 31 August)
GBP v Euro – High 1.2190 - Low 1.1465 GBP v US Dollar – High 1.3913 - Low 1.162
Meet Le Mark Group
Q&A with Manging Director Stuart Gibbons OBE
What is Le Mark Group?
Le Mark Group is an international, family-run business and manufacturer based in Huntingdon. We are a leading supplier of consumables, bespoke sector workwear and portable and installed stage flooring all aimed at the entertainment industry.
Where do you export?
We export to 67 countries, targeting new destinations, including Australia, with a goal to double our existing Canadian business. With help from the Department for International Trade, we are hoping to create new distribution channels in Kazakhstan.
How did Covid impact your business?
It was, in a word, catastrophic. There simply was no entertainment industry to supply so instead, we turned over all our manufacturing resources to producing PPE – masks, screens and printed warning tapes and floor signs.
What steps did you take to weather the Covid storm?
Letting customers and suppliers know that we were still here and available and sharing our experiences was a valuable exercise in maintaining and developing our relationships and we made a real effort to plan overseas travel as soon as we could.
What support did you receive to help you bounce back?
The Internationalisation Fund was incredibly supportive in allowing us to return to one of the main Exhibitions, Prolight + Sound, in Frankfurt in April. During the three-day exhibition we were able to reconnect with our lead northern hemisphere distributors and were able to talk with clients from as far north as Iceland and south as Australia, plus all main EU countries.
What prompted your move into Australia?
Australia has historically been an attractive market for us. For example, our Dirty Rigger range of gloves and accessories, made for the entertainment industry, were really popular with the Australians in terms of quality, range and importantly branding.
How has the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement helped?
With the new FTA discussions we found a dealer that would truly commit to promoting and stocking a sufficient quantity of product and had the online presence to show our range.
What’s your top tip for UK businesses selling internationally?
My top tip, without a doubt, is to build your export department with staff that have language skills. We have Polish, Latvian, Russian, Spanish and Romanian speakers who often feel more comfortable doing business in their mother tongue.
We’re your gateway to international trade, providing a unique combination of expert knowledge, essential documentation and the business connections needed to capitalise on new market opportunities overseas and succeed in a global marketplace.
Chile: Open For Business
Tuesday 22 November, 4.00-5.00pm
Have you ever considered Chile as the next country you export to? The opportunities are vast and Chile is definitely Open for Business! We are delighted to be working with the British Chilean Chamber of Commerce and Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce to bring you this informative online session. Why Chile: • Stable Economy • East of Doing Business • Sustained Growth • Optimal Business Environment • Solid Banking System. Just some of the sectors of interest to Chile are: • Food & Drink • Agri-tech • Cyber Security • Green/Renewable Energy • Construction. This webinar is FREE of charge. Why not take an hour out of your day to see if Chile, is a market that you’ve been missing out on? Register your place via the Chamber website.
Update for Türkiye (formerly Turkey)
We have been promoting through our weekly Global Updates that a number of UK Certificates of Origins have been rejected by Türkiye customs officials as Türkiye officially registered its preferred name with the United Nations. The electronic providers have been instructed to update the country name in their origin boxes to reflect this change. You will need to ensure consignee addresses are updated by yourselves before submission. Please ensure you amend the spelling on any manual applications that you submit. Documents that are presented stating Turkey will now be rejected and the rejection fee applied. If you have any questions on this, please telephone the International Trade Team on 01223 237414 or email internationaltrade@cambscci.co.uk
