Press Releases
APSCo wins TAF Best Practice Award for Export Initiative
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Marilyn Davidson receiving the award, on behalf of Ann Swain, from John Sergeant and sponsor
Richard Herring, Marilyn Davidson, Rina Durban and Godfrey Morrell
We are delighted to have been chosen by the Trade Association Forum to receive their Best Practice Award for Export Initiative. This prestigious award was given in recognition of the highly successful trade delegation to Abu Dhabi and Qatar, organised by APSCo in conjunction with UKTI in October last year. The award was presented at a dinner at the Intercontinental Hotel attended by Marilyn Davidson, who accepted the award on behalf of Ann Swain; Richard Herring and Godfrey Morrell (present and past Chairmen); Tara Ricks, Deputy Chair and Rina Durban, Membership Relationship Manager.
This was the first overseas trade delegation ever undertaken on behalf of the UK recruitment industry and provided the tools for members to expand into fast growing overseas markets just as the UK recruitment market went into recession.
The majority of UK recruitment companies travelling to the Gulf as part of the APSCo delegation secured new business meetings with companies operating in the Middle East, with a significant number winning contracts to supply staff even before returning to the UK. Several members attending the delegation are now planning to open offices in the region.
As Ann Swain, who led the delegation, explains, “it proved the perfect opportunity for members keen to develop business in the Middle East to ‘dip a toe in the water’ and for others already doing business in the region to strengthen their existing business relationships and establish new ones.”
British Ambassador John Hawkins welcomed the delegation, saying that ‘developing economic and business relations is a key element of what the embassy does’ and went on to congratulate APSCo on organising such a strong delegation to the area.
Gail Williams from UKTI joined delegates on the trip and said:
"APSCo have been very proactive over the last 2 years in the promotion of exporting professional services overseas.
The European and Rest of the world forums are some of the best I have attended in the professional industries sector. These meetings are key for imparting knowledge of overseas markets and sharing best practice with would-be exporters. It also gives clear understanding of the potential barriers to entry, levels of compliance needed and routes to market.
This was one of the most successful Trade Missions to the Gulf region that London UKTI has been involved in. We had a total of 17companies on the mission, which included a two region visit.
Abu Dhabi and Qatar were the key markets which were selected by APSCo as the Gulf areas with the most potential and allowed a compare and contrast of two regions around setting up and doing business in the region.
All in all a very successful mission event."
The Delegation was so well received by members that the format is being rolled out to other parts of the trading world with a visit to Singapore organised for November this year. Any members interested in taking part should email glenda.burgess@apsco.org
