Feedback from delegates at our dynamic inaugural World Trade Summit on October 5^th in Taunton included “hugely informative”, “thought provoking”, and “a great thought leadership approach to export.”

Designed to help businesses in the region prosper in international trade post-Brexit, ‘The Commonwealth & Beyond’ Summit examined the issues and opportunities in accessing new markets in order to help shape the future of international trade.

Held in partnership with Plymouth University – who has already said it wants to repeat the event next year, in Plymouth – the Summit  asked ‘Where next?’ and defined the routes to new markets and relevant technological advances to improve and enhance trading relationships.

It was attended by a wide range of businesses from across the region – both active in international markets and those who have yet to put their toe in the water – with some travelling from as far afield as Leicester and London. All were highly engaged by the presentations of the top-notch line-up of export specialists and posed many questions to the experts about issues for the region and how they could best harness opportunities.

Speakers were, Jonah Anthony, Director at the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council; Matt Proudman, Commercial Manager of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce; Stephen Dilley, who leads Bond Dickinson’s commercial litigation team in the South West; Debbie Lamb, Deputy CEO of The Council of British Chambers of Commerce in Europe (COBCOE); John Rubidge, a business strategist with the Department for International Trade South West; Claire Urry, Executive Director from China-Britain Business Council (CBBC); and Kate Doodson, Joint Chief Executive of Cosmic .

A lively debate, ‘South West: Investing in an International Future’, was joined by the Chairman of Devon & Cornwall Business Council, Tim Jones. Among subjects addressed were tourism, the skills gap, attracting inward investment and how to overcome some of the region’s infrastructure and connectivity limitations.

Organiser, Linda Middleton Jones, said: “The wealth of thought leadership at the Summit provided powerful insight on accessing new markets to a lively group of businesses. There was clearly an appetite among those attending to get involved in international trade, which was shown by the high level of audience involvement.

“The event was also successful for quality networking, with many delegates arranging to follow up with each other another and with the speakers.”