Hungarian Consul General visits Hull and Humber Chamber in bid to strengthen trade links

The Hungarian Consulate General opened in Manchester in 2019 to support the estimated 30-40,000 Hungarian nationals living in the North of England, with around 2,000 of those living in Hull and the East Riding.

Speaking of Hull and Humbers strong trading links, Mr Weatherill, said: “This is certainly an area where a lot is happening – we have to persuade the Government to catch up because industry is pouring into the Humber.

"Billions of Euros are being invested into this area, and the biggest challenge is finding people to fill all the jobs and particularly the lower paid jobs at the moment.

“We have the biggest enterprise zones in the UK, Freeports coming on stream and relaxing rules for the hospitality industry with the EU to allow more people to work in the UK would help”.

Dr Kelly also noted Hull’s place as a prominent port city, with strong trading routes brought on by Swedish shipping firm Stena Line and Finnish company Finnlines.

During the meeting, Chamber CEO Dr Kelly said he would be happy to work towards signing a Memorandum of Understanding which would signify that Hungary is open to business in the North of England.

His comments were welcomed by Ms Kátai-Nagy, who noted that the UK is the 6th largest foreign direct investor-country in Hungary, with investments amounting to 3.6 billion euros.

There are also 725 UK-owned companies in Hungary which employ more than 52 thousand people.

Speaking on the current ease of travel between the two nations, Ms Kátai-Nagy said: “There are thought to be seven to eight thousand Hungarians in the Manchester area alone, and not many people realise that Wizz Air which flies into Liverpool is Hungarian owned.

"It is great that Budapest can be reached by a two hour direct flight from Manchester and Liverpool as well, which presents a great opportunity for an exciting city break in the beautiful Hungarian capital.”

Hungary currently hosts car factories owned by Mercedes and BMW, as well as electric battery manufacturing facilities. It is the world's fourth largest producer of electric batteries.

British companies already operating in the country include Tesco, BT and Provident.

Earlier this year UK-based Vodafone, which was previously the third largest mobile operator in Hungary, withdrew from the country, selling Vodafone Hungary to 4iG and Corvinus.

New Hull and Humber Chamber president Mr Weatherill was welcomed at the Chamber’s annual general meeting earlier this year.

Inheriting the role from Mike Whitehead, Mr Weatherill is the chambers 111th president.

He was previously managing director and owner of marine surveying firm McAusland & Turner.

As well as the Manchester site, 2018 saw the opening of a new Hungarian Consulate General in Edinburgh.