Summit to urge region’s firms to think on international scale

The Yorkshire Institute of Directors and UK Trade and Investment are co-sponsoring the event at the Yorkshire Business and Arts Festival in Leeds on June 18.

The call for companies to increase international trade has been constant since the economic downturn.

It is a particularly pressing issue for Yorkshire, as the region tends to underperform on exports compared to the national average.

To close the divide, the IoD is adding its voice and expertise to encourage new entrants into taking the first steps in selling goods and services overseas.

It is also promoting the idea that professional development among business leaders will help them improve their chances of finding commercial success abroad.

To this end, the IoD wants more people to work towards chartered director status.

Kenton Robbins, the regional director, told the Yorkshire Post: “Good capability and good competency in business usually results in a better return when you do something like grow internationally.

“Come along, learn something, be inspired and take away some practical steps to make sure you get up and give it a try.”

He said it would be a good opportunity for novices to hear from experienced hands about the mistakes they made and what they gained from international trade.

The event will feature four ‘tracks’ relating to export. They will cover marketing and branding, strategy and direction, business environment and risk and control.

Speakers include Simon Walker, director general of the IoD, Richard Gizbert of broadcaster Al Jazeera, Neal Gandhi of Quickstart Global, Jo Haigh of training consultancy FDS Group, Ronnie Coutts of the Cabinet Office-approved Emergency Planning College and Mark Fitzmaurice of coach Dale Carnegie.

Mr Robbins said the event will help companies overcome the lack of knowledge, which has held back Yorkshire exports.

The Yorkshire IoD plans to gather a database of companies who enter new foreign markets, track their progress and record success stories.

Mr Robbins said: “We are hoping we can inspire 50-100 companies to take up international development.”

The event will inform companies not just about well-known markets like China, but closer places like Turkey, which has a large, free-market economy driven by industry and service sectors and a growing middle-class population. Mr Robbins, who has a background in fast-moving consumer goods companies, became regional director last June, taking over from John Thompson.

The 41-year-old said he is seeing “a fair amount of confidence at the moment”, but he added that this might be coming from people becoming used to a different level of income in their business.

He is involved with preparations for the Director of the Year award and has seen “some absolutely shining stars at businesses that no-one really knows about”.

The awards take place on September 4 at the National Railway Museum in York. Richard Noble, who held the land speed record from 1983 to 1997, is the keynote speaker.

Mr Robbins wants the IoD in Yorkshire to focus on business growth. It is campaigning to reduce red tape and bureaucracy and it is promoting professional development, job creation and business excellence, he added.

The regional organisation has around 2,500 members, representing 1.1 million employees, said Mr Robbins.

He wants to expand the organisation “with the right people”. He added: “I want people who are interested in what we want to achieve.

“We really want to be a stronger voice for the region.”

He said the IoD had a “great” presence in Yorkshire, but has not always punched its weight; he hopes the IoD will start punching above its weight.

“Our tone of voice is becoming a little sharper; our views are more formed,” he said.

The Yorkshire Post is media partner for the Yorkshire Business and Arts Festival, which runs from June 15-18 at Wellington Place.