Businesses invited to join Iceland trade mission

BUSINESSES in the Hull and Humber region are being invited to take part in a trade mission to Iceland.

Hull Council is organising a trip in May as it seeks to build on a centuries-old trading history with th country.

Any company considering exporting or importing goods to or from Iceland is invited to attend.

The trip has been organised in partnership with the British Ambassador in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik and the Icelandic Ambassador in London.

The council’s portfolio holder for image and culture, John Robinson, said: “As a council we try to encourage businesses in Hull and the surrounding area to trade with other countries.

“Doing so can be of great benefit, not only to the business themselves, but to the region as a whole, by increasing trade through the ports and strengthening our local economy.”

Hull has trading links with Iceland going back 700 years and is twinned with Reykjavik.

Relations were strained during the 1970s Cod Wars, which dealt a fatal blow to Hull’s once mighty fishing industry, but reconciliation was cemented in 2006 with the unveiling of a statue in Hull which celebrated the links.

Delegates will leave from Heathrow Airport on Sunday, May 9, and return on May 12.

As part of the activities Britain’s ambassador to Iceland, Ian Whitting, intends to host a networking dinner on May 10.

The cost of the trip is 700 per person, which includes coach travel to the airport and flights.

The price also includes coach transfers to and from the Nordica Hilton Hotel with three nights’ bed and breakfast accommodation. Businesses may be eligible for a grant of 300 towards the cost of the mission from UK Trade and Industry. Only one grant per company is available.

The delegation will be led by the Lord Mayor of Hull, Coun Karen Woods, who was due in China this week as part of a similar initiative to drum up trade on the back of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Regeneration agency Yorkshire Forward is leading a delegation to the port of Qingdao in a trip that coincides with the arrival there of the Clipper fleet, including the Yorkshire Forward-sponsored entry Hull & Humber.

On Monday Hull-based Chaucer Foods will host a dinner at the Intercontinental Hotel for the mission and the crew of the Hull & Humber yacht, and on Thursday Yorkshire Forward will host a banquet featuring food from the region.