German Ambassador visits West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce
The West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce today hosted the German Ambassador to the United Kingdom as part of a high profile visit to Leeds. Held at juke box manufacturing business Sound Leisure, Chris Black, President of Leeds Chamber and also managing director of Sound Leisure greeted Ambassador Miguel Berger alongside selected members of the Chamber’s Leeds Leadership Group were part of a discussion about the city’s economy, the trading opportunities between West Yorkshire and Germany whilst also enjoying a tour of the factory.
Mr Berger’s’ visit to the region followed Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s trip to Germany last week with meetings with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, marking the beginning of the reset of relations between the UK and EU post-Brexit. One major topic of conversation today was the key economic pillars uniting the two economies: energy, research, climate change and manufacturing.
Other topics discussed by business leaders included manufacturing, the skills shortage and freedom of movement, opportunities from devolution and trade. They also compared Chambers of Commerce in the two countries, with different models but a shared goal of supporting businesses of all sizes.
The Chamber hopes that this visit will pave the way for future trade opportunities for businesses in the region, to export to Germany and beyond.
Other business leaders and representatives in attendance were: Max Breitling, Deputy Head of Culture at the German Embassy; Aqila Choudhry, from Love in Care and Vice President of Leeds Chamber; Warwick Andrews, from WACS; Bolu Fagborun, from Fagborun Ltd; Lucy Sturrock, from Addleshaw Goddard and James Mason, Will Evans-Jones and Charlie Lavemai-Goldsbrough from West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.
Ambassador Miguel Berger – German Ambassador to the United Kingdom: We have around 50 German companies operating in Leeds and in the surrounding areas and, as an embassy, we are working hard to foster and further strengthen our economic relationship. Now, with the UK government aiming for a reset between the United Kingdom and the European Union, and also with Germany, I think that there is even greater potential for bringing our business communities together.”
Chris Black – President, Leeds Chamber: “Visits like this help us learn from each other and work together as nations to address key issues in our economy, especially around education, manufacturing and skills shortages. As the Chamber, it shows that we are looking beyond our own region and into international trade, which is growing more important by the year. For my business, the largest country we export to currently is Germany, so it was a privilege to show the ambassador what is being made in this region.”
