Full transcript of BCC Director General, Shevaun Haviland’s, speech to the BCC’s Driving International Trade Conference, Thursday 20 March:
Good morning all and welcome to our Driving International Trade Conference. We’re very excited about today… it’s going to be a great day.
It’s fantastic to have a room full of brilliant businesses, British chambers from all across the UK, and around the world, as well as a line up of star speakers delivering global opportunities for growth and investment.
Shortly we will be hearing from the Minister for Investment, Baroness Poppy Gustafsson, and later in the day the Foreign Secretary, Rt. Hon. David Lammy, who will deliver his keynote speech.
When we first began developing the concept of this event last year, we were in very different times… fast forward 12 months and the purpose remains the same, yet the world as we know it has moved on quite significantly.
It is no exaggeration to say that 2025 will be one of the most significant for global trade in years.
So, bringing you all here today is more important now than ever.
So, Why are we here?
Just over 10% of UK businesses export.
Over 40% of Chamber members are exporters… because many of our businesses start local, perfect the art of their trade, invest and then aspire to build their footprint beyond the UK, supported by our Chambers.
We know trade is the most efficient and quickest way to grow the economy. If total exports had been around 2% higher last year (2024), this could have increased the GDP from 0.9% to around 1.5%. With a similar estimate of GDP growth of 0.9% this year, an expansion in exports is very much needed.
Our research shows business confidence is low. Tax increases have been a setback, and geopolitics are adding to uncertainty.
But despite the tough times, businesses tell me they are seeking new opportunities and moving forward.
One of our businesses here today, Jesmonite, who make eco-friendly materials used by artists and architects, has made full use of our global Chamber network. They worked with their local UK Chamber, Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, to reach out to every British Chamber across the world to find new customers and distributors for their product.
And today is just about that… bringing together a room full of business leaders that understand how to trade… that want to trade… and seek new customers from around the globe.
We have brought the UK’s Top Strategic Trading Partners here today – Germany, India, Türkiye, Australia, Egypt, and UAE just to name a few – to highlight the strategic opportunities their markets offer.
As we witness daily changes in our global supply chains, international markets offer unique advantages for Brand Britain, and we know many of you in this room will grasp those opportunities.
But we also need to have an honest conversation.
Many of you here, despite the backdrop of the last few years… covid, soaring energy bills, interest rate rises and eye-watering inflation… have shown great resilience, agility and creativity.
And the biggest challenge for those that trade – like you – has been adapting to the massive disruption with our largest trading partner.
Brexit.
It’s not gone away. Next year marks 10 years since the day of the vote, and businesses are still feeling the strain.
Despite the best efforts of firms to adapt… structural barriers to trade with the EU persist, in both goods and services.
But the world order is shifting, and we need a new settlement with our closest neighbours.
Businesses in both the UK and EU seek similar ambition from UK Ministers and EU institutions to tackle these problems, using the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) as the foundation.
This requires leadership from both sides of the English Channel prepared for productive negotiations, and ambition on the outcomes for our economic relationship.
Last month, it was promising to see the Prime Minister attend the European Council summit in Brussels to discuss defence and security co-operation. This was the first time a UK Prime Minister attended the European Council since 2019.
Business welcomes this improving relationship and wants both sides to expand this quickly through a pragmatic, growth-driven package of improvements to our trading relationship.
We hope the UK/EU summit between the Prime Minister and Presidents von der Leyen and Costa, in the UK on 19 May, is constructive and moves the dial.
Ahead of that meeting, we will bring together our BCC Business Council members and our Chamber in Brussels, to meet in London on 15 May with the Minister responsible for EU negotiations, Nick Thomas-Symonds…
…And the EU Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Pedro Serrano, to discuss what business want to see from a successful summit.
Business wants to see more than just a reset moment, they want to see a timeline, clear process and eventual agreements to ensure the best working partnership for all our nations.
A new relationship with the EU is more important now than ever given the challenging geopolitics of our time.
But we must also ensure we continue to build on our strong relationships across the world;
that we are deploying our best negotiators to secure valuable FTAs;
and we do not have a knee-jerk reaction to daily headlines.
We must keep a cool head as we begin to grasp this new world order.
We must be quick to seize new opportunities that both seek to protect our security and our economy.
Last year’s General Election in the UK felt like we were turning a page on instability, and our American friends followed closely behind as they held their election and voted in new leadership…
… a leadership that has now led to a new trade era with President Trump announcing tariffs of 25% for all imports of steel and aluminium from the UK to the US.
Further tariffs for the UK could follow as early as next month. We’re also seeing retaliatory tariffs from the EU, Canada, and China.
A wider conflict on trade would be a lose-lose scenario for the global economy, and we will not be immune from the consequences of that here in the UK.
It is vital that the UK Government stays calm.
The British Chambers of Commerce shared a Memorandum with Ministers on our priorities for their discussions with the US Administration on trade, which we are hopeful can produce a win-win agreement – keeping tariffs low, and co-operation high on technology and AI.
Our commercial relationships across the Atlantic are strong and durable.
We have over £300bn in well balanced bilateral trade each year
£700bn in inward investment from the US to the UK.
And we have a burgeoning trade in professional serivces.
Business wants certainty. We are quickly learning that tit-for-tat politicking will only aggravate circumstances, and so far, we have kept away from that. We know that pragmatic, sensible negotiation is the right approach and will get us the best possible outcome.
For UK businesses, trade with Europe and the US is not an either or. It is in our economic interests to maximise the opportunities for UK growth in both.
We also need to expand our links in the fast-growing Indo-Pacific region and the Middle East, along with other parts of the world.
In the last few months, UK firms have started trading with nine other member countries using the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership – CPTPP – turning it into a real growth engine for UK exports and investment in a region with 15% of global GDP.
Businesses have high hopes of groundbreaking trade deals with India and the Gulf Co-operation Council, and to modernise our services and digital trade terms with South Korea, Switzerland, and Türkiye.
International trade makes businesses more productive, profitable and resilient, and creates a solid platform for investment – this is what we… the Chambers… mean when we talk about growth.
Getting our trade strategy right, grasping opportunities and building the right environment for UK businesses can only lead to growth.
As we see the world order change, the state is also being reshaped and rewired here.
The challenges of security in Europe and our own national interests mean investment in defence and security must take more of a priority.
Public spending on defence will increase to 2.5% of GDP by mid-2027 and rise on a trajectory to 3% of UK GDP by the early 2030s.
We also see our European partners increasing investment in defence industries, creating new opportunities for procurement and joint consortia with those in the UK to meet our common security obligations.
In 2023, annual defence orders from UK companies grew by 49% in value terms. Europe is now our largest market for UK defence exports, followed by the Middle East.
This is why defence co-operation is now a key priority for the wider UK-EU relationship reset.
Defence is one of the 8 priority sectors in the UK industrial strategy, with sector specific support available for businesses to supply the inventory and hardware to keep all of us secure.
Let’s make the most of the new opportunities, particularly in changes to SME procurement, to promote world-leading British defence know-how.
Over the last few weeks, defence has been at the top of every major nations’ agenda. The UK government has been leading the way and so can British business… not just in the defence supply chain, but also in securing the UKs future economic growth at the top of the agenda.
The world is changing, and we must change with it.
UK businesses and our diplomatic dignitaries across the globe are world leading… and then there’s the British Chambers of Commerce.
Our Network of 50 Chambers across the UK and our 70 British Chambers internationally, put us in the best position to help you connect globally and grow your business.
If you do well, the economy does well and that’s why we have some clear asks for government today to drive Economic Diplomacy around the world:
Every British Ambassador that has a British Chamber in their jurisdiction should automatically become an honorary president of the Chamber. Their connections and diplomatic skills and our understanding of business opportunities makes the perfect partnership for growth.
Secondly, as we navigate these unpredictable times, we need to work in partnership with government to help businesses maximise our potential overseas. Let’s build a Diplomatic Advisory Hub with the FCDO at the BCC to support our exports.
And, thirdly, we will partner with the Business and Trade Secretary and Foreign Secretary to take the BCC Business Council and Chambers to Washington to meet Ambassador Mandelson and showcase what a UK/US partnership truly looks like for business.
International trade and the art of good diplomacy should go hand-in-hand…
…because putting the United Kingdom and Brand Britian at the heart of our diplomatic trade negotiations is key to driving growth.
The Chambers have been doing exactly that for 165 years, and today is no different.
The British Chamber network from across the world is here to help you grow your business, and today we have brought the World to London. A world of opportunity for you. And a pathway of growth for the UK economy and Brand Britain.
Lets make the most of it!
Thank you.