Cheltenham's Hawkins & Brimble headlines at DIT exporting conference

Published by

Nicky Godding

Businesses across the South of England and Wales looking to boost their online sales and start growing international operations are set to benefit from a free conference hosted by the Department for International Trade (DIT) on Wednesday March 20.

Global eCommerce Live, taking place from 9am – 3pm at Bristol Harbour Hotel, will see influential speakers, including experts from Amazon and Plentymarkets, help businesses identify the best global online marketplaces and develop digital marketing strategies when working with international distributors.

Local business owners will also be speaking at the event, sharing ‘top tips’ they’ve picked up along their exporting journey, highlighting the support they’ve received from DIT and demonstrating how other businesses can tap into global demand for British products.

Businesses taking part include Cheltenham men’s grooming brand Hawkins & Brimble, which exports around 60% of its products and Portishead-based Rockit – which has exported more than 25,000 of its portable baby rockers to customers in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Africa.

The event forms part of DIT’s Exporting is GREAT campaign, which aims to inspire UK companies to export and explore new overseas markets.

Paul Shand, DIT’s Head of Trade in the South West, said: “We live in an increasingly connected world, and selling your goods online opens up a raft of global opportunities. It’s the logical next step for businesses in the region looking to boost sales.

“We know that so many more businesses can export but don’t because they believe they face unique barriers, or think that it’s just too difficult. However, with a team of International Trade Advisers on the ground and experts in over 100 countries on hand to help, DIT is able to support these businesses to succeed overseas. Having local Export Champions Rockit and Hawkins and Brimble sharing their experience at this event is the perfect opportunity to help other businesses understand the huge benefits that exporting can bring, and that ecommerce is a fantastic route to achieving international success.”

Companies of all sizes can register for the Global eCommerce Live event on Wednesday 20th March at Bristol Harbour Hotel, Corn Street, Bristol, BS1 1HT. To find out more information and register for a place, please visit: https://eu.eventscloud.com/ehome/globalecommercelive/about/

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.