Events - 2022

We had a very rewarding second online meeting with Lord Grimstone of Boscobel Kt, Minister for Investment at the Department for International Trade and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy chaired by Alex Smith, Managing Director of Volkswagen Group and a member of our board and look forward to a third meeting with Lord Grimstone later this year.  The Minister asked us to bring him up to date with our challenges post Brexit and with the pandemic and we had a very lively discussion with him with some 25 members and guests from the German automotive, engineering, pharmaceutical, transport, legal and financial services sectors, together with a representative from the German Embassy, joining in.  We were very grateful to the Minister, who is responsible for all foreign investment in the UK, for answering all our questions and appreciate that he wants to continue discussions with us.

We had a very interesting First GIUK Online `Teams` Meeting for members of 2022 with Rawdon Glover, Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover UK, chaired by Member of our Board, Richard Bushnell, Managing Director of OSRAM Limited with some 20 members and guests from the German automotive, engineering, pharmaceutical, transport and financial services sectors, together with a representative from the German Embassy, joining in.  Rawdon Glover gave us a very comprehensive overview of Jaguar Land Rover, with slides showing their current and future vehicles and emphasising in particular the electrification of cars and the lack of charging points that still exists.  This was followed by a very lively question and answer session with valuable contributions, amongst them from Dr Markus Grüneisl, Chief Executive Officer of BMW UK Manufacturing Ltd in Oxford (Mini).

We had a very good Second GIUK Online `Teams` Meeting for members of 2022 on Monday, 7th March from 14.00-15.00hrs with some 15 members taking part.  Amongst those present were the chief executives and senior colleagues of ANT Telecommunications, Balluff, BMW Manufacturing (MINI), Boehringer Ingelheim, Brose, Fuchs Lubricants, HARTING, Lufthansa, OSRAM, some members of our Advisory Council and the Head of the Economic Department of the German Embassy.  Firstly, Dr Atenstaedt, who chaired the meeting, mentioned our forthcoming events, our working meeting at Miele GB on 16th March, our 47th Anniversary Dinner Discussion in London on 19th May and a conference at Wilton Park from 4-6th July.  He then talked about lobbying Government and our present contacts with Steve Barclay MP, Alex Burghart MP, Maggie Throup MP, and James Cleverly MP.  Following this we discussed many of our current challenges like impact on salaries and wages due to the high inflation rate, impact on supply chains due to the Ukraine crisis, high turnover of key skilled employees and increased costs, paperwork and delays with our imports in to the UK post-Brexit.  This was a really lively discussion amongst colleagues.  We will aim to do more online meetings without guest speakers to allow for more discussion amongst colleagues.

We had a very good Third GIUK Online `Teams` Meeting for members of 2022 on Monday, 25th April from 14.00-14.45hrs with some 17 members taking part.  Amongst those present were the chief executives and senior colleagues of ACI Group, ANT Telecommunications, BMW Manufacturing (MINI), Boehringer Ingelheim, Brose, Fuchs Lubricants, HARTING, LTi Metalltech, OSRAM, TopRegal, Voith Turbo and also some members of our Advisory Council and a Counsellor from the German Embassy.  Firstly, Klaus Allion, MD of ANT Telecommunications, gave a short presentation on how we can work more closely together in future with sub-groups.  Afterwards we discussed many of our challenges like impact on salaries and wages due to the high inflation rate, high cost of living, the massive increase in energy costs, impact on supply chains, high turnover of key skilled employees and increased costs, paperwork and delays with our imports into the UK post-Brexit.  This was a really lively discussion amongst colleagues.  Following this, Dr Atenstaedt, who chaired the meeting, talked about lobbying Government and mentioned his contacts with the Rt Hon James Cleverly MP, new Minister for Europe, Lee Rowley MP, Minister for Industry, Alex Burghart MP, Minister for Skills and Maggie Throup MP, Minister for Vaccines and Public Health and last but not least Lord Grimstone, Minister for Investment, who may join us at our dinner discussion in London on 19 May to celebrate 47 years of GIUK.