UK-NL Business leaders agreed to connect, share ideas and enable trade to drive growth
On 3 June the Netherlands British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) was delighted to host our annual NBCC North Sea Neighbours Event, with this second iteration of the annual NBCC Awards, held virtually, at the World Forum in The Hague with high-end stakeholders from both the public and private sector and several key partners. And after a long period of lockdown in both countries, and despite the distance, with a specially provided gift of English sparkling wine and Dutch Gouda cheese, we made it a festive event, with attendees able to raise a toast to each other, building on our solid trading foundations in #shapingthefuture together.
Anton Valk, Chairman of NBCC, was enthusiastic about the bright futures and long friendships championed by the attendees and the opportunities laid out by all the speakers of the plans for the future of our shared trading relationship. He said, “We’re proud to have organised this great event, during difficult times, alongside our partners and we are now looking forward to the NBCC series of Strategic Business Dialogue meetings to monitor the progress of initiatives suggested this evening, and focus on implementation to keep dialogue going between our #NorthSeaNeighbours: looking at an inspiring future beyond Brexit”.
Rt. Hon Greg Hands MP, the UK Minister of State for Trade Policy, and Paul Huijts, Secretary-General of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs alongside Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, President of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Ingrid Thijssen, President of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW and MKB Nederland), demonstrated their ongoing commitment to the bilateral trading relationship. They reiterated how shared cooperation, especially in terms of sustainability and cutting-edge technological innovation, would change the way people live and work worldwide. Additionally, individuals and companies who NBCC, and a panel of judges, believe showed outstanding performance in shaping the future of UK-NL relations during 2020, were awarded for their game-changing achievements in six award categories. Jacques Damas, CEO of Eurostar and Andrew Moss, Managing Director of Horizon RMS were also singled out for their work championing businesses on both sides of the channel in recent months.
The evening provided an ideal opportunity for all attendees to discuss the key priorities for economic growth, as well as to shape together the agenda of British-Dutch business going forwards with online polls and a Q&A session skilfully moderated by Lyne Biewinga, Executive Director Membership from NBCC, and Tim de Wit, UK and Ireland correspondent from the Dutch public broadcaster NOS, setting questions from our members to Ingrid Thijssen and Lord Karan Bilimoria.
The UK’s Minister of State for Trade Policy, Rt. Hon Greg Hands MP, set out the strategic priorities of the UK in relationship to the Netherlands, briefed on the plans for COP26, and discussed the like-minded trade policies and strong foundations for growth for the two nations, where the Netherlands is currently the UK’s 4th largest trading partner. He said, “The UK and Netherlands enjoy a deep and broad relationship and we should seize the opportunities that now present themselves to build on our trade and investment ties in areas like green energy and digital trade. By working in partnership, we can tackle the challenges of the future, particularly around sustainability and building back better from Covid-19, and we look forward to making further progress on these pressing issues as we build up to COP26”.
Paul Huijts, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sketched out the Government’s plans for setting out a new strategic, economic and business relationship for both countries. He said, “In the new context, both the UK and the Netherlands are still very well placed to find joint solutions for global challenges. As like-minded partners, we are both committed to working together towards a sustainable economic recovery, in a green and intelligent way”.
Ingrid Thijssen from VNO-NCW said, “The UK is and will remain one of the most important trading partners for the Netherlands. Dutch companies want to look ahead and have large ambitions to invest and grow in the UK. Therefore it's important that the UK and Netherlands work in close collaboration to establish the right environment for entrepreneurs to flourish and that we will address the major challenges ahead together, as North Sea Neighbours”.
Lord Bilimoria CBE DL, as President of the CBI commented, "With a shared tradition of open, liberalised and free trade, economic links between the UK and the Netherlands are deep and strong. We must build on this partnership to drive global economic recovery, work together to tackle international challenges such as climate change and show leadership to deliver inclusive trade and combat protectionism".
In the second part of the event, NBCC handed out the second annual awards in six categories celebrating success in the key growth drivers, and inspiring others by recognising and showcasing outstanding British-Dutch achievements of the past year and additionally introduced a one-off ‘North Sea Award’ for this year.
The NBCC Woman of the Year Award 2021 sponsored by Diageo and Lloyds Bank, was presented by Lucy Adler, Head of Inclusion and Diversity, Lloyds Bank, and Anya Haarhoff, Director, Global Luxury and Retail, Diageo to Hanneke Faber of Unilever. The head of the jury, Wendy Broersen, Founder and CEO of the Superwomen Academy said, “Hanneke is inspiring, motivating and sets examples for all other women in business. She is an exceptional business leader that ‘walks the talk’ setting a distinctive example for us all”.
NBCC SME Award 2021, sponsored by BDO and NLinBusiness, was presented by Edo Offerhaus, Managing Director NLinBusiness and Hans de Rooij, Partner BDO, to Emile Stuy, Co-owner Anker Stuy Verven (and Anker Stuy Composites), highlighting their work as a touchstone of British-Dutch entrepreneurship and collaboration “rowing against the flow” and flourishing during the height of the pandemic and the challenges brought about by Brexit: additionally, the sustainable product-line has the potential to contribute to both to climate goals and economic growth both at a national and local. Emile Stuy commented, “I encourage everyone to look through the disadvantages and spot the advantages: focus on what is possible, rather than what is impossible”.
The NBCC Technological Innovation Award 2021 sponsored by EY, was presented by Jan Peter Balkenende, Former Prime Minister and External Senior Advisor to EY and Heba Bevan, CEO and Founder of UtterBerry Ltd. to Hans de Jong from Philips recognising their work in Artificial Intelligence (AI) where they are playing a major part in future development: such as the speeding up MRI workflows, and with solutions such as VitalEye: the jury felt this leadership from Philips stimulates wider innovation both in the Netherlands and further afield, and were “a true leader in driving AI in improving health care”.
The NBCC Sustainability Award 2021 sponsored by PwC, was presented by Allard Castelein, CEO Port of Rotterdam, and Wineke Haagsma, Director, Corporate Sustainability PwC to Barbara Baarsma from Rabo Carbon Bank, in recognition for their agroforestry initiative (developed in conjunction with Microsoft). This initiative is aimed at sequestering C02 whilst enhancing smallholder farming practices in less-developed countries by optimising both companies’ histories and strengths: Rabobank in agriculture and Microsoft in technology, with plans in place to integrate remote sensing, through AI / deep learning and should be a game-changer for SDGs in scale and ability for replication.
Our flagship award, the NBCC Stronger Together Award 2021 sponsored by Customs Support was presented by Pieter Elbers CEO, KLM to Michiel de Haan and Heather Jonesfrom Royal Lemkes and the UK Cabinet Office. Royal Lemkes was the first company to work collaboratively with the Cabinet Office to prepare for a smooth Brexit transit for businesses, transport and trade. They provided substantive knowledge of the business and demonstrated practically that importing goods into the UK after January 2021 would be achievable. It is a fantastic example of proactive cooperation, from both the public and private sector, that delivered real knowledge and value to NL-GB logistics post-Brexit.
Finally, a NBCC Special Award, sponsored by PwC, was presented by Dick Benschop, CEO, Royal Schiphol Group to KLM and was picked up by KLM’s President and CEO: Pieter Elbers.
We would like to offer our special congratulations to all the award winners and to all the nominated parties for their hard work reflected in the awards. We would also like to thank all our partners involved in making the virtual event such as special occasion: the event partners FX Agency and World Forum, and business partners (in alphabetical order: BAM,Customs Support, Diageo, EY, Lloyds Bank, NLinBusiness, BDO, PwC and Dutch Flower Group. Finally, our heartfelt thanks to everyone attending the event and for making it a special evening for us all.