Minister of State for Trade & Investment, Lord Livingston, launched new e-Exporting Programme at Autumn Fair International
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the Government Department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy, chose to launch its new e-Exporting Programme at i2i's Autumn Fair International (7 – 10 September 2014, NEC Birmingham). Lord Livingston, Minister of State for Trade & Investment gave the keynote speech announcing the Programme and Dan Wagner, CEO and founder of mobile payments company Powa Technologies, shared his perspective on how technology has developed over the years in Britain to help retailers.
As one of the UK's largest retail events, with over 30,000 visitors from the UK and abroad, Autumn Fair was the perfect platform from which to launch this new initiative. It is aimed at encouraging UK exporters to reach out to the generation of digitally-capable consumers who are increasingly influenced through online channels. With more and more retailers now adopting a multi-channel approach to delivering goods, services and information to the consumer, the increasing importance of e-commerce as a way of tapping into new markets is a key issue for the international retail industry.
Lord Livingston, Minister of State for Trade & Investment says, “The UK leads the world in cross-border online sales, but there is still much more we can do to help British business seize this huge opportunity with forecasts of three billion online consumers in just three years.â€'
Laura Faulkner, Global Director of Retail and e-Commerce at UKTI says, “UKTI's e-Exporting Programme will provide the next generation of export support, helping to future proof UK international growth. Global demand for UK brands is rising and consumers worldwide are buying online. The e-Exporting Programme will provide vital support to UK companies wanting to seize this opportunity, helping them to accelerate their global growth through online channels."
Mark Shashoua, CEO, i2i Events Group says, “We were delighted to welcome Lord Livingston, Dan Wagner and representatives from UKTI to Autumn Fair this year. The question of how to effectively manage e-commerce as part of a multi-channel approach to communicating with customers is one faced by the entire retail industry. With this announcement at Autumn Fair, UKTI has highlighted the issue and brought the debate to a key audience of leading retailers.â€'
Ends.
