Greater North Fulton Chamber Returns from U.K. with Business Agreement

The head of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce came back from a trip to Great Britain with a new relationship with a the Gatwick Diamond District south of London.

Brandon Beach, CEO and president of the chamber, announced a memorandum of understanding to promote trade and direct foreign investment opportunities between the United Kingdom and North Atlanta with Jeremy Taylor, CEO of the Gatwick Diamond Business Association.

“The United Kingdom is and will remain a strong business partner for our region,” said Beach in a news release this month. “We have several major companies in our footprint which have ties to the United Kingdom and expect more; we have numerous companies in our region who have expressed to us their interest in expanding into the U.K. and Europe.”

The Gatwick Diamond District is located south of London and is centered on the Gatwick Airport.  It is the economic driver for the southern region of the U.K., has a population of 648,000, a workforce of 343,000, and 45,000 businesses. The area is home to international brand name headquarters in finance, business services, advances manufacturing, aviation and pharmaceutical, as well as innovative small companies.                                                                                                             

“Trade and Investment is important to the companies located in our region, and we believe that the growth opportunities will come from the international markets, therefore we believe that Progress Partners provides our members great access to the U.S. and other markets through Hartsfields-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.” said Jeremy Taylor.

Beach and Taylor entered into the agreement during the chamber and Progress Partners recent trip to the United Kingdom in a trip arranged through Burkhalter International.  The objective of the visit was to help the Chamber and Progress Partners develop strategic partnerships to the United Kingdom to support job growth in both countries.  

“Some of our larger employers in North Fulton are U.K. based companies, and as international trade increases, it is important to establish ties and relationships aboard, as part of our future job growth for our region will come from abroad” said Al Nash, the executive director of Progress Partners of North Atlanta.

The United Kingdom ranks as the sixth largest export market and the eighth largest import market for Georgia. The state exported nearly $900 million there in 2010, with top exports including electrical machinery, wood pulp, aircraft or spacecraft, paper and machinery. Imports from the U.K. totaled close to $2.3 billion and consisted primarily of pharmaceutical products, non-railway vehicles, electrical machinery and aircraft or spacecraft.

More than 100 Georgia companies have operations in the U. K. and around 565 British facilities operate in Georgia (including 110 manufacturing locations). The U.K.-affiliated companies employ close to 35,000 Georgians.