Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, Kirsty McNeill opened Edinburgh’s EU Export Masterclass on Monday in the centre of Edinburgh.
She addressed business owners from in and around Edinburgh explaining the help and assistance that is available to them to make trading with the EU much simpler and easier.
This is one in a series of events which are being run all over Scotland, and the Minister explained that there is a huge appetite in Scottish business to take advantage of the trade deals which the UK Government has struck.
She said: “We are working very hard to get closer to Europe, and there are loads of brilliant high potential Scottish companies that want to get their products and services out to the continent. Today we are partnering with the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and the British Chamber of Commerce in Lille. We are focusing on France today. Here in Edinburgh we have a focus on food and drink and financial services, but right across the country we have been working on everything where Scottish companies are ready to export.”
The process to export has become different since Brexit, and the minister is keen that everyone gets to know how to make it work for their business and that the “process is streamlined and demystified”. She said that the government can help by bringing the advice to business with experts ready to explain how it is done.
Ms McNeill said that colleagues from the Department for Business and Trade and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office are involved in trying to help. She said: “They are so deeply embedded in each market, they really understand what it takes to crack every individual market in Europe as well as Europe as a whole.”
Ms McNeill was joined at the event by Liz McAreavey, the Chief Executive Officer of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce. She suggested that it would be a good time to try out the EU if a business has no experience of international trade.
Ms McAreavey said: “I think it’s a really exciting opportunity to start thinking about new markets. It might feel, with the current geopolitical situation, that you’d rather just stay close to home and hunker down. But I think this real opportunity with our near neighbours. We’ve got some great markets in Europe, and also with potential disruption of supply chains, now might be a great time to think about it.”
One of the businesses in attendance was represented by their founder, Jolene Roberts. Jolene founded a business called Òir which makes soap. The firm says that their product “captures the rare connection between nature and luxury”. Jolene’s business is based just outside South Queensferry where they make natural cosmetics. She said that she is just at the start of the EU journey which is why she chose to come along to the event.
She said: “We do export in really small quantities, but I’m finding that there are many different regulations, especially for cosmetics and packaging. If I can figure out how to do the legal side of things, then I might have to delve down a bit more into the packaging. I just want to make sure I’ve got it right which is why I am here today.”
The masterclass is intended to provide expert insight and guidance on exporting to the EU for small and medium sized enterprises looking to either re-establish their presence in Europe or begin exporting to EU countries for the first time.
The Masterclass will continue on Tuesday.
