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Doing business & staying in touch

Business in London is intense and fast paced. Extended business lunches and post-work drinks were regarded as part of the modern working environment until relatively recently. Nowadays, the emphasis is increasingly on hard work and long hours.

British businesspeople are unlikely to be overtly demonstrative - hand gestures and the use of expressive body language will be minimal and apart from shaking hands, physical contact should be avoided. Standard dress code is a suit and tie for men and a suit (or equivalent) for women but varies greatly depending on the company, with those in the new technologies sectors especially tending towards informality. Punctuality in important and business cards should be carried.

North of the border, in Edinburgh, clients are usually well entertained by their Scottish hosts, most likely taken to lunch in a restaurant or pub (depending on the formality of the business) or to a restaurant in the evening. It is not usual for clients to be invited to one's home. If this is the case, however, visitors should take a gift of flowers, chocolates, wine or whisky, the latter single malt rather than a blend, and always Scotch.

In Wales, all public-sector organisations are bilingual but most private companies conduct business in English unless all parties speak Welsh. Overseas visitors should be prepared to speak English during meetings, if necessary through an interpreter. 

Office hours: 

Mon-Fri 0900-1700/1800. However, business hours in London could be much longer.

Economy: 

The UK is a member of the G8 group of the world's leading industrial nations.

Engineering (especially of military products), chemicals, electronics, construction and textiles are the main components of the industrial sector. Among service industries, tourism, media, retail, financial services, telecommunications and computer services are the most important and have undergone rapid growth, while heavy industries have suffered relative decline.

The recont global financial crisis hit Britain badly, and suffered more than many other G8 countries, being the last to emerge from recession. Several UK banks had to be propped up by hundreds and millions of pounds of government money, creating an unprecedented deficit. The future is still highly uncertain, with the effects of the recession likely to continue for several years to come. Unemployment in 2006 stood at 2.8%, by the forth quarter of 2009 it was 7.8%.

The UK's external economic relations are now dominated by the EU (which accounts for 70% of all UK trade), and the overriding issue facing the government is the extent to which they are willing to integrate into the European economy.

The argument is abounds over whether Britain should adopt the Euro. Many political and business leaders favour membership, but there is huge opposition in the country at large. The conclusion of the debate may be decisive to Britain's economic future.
The UK conference scene is well organised with several publications comprehensively listing every possible kind of venue (including dedicated centres, hotels, universities, football grounds, race courses, manor houses, castles and theatres). Birmingham and London have an international reputation; there are several excellent conference venues.

There are other towns with facilities of near comparable size. Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle are among the cities offering a variety of venues, whilst smaller towns such as Chester, Inverness, Llandudno, Salisbury and York offer uniquely attractive environments. The large political parties of the UK traditionally hold their conferences in seaside towns during the winter; locations include Blackpool (the famous Winter Gardens), Bournemouth and Brighton.

Those looking for convention venues will find the maximum seating capacity (19,000 persons) in London; however, if organisers wished to book Wembley Stadium they could probably do it, so, effectively, there is no upper limit. All parts of the UK are easily accessible by rail and air from London. The Eventia British Conference Destinations Directory gives brief regional details and is published by Eventia.

GDP: 

US$2.2 trillion (2009).

Main exports: 

Service sector (73% of GDP), manufactured goods, food, beverages and tobacco.

Main imports: 

Manufactured goods, machinery and fuels, and food.

Main trading partners: 

USA, Germany, France, Ireland and Netherlands.

Staying in touch in UK

Telephone: 

There are numerous public call boxes. Some boxes take coins, others phonecards or credit cards.

Mobile phone: 

Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone operators. Coverage is mostly good, but can be patchy in rural areas.

Internet: 

There are Internet cafés and centres in most urban areas. Some multimedia phone booths, often located at main railway stations and airports, offer touch-screen access.

Post: 

Stamps are available from post offices and many shops and stores. There are stamp machines outside some post offices. Post boxes are red. First-class internal mail normally reaches its destination the day after posting (except in remote areas of Scotland), and most second-class mail the day after that. International postal connections are good.

Post office hours: 

Mon-Fri 0900-1730 and Sat 0900-1230, although some post offices are open much longer hours.

Media: 

The British media are free and able to report on all subjects. The variety of publications reflects the full spectrum of political opinion.

Press: 

Dominated by about 10 major newspapers, UK circulation figures are amongst the highest in the world. Broadsheets are The Daily Telegraph, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Observer (on Sunday) and The Times. The more popular tabloid newspapers are The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror and The Sun. Most papers have an associated Sunday newspaper, though there are some independents. There are also daily regional newspapers. The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is funded by a licence fee, which all households with a TV set must pay. There is no advertising on BBC1, BBC2, BBC3 and BBC4. Commercial TV began in 1955 with the launch of ITV.

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