TRADE Breakout Session: In Partnership with Heathrow

Maximising the UK’s trade potential.

Heathrow Airport is at the heart of facilitating Britain’s trade across the world as the most valuable port in the U.K., supporting 1.4m tonnes of goods flowing through by air freight in 2021 alone. £66.7bn of UK exports passed through Heathrow Airport in 2019, some 40% of UK exports excluding the EU and Switzerland. Heathrow also hosts a burgeoning e-commerce trade representing hundreds of high-value consumer brands for sale to its millions of passengers annually.
This session will explore the opportunities and challenges for customers of air freight, trade and e-commerce with the rollout from later this year of the UK’s new Single Trade Window, and the impact of inbound border controls at ports on goods entering and leaving Great Britain through the new Border Target Operating Model. It will explore how the UK’s only hub airport and its customers can play their part in facilitating a growth in exports and global e-commerce trade in goods. Moreover, through greater digitalisation and use of technology in trade and customs facilitation processes, this session will explore how this development can travel together with export growth for SMEs too.

ECONOMIC GROWTH Breakout Session: In Partnership with NatWest

Economic growth: Scaling barriers to build British champions.

The UK has been praised as a competitive destination to start and grow a business. High Growth businesses are the engine of the UK economy, they are a key to our future prosperity, our future employers and creators of inclusive growth and regional equality. However, recent economic headwinds and volatility have added fresh challenges to businesses looking to continue on their growth journey. This session will unpack the challenges, opportunities and action needed to support more companies to scale and drive economic growth.