Member Event: Meet Offshore Wind Prospects in France – British Embassy, Paris, 15 January 2015

Booking is now open for UKTI’s event in the prestigious surroundings of the British Embassy in Paris, on Thursday 15 January 2015, for one-to-one meetings with French companies wishing to partner with UK businesses experienced in the development and maintenance of Offshore Renewables including Wind, Wave and Tidal.

The quality of our venue helps to attract important buyers and influencers; and UKTI is collaborating once again with the French renewables industry organisation Syndicat des Energies Renouvelables (SER) and others – so you’ll have access to France’s key industry players. We are also in close touch with the French Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain with whom we are discussing details for a “return” event later in 2015, exclusive to the East of England, for the French companies you see in Paris to meet you again but this time in our region where they can witness your capabilities at first hand.

If you wish to attend the event booking closes on Wednesday 03 December for entry in the catalogue that will be sent to French companies so they can request meetings with you. These French companies all seek business relationships that will help develop their own offshore renewables sector, and you’ll receive a similar catalogue of French participants so you can request meetings with them.

You can click the links at the bottom of this page to register your interest so you can be included in that brochure; but please do copy me in to let me know you have registered. Alternatively, if you wish to avoid the hassle of online registration right now, you can register your interest today simply by emailing [email protected] with the message – “Yes, please book my place at the British Embassy in Paris, 15 January 2015” – and I’ll let my colleagues know. You’ll still need to register on-line before 03 December for inclusion in the brochure, but at least we’ll know about your interest and so we can send you reminders if necessary!

Your commitment to attend, via the UKTI OMIS system (UKTI’s Overseas Market Introduction Service), will follow. On-line registration is being organised for UKTI by Proximum Group (and Renewable UK will email its members), but for my support to be easily available to you throughout the process and afterwards when we explore the possibility of inviting interested French companies to make a return visit to the East of England, it’s important that you indicate, whenever asked, that you prefer your OMIS to be administered by me, Alan Highet, at UKTI in the East of England.

The OMIS fee for participation on 15 January is set again at the minimum level (£420 + vat) for up to two delegates to attend. That reflects a significant subsidy against the actual costs of facilitating your series of business meetings. During the day you’ll also find out what’s up-to-date in the French sector, and there are several networking opportunities to meet others with whom you might not have pre-arranged meetings – particularly over lunch and an end-of-event reception. (Unfortunately budget restrictions until March 2015 mean that the £200 market visit support grant for SMEs that might have been eligible in previous years, cannot apply).

Connect at Offshore Wind & Marine Renewable Energy Opportunities in France for the Webinar next Monday, 01 December 2014 at 10.30 UK time when we will provide you with an update on the state of the market, the projects and what stage they are at for procurement.

You can also connect at Franco-British Offshore Wind & Tidal B2B event (or by emailing me initially) to register your interest in the main event in Paris 15 January 2015.

We expect around 60 French organisations to attend. East-of-England companies have made contacts on previous occasions that have delivered business already. On these occasions East-of-England has been the most prominently represented region with nearly 1 in 3 UK participants operating out of our region.