Northern firms urged to strengthen German links
BUSINESSES and universities from across the North are being encouraged do more to strengthen the UK’s relationship with Germany, according to the regional chairman of the German-British Chamber of Commerce (GBCC).
Mark Green, who is also the Honorary Consul for the Federal Republic of Germany and a partner at Manchester-based law firm Cobbetts, called for closer ties to be developed during the Chamber’s recent annual dinner in Manchester.
He said: “Germany remains a vital trading partner to the UK. By developing stronger links between businesses and universities, we can get more young, highly-skilled students into attractive jobs with progressive German companies in the region.”
The German Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Mr Georg Boomgaarden, gave a keynote address to the event, and praised a consular competition held among German students at Northern universities.
The contest sees final-year German language students pitch a business idea, in German, for a chance to win a cash prize and an internship with a leading German business.
It has been developed from a successful pilot initiative at the University of Leeds last year, and has now been rolled out to the University of Manchester and the University of Sheffield, among others.
As part of his trip to the North, the German Ambassador also visited food company Dr Oetker’s pizza factory in Leyland near Preston and the B Braun Medical site near Sheffield.
