Dear
Members
We wish
you all a very happy and prosperous New Year.
From
the Chamber’s point of view, we are certainly most optimistic for the coming
year and I believe our momentum from last year ensures we will hit the ground
running.
In 2007
members of the Chamber will receive, as a membership benefit, the popular hard
copy magazine “Nyt fra Danmark” which includes a UK section (in English). This section will put at the
Chamber’s disposal 4 pages with which to increase our profile and promote our
members in this quarterly publication.
Our
Annual Trade Directory will be launched at our Annual Dinner at the Drapers’
Hall on the 20th of April 2007. This publication will feature all
members of the Chamber who have renewed their membership for 2007 and it would
therefore be extremely helpful if you could shortly confirm your contact
details in case they have changed in order to ensure maximum exposure from
this membership benefit.
In addition, “Nyt fra Danmark”
and the Trade Directory are great opportunities for advertising so if you were
to be interested please do not hesitate to contact us for further details.
In
connection with the London Fashion week, the Chamber will focus on the fashion
industry in the February Red Letter and we will host an event on Danish Fashion
and opportunities for Danish companies in the UK. This event will take place here at the Royal Danish
Embassy on the 21st of February 2007.
Following
the success of our last career development seminar, we have invited on the 7th
of March a panel of head-hunters, including Kai Hammerich, Partner of Russell
Reynolds to present and take questions on how to promote yourself and your CV
in order to stand out the best in this increasingly important industry.
In the
meantime, I look forward to welcoming you to our next event, the Nordic
Thursday Drinks at the Radisson SAS Portman Hotel on the 25th of January
2007, which will be an opportunity for you to welcome our new Intern Ms Signe
Krabaek and bid farewell to Mr Christian Meyn who has proved himself to be an
extremely committed, hardworking and thoroughly pleasant addition to the
Chamber over the last 6 months and we wish him the best of luck completing his
Masters in International Business and in his future career.
Finally,
I would like to thank those of you from whom we have received Christmas Cards
and positive feedback for 2006.
Best
regards,
Martin
Mortensen
DUCC
Executive Director
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The DBMC is the UK
subsidiary company of Danske Slagterier – part of the Danish Meat Association.
It represents all Danish pig producers and their co-operative companies in the
vital UK market, which accounts for 20 per cent of all Danish pork and bacon
exports.
Danish Bacon has been sold for over 150 years and the DCMC’s
main responsibility is managing a major programme of marketing activity in
support of the Danish Bacon brand – represented by the well-known Danish
‘sizzle’. This programme of activity is developed in close co-operation with companies
that sell Danish Bacon in the UK,
including Danish Crown, Direct Table Foods, TICAN and Tulip.
The DBMC also acts as a cohesive voice for the interests of
its members in the UK.
It contributes to diverse debates in the food sector, ranging from the
environmental impact of production to the diet health debate. In recent, more
difficult years, for the British livestock industries, the DBMC has also been active
in defending the goodwill and high standards of Danish producers in an
environment which has sometimes been challenging to all food importers.
For information on the DBMC please telephone 020 8541 5088, email info@dbmc.co.uk or visit www.dbmc.co.uk.
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by Arne Anders Lohmann Rasmussen
UK data in the past few weeks have largely
continued to show an economy running at full speed. The housing market, which
is the lynchpin of the UK economy, has really taken off recently after
the lacklustre start to the year – the Nationwide survey saw house price growth
of 9.6% in November. And there is plenty of other evidence to indicate that UK house prices are far from slowing. The RICS
indicator in November once again posted a strong reading, with 47% more
chartered surveyors reporting a rise than a fall in house prices. The rising
number of new mortgage applications and sharp growth in the money supply – M4
accelerated to 13.1% in November – also lend credence to the picture of a solid
housing market.
One concern, however, is that inflation is ticking up – to 2.7% in
November from 2.4% in October. While some of the increase can be accredited to
the hike in university fees, inflationary pressures are, nonetheless, building.
Core inflation too is on the rise, up to 1.6% last month. Perhaps more
important though, the Retail Price Index jumped to 3.9%. RPI inflation is
particularly important, as it is often used as the starting point for wage
negotiations, many of which will kick off early in the new year. Obviously
there is a risk that workers will demand higher wages to offset inflation’s
erosion of their purchasing power. That said, UK wage growth has been modest during 2006,
rising less than 3.8%, on average, when corrected for bonuses. Hence, strong
economic growth has not resulted in spiralling wage growth. Helping to cap
wages has been the considerable influx of labour from eastern Europe.
All in all, though, it looks like the UK is being tipped in the
direction of a further rate hike from the Bank of England, and indeed the
minutes of the December MPC meeting revealed that a majority of members could
easily be swayed to raise rates further. We foresee the next hike coming in
connection with the new inflation report in February, when we expect the base
rate will be upped 25bp to 5.25%.
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Simon R. Nielsen – M.Sc.
Economics and correspondent for the Danish newspaper Børsen in London.
London is the
biggest financial centre of Europe, some would claim the
world. In British Economy it is the financial sector that contributes with the
highest growth of all the sectors. Because of this, the activities in the City
are an important source for Børsen, and therefore also for my work as a UK
Correspondent.
I have worked with financial journalism since year 2000 when
I started at Børsen in Copenhagen.
In Denmark I
also covered the housing market and the development in the mortgage market
which still holds my interest, now with a British angle.
Luckily London
is more than shares, securities and exchange rate fluctuations. The UK
is a pioneer on the Media side, and then there of course are the advertising
agencies, the service sector, a very innovative retail sector, the oil industri…
And then there fortunately is a strong Danish representation
of firms on the British Isles!
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