If you are involved in transatlantic business, you may already know about the British-American Business Council (BABC), in which case, by all means turn the page and move swiftly on to the next article. But if, by some misadventure, you do not know about the BABC, please take a moment to listen – not to me, but to one of our 4,000 member companies:

“We have acquired an ever-growing string of excellent clients as a result of our participation in the BABC, and our interaction with the BABC’s regional chapters. These include multinationals on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as smaller and medium-sized businesses, to which we have secured introductions – and subsequently cultivated – through the BABC and its chapters,” says David Birch of Wragge & Co.

The BABC was invented in the mid-1990s to help companies in the US and UK build their business by providing them with a transatlantic business network and services. Since then, we have grown to the point where we have chapters in 31 cities throughout North America and the UK. So if, for example, you are a US company looking to establish or expand your business in London, the Midlands, the North East or North West of England, Yorkshire and Humber, Wales or Scotland, we have a regional chapter right on the spot, ready and willing to help you.

Equally, if you are a UK company looking to build your business in almost any region of North America, we have a similarly well-positioned chapter right there. Our chapters all know their regional markets well and have a range of business services to offer you. More important still, they all have member companies who want to do business with you. You can, of course, meet these companies by travelling to their own home cities, and our chapters will help you do this – by joining any one of our 31 chapters, you earn the right to participate in the programmes of the other 30 chapters. But without leaving home, you can also have an initial “meeting” with companies throughout our network, through our password-protected Online Membership Directory.

Please listen to another member of ours: “Membership of BritishAmerican Business Inc and the BABC provides tremendous value for small companies. Since joining last autumn, I have secured a major consulting assignment and three collaborative agreements by taking advantage of the powerful online database and networking with its members in New York and London and throughout the US and UK,” says Michael Batt, Founder, US Alliance Consulting. As a Brit myself, who came to the US more than 20 years ago and somehow forgot to leave, I know just how comfortable Brits can feel in the US, and Americans in the UK. The downside of this delightful sense of mutual comfort is that it has led many US and UK companies to think that doing business in the “other” country is little more than an extension of their domestic business. As a result, the business by-ways of the UK and US are littered with companies from “across the pond” that underestimated the differences and the challenges.

Our role is very simple: we help companies make connections and do business. And the sooner that companies approach us, as they plan their transatlantic business development, the more help we can provide.

So, if you are interested in making connections and doing business in any of the BABC’s 31 regions listed at the foot of this page, please visit us at www.babc.org and contact our chapters in the regions where you are based and where you are looking to expand your business. I know that they will all be happy to help you.

For more information, contact:
British-American Business Council (Secretariat)
52 Vanderbilt Avenue
20th Floor, New York, NY 10017
In the US:
Tel (212) 661 5660
Fax: (212) 661 1886
In the UK:
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7467 7400
E-mail: info@babc.org