Lord Green praised Midlands companies when he visited CADCAM developer Delcam on March 2 for the Aerospace Opportunities 2011 event being held at the company’s Birmingham headquarters.
Caption: Former HSBC chairman Lord Green (left) with Delcam CEO, Clive Martell, during his tour of the company’s Birmingham headquarters
The event, which was organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in partnership with the Midlands Aerospace Alliance and the Enterprise Europe Network, was attended by more than 20 buyers from across the world, all looking to do business with West Midlands companies. Companies present included Rolls Royce, Aerotech Peissenberg, Lufthansa Technik and Hispano-Suiza.
Lord Green praised the dynamism of West Midlands companies, highlighting the success of firms like Delcam. “I find that, when you look at companies like Delcam, you see real excellence,” he said.
“With these companies, we have a great deal of talent in a lot of industry sectors in the UK and we are starting from a position of strength. The advanced engineering sector, in particular, is a good example of an area where there are thousands of SMEs in the supply chain, which are exporting overseas and winning business in growing markets.”
Delcam hosted the event after building its international business with help from UKTI events in events in Europe, in North and South America, and in Asia. The company now has more than 35,000 customers in over 90 countries and receives around 85% of its turnover from outside the UK.
Lord Green – the former chairman of HSBC bank – was appointed to the role of Minister of state for trade and Investment in January.
