Whilst I was walking the exhibition at Ausbiotech yesterday I received a call from John Grace who works for RDA Illawarra in NSW. A colleague of John’s, Roger Summeril, had attended the reception at the Consul General’s residence on Monday night in Sydney, and had not managed to get around to speaking to our Regional Director Russell Jones, so the point of his call was to see if we could set up a meeting. Well sometimes trying to catch Russell is like trying to nail jelly to the wall! Russell is relentless in his pursuit of opportunities for our South West companies and had already flown off to Bangkok where he has a series of meetings and was chasing a hot lead!

I asked John about the RDA in Illawarra, who are you, and what do you do?
It turns out that they are the peak regional development organisation for the NSW region of Australia. RDA Illawarra is a non-profit organisation with direct, formal ties to government, and strong working relationships with all major regional business organisations. This places their organisation in a strong position to initiate and coordinate significant projects on behalf of the region. You should visit their website at: www.rdaillawarra.com.au

Happily I have managed to get hold of Russell and he will be making contact with Roger as soon as he is back in the UK.

Well, we’re about finished here, home beckons! However before I leave, I want to give you a couple of pointers just in case you take our advice and look to grow you business in Australia:

1) It’s not always hot! You may need a mac!
2) It very much feels like a home from home.
3) The Aussies do like us, despite the cricket!
4) Australians are VERY keen to do business with you.
5) Taxi drivers have no idea where anywhere is, so be prepared for the driver to be reading a map whilst driving… take good instructions so you can tell them which way to go!!
6) The seafood is great
7) I’m told the beer is okay!

So if you think that Australia might be the place for your business to grow, then my advice is to contact an International Trade Adviser in the UK, and get their help to formulate your export plan. Get good quality research done, tailored to your business by the UKTI staff in the Consul General’s Office, and go for it.

Remember be like the kangaroo and the emu - only move forwards!

Goodbye from Australia and good luck with your own trips down under!