Why should you join the next Export Leaders peer network session?

The From Brighton with Love business support programme has been extended until December 2021, including a second chance to join the Export Leaders peer network sessions, facilitated by Pete Jenkins from Gamification+.

The sessions provide an opportunity to join a group of people leading the drive for exports within their organisations, whilst learning from and supporting each other. Each meeting focuses on real exporting challenges, drawing on the groups’ diverse export and business expertise and experience.

If you’re thinking about exporting, or already exporting and want to join a supportive peer network and would like to learn more – we asked what the participants of Pete’s first group found most valuable about the sessions.

Jes Bailey – Crowdfund360

The export leader sessions have really made me think about my strategic decisions around exporting moving forwards. Meeting with the same group for the series of meetings, you really grow with everyone at the same time. It’s interesting to hear about the challenges other businesses face that you didn’t know existed, and implement learnings from others in the cross-over, even between services and products.

Beforehand, I didn’t have a structured exporting strategy and hadn’t really had a logical approach beyond connecting with markets in places I’ve lived. I’ve learnt that there are Chambers all over the world and been given that push to look at markets where there’s more demand for my services than I had initially thought. Through the experience of making me reflect over the last four years, the export leader sessions have really helped me to start analysing the data – helping me to make better, more strategic, decisions for the future. 

Jill Woolf – Chimera Communications

If you want to explore new business potential, this is for you. It’s a great time to look at the world as a global marketplace and expand your horizons, despite Brexit and every other challenge we’ve been handed over the last year.

Being part of the Export Leaders sessions is proving to be an interesting learning experience. Doing it with other like-minded people in a confidential, supportive environment is both challenging and fruitful. I recommend going outside your comfort zone and finding out how rich the rewards can be.

Mohit Bajaj – Simplex Services

Pete has done a remarkable job on the export leader sessions - it’s been so useful, well organised and engaging.

Everyone has a chance to hear and learn from each other, and the group is really engaging and forthcoming with their challenges. There’s been plenty of learning for our business: from hearing how others face challenges, to how they find opportunities to reaching out to people outside of our national network. It’s also been great from a networking perspective, connecting and have interaction with our peers who are facing similar challenges. 

Alistair Binks – Albion Languages

I think Pete has been doing a great job and I can really see ways other people could benefit from it too.

As exporters ourselves but also as a provider of services to exporters (we’re in the corporate communications, website localisation, translation services field), the sessions have been really instructive and enjoyable in a number of ways.

Some of the things we’ve liked, learned, and takeaways:

• Getting a wider view of common exporting challenges – faced by those offering very different products/services
• Breaking down the mass of obstacles to trading into smaller specific groups of challenges and considering possible solutions
• Being able to take a step back from our everyday issues and seeing them with others neutrally from the outside
• Gaining more knowledge on the external help available – government/regional grants, sources of advice
• Being able to present our exporting situation to our peers without judgment – and getting considered suggestions for improvement
• Seeing possibilities to transfer good practices from other participants’ companies to our own
• The nice supportive atmosphere in the sessions (with Pete’s encouragement)

Jenny Kelly – Storganise

Why consider exporting your products or services outside the UK? It’s a big world out there and if your focus has mainly been within the UK then now's the time to look outwards and consider exporting. The Export Leaders sessions are a chance to look at your current business model and see if there are ways of expanding your offering. The group quickly coalesced as we shared where we are and where we would like to be. We shared ideas and asked questions and took actionable tasks away to move ourselves forward.

Time taken to work on your business is never wasted and with Pete Jenkins at the helm, we are all tentatively taking steps to expand our horizons. 

Charly Thieme – Brighton Gin

My group's been very nice in its set up, with people I know from around town and people I've never met. It's been useful having Ridgeview in my group as one rarely gets to exchange that sort of information with another booze brand.

I've learned lots about how people perceive our brand and the discrepancy between what we think we're communicating to customers and what actually reaches them/sticks in their minds.

Pete's been excellent, a very calming presence, with questions for everybody, good follow-ups, and he seems to be taking thorough notes and remembers what people have had in their pipeline, etc.

I would definitely recommend this to people who are starting to look at exporting. And what's been very interesting is having a mix of product- and service-based businesses on board!

Brandon Barnham – Ridgeview Wine Estate

I would say that the sessions have been really beneficial. It’s been great to hear the insights and expertise from professionals in the area. It’s been hugely valuable gaining awareness from other industries and understanding how they have overcome obstacles and challenges in their areas. The in-depth business reviews have also been really useful, in that it requires an external outlook/ different sense of perceptive on your business, encouraging further exploration.

The launch session for the next Export Leaders group is on 14 September 2021. Groups will run fortnightly from September to November, then monthly December to January. Find out more and sign up here. 

With thanks to support from Brighton & Hove City Council, and event partner Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership. 

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk