UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) helped more than 40 Australian companies successfully establish themselves in the UK last year and some 1000 Australian companies are already set up and doing business in the region.
To encourage further investment, UKTI has launched Go UK – a business plan competition open to Australian and New Zealand businesses with an interest in expansion to the UK.
Entries are open for Go UK participants to submit their business plan online with close of entries on Friday 3 February 2012.
The finalists for each region/category will be announced in February 2012 and the Australian winners and final prizes will be awarded at a cocktail reception in March in the following locations:
- Sydney (covering all NSW, ACT and WA entrants);
- Melbourne (covering all VIC, SA and TAS entrants); and
- Brisbane (covering all QLD and NT entrants).
Go UK gives Australian and New Zealand companies the chance to win business support packages that include British Airways return airfares to London, meetings with potential business partners, client contacts, business networks, a free limited company, business services, and ongoing UKTI support to expand to the UK and Europe, and then the world.
A similar initiative, UK Market Entry (UKME) competition, was run last year and attracted 95 entrants in Australia and 60 entrants in New Zealand.
The winners of the UK Market Entry (UKME) competition were PHM Technology (PHMT), a software company that has developed advanced modelling and analysis tools for the design and operation of some of the critical systems that form the backbone of a range of industries from aerospace to oil & gas; and Victorian-based aluminium design and manufacturing company, Lite Industries, making its own specialised range of products including shoring systems, pallets and tow trailers.
The winning Queensland companies were Noja Power, an exporter to the UK of its market-leading circuit breakers that increase the reliability of electricity supply and conform to the latest environmental standards; and In Business Systems, providing a revolutionary new method of connecting the framework for structural steel buildings.
The NSW winners were Rutherford Global Power; which provides temporary electrical systems for the construction and tunnelling industries; and Iris Interactive which helps bio-pharmaceutical and healthcare companies commercialise new products and bring medicines to patients faster.
To enter the Go UK competition, go to http://ukinaustralia.fco.gov.uk/go-uk
To find out more about UKTI go to http://ukinaustralia.fco.gov.uk/en/business
