The special links between the North East of Scotland and Norway were the focus of a business event in Aberdeen on Monday, September 4.
The fourth annual Aberdeen-Norway Gateway was once again created by Granite PR and managed by Business Plus Scotland. Keynote speaker was Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Norway Sarah Gillett CMG CVO who was joined by fellow presenters:
- Tom Norland, Petroleum Technology Company UK Ltd
- Leif Johan Sevland, ONS 2018
- Barney Crockett, Lord Provost of Aberdeen
- Bill Howatson, Provost of Aberdeenshire
- Charlotte Stewart, Anderson Anderson Brown
- Lise Dean, Widerøe
- Andreas Christophersen, Quickflange (an ICR Company)
- Birger Haraldseid, Greater Stavanger Partnership
- Peter Reynolds, Denholm MacNamee
- Jan Bertelsen, Norwegian-British Chamber of Commerce
Addressing the 115-strong lunchtime audience at the city’s Macdonald Norwood Hall Hotel, Ms Gillett said: “Change – there is a great deal of it about and there are two areas which I think are of particular significance to this event. Many people are having to navigate businesses through really quite complex sectoral change, and the government which I serve is changing our relationship with the European Union. Two sets of really complex and really important change management to get right. The stakes are very high, there is a lot of uncertainty around and it is actually quite difficult to get a clear sight of the future.
“We are in a holding pattern for the time being, but we are not idling the engines. Our objective, which the Norwegian government has told us it shares, is to maintain our very close economic links, to minimise disruption for business and citizens and ultimately to ensure that the conditions for dynamic growth between Norway and the UK continue to thrive. I believe we have a great foundation on which to be optimistic about the future.”
Fellow speaker Andreas Christophersen of Quickflange (an ICR Company) said: “Norway is a key part of ICR's growth strategy and the Aberdeen-Norway Gateway event is not only an excellent platform to meet and learn from other sectors, but also provides an opportunity to showcase new products and services being made available in Norway.
“ICR is actively building on our strong existing relationships in Stavanger through our Quickflange technology and has begun introducing the group's wider capabilities including engineered composite repairs, chemical injection solutions, specialist onsite machining and integrity monitoring.”
Event creator Brett Jackson added: “This event takes the total number of Gateways we have staged to ten. Through the years, we have staged five Aberdeen-Houston Gateways, one Aberdeen-Perth WA Gateway and now four Aberdeen-Norway Gateways. The fact that these showcases continue to grow in momentum is a clear demonstration of the appetite which exists for such a forum, and we are grateful to all delegates, sponsors and supporters for helping us to deliver these vibrant and interesting meetings.”
The Aberdeen-Norway Gateway 2017 was supported by Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Anderson Anderson Brown, British Embassy Oslo, Business Plus Scotland, Denholm MacNamee, Energy Voice, Fairytale Events, Greater Stavanger Partnership, ICR Integrity Ltd, Macdonald Hotels & Resorts, Norwegian-British Chamber of Commerce, Norwegian Church Abroad, ONS, Petrasco, Press & Journal, Petroleum Technology Company UK Ltd, UKTI, Widerøe.
To find out more about Granite PR’s Gateway series, visit www.granitepr.co.uk