YCF Conference - Buying in Uncertain Times

Here is the presentation I gave 14th October 2009 at the Yorkshire Chemical Focus annual Conference in Bradford. Any questions or comments please fire away. Sorry, I can't seem to find an easier way of putting the powerpoint slides in the blog.

2009/10 Training programmes

We are delighted to announce that we shall be running our own training programmes in 2010, starting on 22nd February with Market Research for the Chemical Industry, at The Heath Runcorn (with Robert Milner Associates).
The next day 23rd February 2010 we shall be running Chemical Industry Purchasing and suppy Chain Management, also at the Heath.

At a date to be arranged we shall be running "Beat the Buyer" a half day course focussing on sales and purchasing negotiations (in conjunction with NBA4Business).

In the remainder of this year we have;
Purchasing, Negotiation and Cost control 19-23rd October 2009 in Kuala Lumpur, and
Professional Purchasing Skills, 8th-12th October 2009 in Dubai, and
Complete Course in Purchasing Management, 13th - 17th December 09 in Cairo.

In addition we have a full programme of international training programmes in 2010.

The Complete Course on Purchasing Management
15 - 19 February Kuala Lumpur
The Complete Course on Purchasing Management
16 - 20 May Cairo
Purchasing Management Master Class (Certified Purchasing Professional)
5 - 9 July Vienna
The Complete Course on Purchasing Management
26 - 30 July London
Purchasing Management Master Class (Certified Purchasing Professional)
2 - 6 August Geneva
Purchasing Management Master Class (Certified Purchasing Professional)
1 - 5 November London
The Complete Course on Purchasing Management
29 Nov - 3 Dec Kuala Lumpur
Purchasing Management Master Class (Certified Purchasing Professional)
20 - 24 December Kuala Lumpur

Rio 2016

Hard to believe that it is more than 4 years since London won the right to stage the 2012 Olympics. What a thrill it was, coupled with a certain Schadenfreude at the French disappointment. London 2012 made a great pitch - pointing out the UK is such as young country, and that London is one of the great international cities. Maybe only New York has that same buzz. And now less than 3 years until the Games themselves.

Although it may have been easier for UK companies to get business in Madrid or Chicago because of proximity or a common language, there should be lots of opportunities in Rio. The fact that this is the first Olympics in South America, means that there will not be the level of established infrastructure and preferred suppliers that there is in Europe and North America.
Obviously some of that will develop during the World cup of 2014 - but the page will be blanker than it is for most Games, and UK companies should have the momentum coming out of 2012 to do well.