The British-Romanian Chamber of Commerce (BRCC) together with the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland Embassy in Romania and the British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) organized the BHETA Do It Yourself Industry–Trade Mission to Romania event between November 26-28, 2018 in Bucharest.
The purpose of the event in Bucharest was to facilitate the access of British companies from DIY industry to the Romanian market as part of a series of events that took place in the main European capitals. The “DYI Romanian Market Changes and Challenges” conference opened the first day of the event. Will Jones – Executive Manager BHETA, Neil McGregor – Managing Partner McGregor & Partners and BRCC Chairman, Alexandru Brădean – Country Manager KR Group and Nicolae Hulea – Business Development Manager, Nielsen Romania were the first panel speakers – The Changes in Doing Business in CEN Region, Particularly Romania. They have developed topics of interest about the context and challenges that companies that want to expand in Central and Eastern Europe, mainly in Romania have to consider.
Cristian Găvan – General Manager, MAM Bricolaj and Alexandru Tudor – Audit & Assurance Partner, KPMG Romania presented the context of the business environment in the country, emphasizing the important elements in the sustainable development of a business. The discussions that followed and the interactions between speakers and audience were moderated by Colin Lovering – BRCC Vice-President.
The event continued with 1 to 1 meetings between UK companies and DYI industry store network representatives. As buyers, the big players in the DIY industry in Romania attended: Vivre, MAM Bricolaj, Arabesque, Emag, Mobexpert, Cartesti and Decoincasa.
After the welcome reception in partnership with the Romanian – Portuguese Chamber of Commerce, the second day debuted with two presentations on the specifics of the development of a DIY industry business held by Andrei Ghimpuu – Purchase Manager, Mobexpert and Ana Canja – Buyer Vivre. The presentations were followed by a series of 1 to 1 meetings between UK and Romanian companies, and the day ended with a visit to one of Bucharest’s specialized stores.
About the event Will Jones (Executive Manager of BHETA) said: The BRCC team has organized an extraordinary, well-organized and executed mission through which UK companies received valuable information about the Romanian market and had the opportunity to meet buyers and retailers online. BRCC has created a positive and relaxing atmosphere that has enabled UK representatives to easily interact and share their commercial experience. The event was a real success, and we want to repeat it in other countries in Europe.
Regarding the business opportunities that the event provided, Joe Denham – CEO Vegtrug – said: It was really well organised and thoroughly enjoyable. We started what we hope to be some very profitable retail partnerships as a result of the meetings and look forward to doing business in Romania!”
BHETA is a top association that counts over 320 manufacturers, suppliers and distributors from DIY industry, totaling 15.5 billion pounds of retail sales and 15,000 employees.
With over 20 years of activity in Romania, the British – Romanian Chamber of Commerce is actively involved in developing the business and investment opportunities of companies in the UK and those in Romania that want to enter the UK market.
The Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Romania is engaged in the development of Romania’s competitiveness and economic growth and supports British companies interested in entering this market.