The British American Business Council serving Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware hosted an exclusive meeting with British Deputy Ambassador Patrick Davies in Wilmington, DE on Tuesday, January 13, 2015. More than 40 guests from various industry sector groups including healthcare, airline, legal, accounting, banking, education, real estate, and various government entities, among others participated in the event. The BABC was honored to work with the British Embassy, United Kingdom Trade & Investment, and the Delaware Economic Development Office to bring Deputy Ambassador Davies to the State for the first time.
The iconic venue – the Atrium of Hercules Plaza – owned and managed by Paul McConnell and Scott Johnson of McConnell Johnson Real Estate LLC, allowed guests to make valuable business connections and hear an informative speech presented by the Deputy Ambassador. Welcoming everyone upon entry was a beautiful Jaguar that attendees hoped would be raffled during a business card draw. No such luck, but the program was nonetheless, a resounding success.
Deputy Ambassador Davies’ discussion included a fascinating history lesson about the long ago battles fought in war and in the court system between the US and the UK, covering pertinent subjects such as geopolitics, economics, safety and security issues, and the trade relationship, all highly relevant and timely topics given the global state of affairs. Testament to the important relationship between the UK and the State of DE, despite the arrival of David Cameron, British Prime Minister to Washington later on this same week for meetings with President Obama, Deputy Ambassador Davies took several hours out of his busy schedule to visit British companies with significant operations in Delaware such as Barclays Bank and AstraZeneca.
BABC Board President Howard Silverstone opened the meeting with some well researched facts about the State of Delaware and the UK. He recognized our event sponsors Cigna, McConnell Johnson Real Estate and Pepper Hamilton, as well our partnering organizations, The World Trade Center Delaware and The New Castle County Chamber of Commerce before turning the microphone over to Alan Levin, Secretary, Delaware Economic Development Office, who introduced Deputy Ambassador Davies.
Deputy Ambassador Davies assumed his post as Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Washington in September 2013. He is a career diplomat and has worked throughout the world, oftentimes in countries experiencing crisis or periods of transition. For example, he played a pivotal role in British policy making around the Arab Spring, Iran and its nuclear program, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In 2012, in recognition of his outstanding record of service Her Majesty The Queen awarded him the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
Deputy Ambassador Davies’ impressive background and remarkable experience living and working in nations undergoing pivotal change led him to his current position. His discussion with our group on focused on the importance of solid economic ties, military interests, and international security issues affecting the UK and US – all hot topics around the globe today. Deputy Ambassador Davies stressed the extremely strong and unique relationship between the UK and the US. “What the two countries share is unlike any other ties to allies throughout the world. The connection between the US and the UK is very special and of real substance.” The US and UK face many of the same problems and share many concerns, making it possible to work closely to combat some of the larger issues affecting our two countries. The dynamic question and answer session following Deputy Ambassador Davies’ brief presentation highlighted issues such as cyber security, immigration and healthcare.
The BABC is very grateful for our relationship with the British Embassy and thanks Deputy Ambassador Davies for his time and commitment to the region our Chapter serves. We could not host these informative and value-add programs without the generous support of program sponsors. Special thanks to Cigna, McConnell Johnson and Pepper Hamilton.
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