London Trade Mission 2019 featured image

In early 2019, Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council (LCCC) were offering local technology companies the opportunity to accompany them on a trade mission to London. The trip was designed to help local companies establish and build a network of contacts in the London market by introducing them to potential partners. During the 3-day trip LCCC also hosted an event at Mansion House, the residence of London’s Lord Mayor, Sadiq Khan, giving all companies in attendance the opportunity to network with existing customers and also to make new connections at a high-profile event, in a great setting.

Over the past 10 years Scaffold Digital have focussed heavily on developing a strong client base in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which we have managed to achieve across a vast array of sectors. We had been investigating options to allow us to step into the GB market, offering our services of bespoke software solutions, alongside web and app design and development to businesses and organisations spanning the breadth of the island.

With this in mind we decided it would be a great opportunity for us to embark on the trade mission to London to help expand on our already diverse network of clients and connections. LCCC worked alongside HMC Global to deliver on ‘Cities Connect’ trade mission. Firstly, HMC worked with us to understand our business, what we do, how we do it and what our company ethos and values are to ensure we could achieve the most from our time in London. They then used this information to target potential customers on our behalf with a view to us meeting these businesses and organisations during our 3-day visit. At a top-level HMC were approaching potential customers who may require the following:

“A technology partner, who is passionate about delivering digital solutions that empower business, who are trusted, collaborative and progressive. Specialising in bespoke software solutions for web and app.”

Through our engagement with the Cities Connect programme we were given the opportunity to meet with five large agencies based in the centre of London, who require a trusted technology partner to work with them to deliver class leading software solutions to their clients. We were also given the opportunity to attend a number of networking events that allowed us to develop relationships with businesses across many different sectors, as well as taking the time to re-connect, face-to-face with some of our existing clients in the mainland. As a business, it is our core focus to nurture our clients, ensuring we can develop successful relationships which will ultimately produce the best results.

As well as having the opportunity to meet potential clients we also embarked on this journey with a number of other local companies which was also great for us to become much more familiar with the businesses around us, including what they are doing and how they are doing it. It was fantastic to spend our spare time with them, learning from their experiences and approaches to new market development, particularly in London. Some of the companies include:

Overall, we had a really positive experience of the London trade mission 2019. It has opened up some exciting opportunities for us that we are keen to explore and develop over the coming months. We want to work alongside our partners to develop digital products and solutions that change how we do business every day, delivering the tangible results that matter to our clients.

To find out more about how we could deliver the best results for you, please contact us.