Meet the team – Callum George
Date published:
I’m Callum, a new member of the Policy team here at the Chamber. I’ve been in the role for just over four months now, and in this time have enjoyed working with the Global team, as well as being part of the British Chamber of Commerce’s International Trade Policy Group.
Whilst the majority of my work is around education, employment, and skills, I’ve also been fortunate enough to also work on issues around our relationship with Europe. This includes looking at the Retained EU Law Bill, as well as issues surrounding the Shortage Occupation List.
As a new part of the policy team, I’ve been keen to upskill myself to make well-informed policy decisions. I’ve always had an interest in the UK’s relationship with the rest of the world, so given the headwinds of a widening regional trade deficit, and the Northern Ireland Protocol, I figured now would be a better time than ever to learn more about international trade.
Having just completed the British Chamber of Commerce-accredited Global Training Course, I’ve already been able to apply what I’ve learned to some of the work we’re doing within the policy team.
The course allows trainees to pick their modules which offers a more tailored approach to learning. Despite this, the larger modules offer a comprehensive view of imports and exports, and touch on the smaller specific modules’ content very briefly. I found this useful as it gave me an opportunity to refresh my knowledge or go over topics I needed to spend more time on to understand.
The trainers offer a fantastic wealth of knowledge regarding international trade, and are happy to answer any business-specific questions. They offer a useful point of contact for trainees who have decided to take a module to address specific issues their employers are facing. I’ve found this useful to listen to, as it has helped me understand some of the issues with customs that businesses are facing.
From a personal perspective, I found the rule of origin and commodity code courses the most insightful for my role. By learning about how to define goods, I have been able to understand the effect the Retained EU Law Bill could have on product regulations. I think this goes to show that, even for someone loosely involved in international trade, the BCC Global Training Course offers an excellent opportunity for CPD.
Courses will be available to book here soon.