PRESS RELEASE 5 March 2014 Baroness Nicholson hosts Council Meeting followed by Reception and Dinner in the House of Lords

On the evening of the 4th of March, Baroness Nicholson played host to two events of the Iraq Britain Business Council in the House of Lords.

Within the prestigious setting of the House of Lords Committee Rooms, IBBC’s Executive Chairman and UK Trade Envoy to Iraq Baroness Nicholson sat in the chair for a meeting of 25 members of IBBC’s Council. The Council discussed the work of IBBC over the past year, highlighting the large number of conferences, trade delegations, events and meetings that IBBC has organised and attended. Baroness Nicholson placed particular focus on the work of IBBC’s various sector tables. Sector Table chairs gave reports on the recent strides taken in the sectors of Oil and Gas, Financial and Professional Services and the newly established Education and Training Sector Table (ETST), which is now emerging rapidly as a significant force. IBBC’s Associate Director Dr Alastair Niven, chair of the ETST, drew the Council’s attention to the new stream of membership IBBC has opened to Higher Education Institutions. The move comes whilst the organisation continues to grow rapidly as it moves forward into its fifth year of operation.

The Council Meeting was followed by a Reception and Dinner in the Cholmondeley Room and Terrace. Two of IBBC’s new members, Restrata and Stirling Group, sponsored the event. Around 100 businesspersons attended, drawn from IBBC’s 52 member companies and were joined by Iraqi and British officials. Former Minister of State for Trade and Investment Lord Green, Ian Todd of Restrata and Angus Neil of Stirling were all invited by Baroness Nicholson to speak. Lord Green declared that IBBC was the best business council of any that he had witnessed in his three years as minister.