On the 24th floor of a building on New York’s Avenue Of The Americas, a group of British entrepreneurs is attending a masterclass in how to do business in the US, listening to fellow Britons who have already set up in the city. The event has been organised by London-based media events company Chinwag as part of a trade mission in association with UK Trade and Investment, the government body that helps British businesses expand overseas. Amid the talk of tax arrangements and employment contracts, the entrepreneurs are learning about the cultural nuances in hiring, pitching and workplace culture.
A more mature start-up scene and access to a vastly bigger English-speaking market are two factors tempting UK start-ups across the Atlantic. UK digital companies such as Decoded, which teaches executives how to learn computer coding skills in a day, Songkick, a digital service that provides information about music events, and Moo, an online business card company, have opened US offices, while a number of British executives are relocating to head US-based businesses. The Talent Business, a headhunting firm, earlier this year reported a rise in British advertising executives heading stateside. At the same time, the British government is seeking to put UK companies in the US spotlight: this week Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince Harry were in New York’s Meatpacking district for an event highlighting UK creative businesses.
As the UK and US share the same language, there is often an underlying assumption that the countries make obvious partners. But this assumption can come unstuck when it comes to doing business.