The cosy residence of British ambassador Alice Walpole was the venue for the annual members’ new year cocktail hosted by the British Chamber of Commerce for Luxembourg on Wednesday. Walpole, in her role as ambassador, is the honorary president of the British chamber.
Sponsored by Champ Cargo Systems, the event was a social gathering allowing members to catch up after the holiday break and giving the ambassador and BCC chairman John Johnston an opportunity to look to the year ahead; a year in which not only will the United Kingdom will have a general election but Luxembourg will hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union for the 11th time.
The British chamber currently boasts some 300 members--companies and individuals--from a wide range of economic activities. Its primary objective is to “follow and influence developments in the economic and business world in Luxembourg affecting members’ interests.”
It hosts regular events, the next of which are a lunch on 28 January with guest speaker Pierre Gramegna, the minister of finance, who will talk about “Competitiveness in changing times”, and an evening business forum on 25 February which will tackle an update on VAT in Luxembourg.