The BRCC exists to facilitate and promote business by putting people in touch with other: B2B and also business to government. It is well-known that the more a member puts in to its engagement with the BRCC, the more benefit both it (and other members) will get from this. The disruption to the BRCC’s business model which the pandemic has caused has allowed us to transform our activities and improve our offering.

The pandemic has presented new problems but also resolved some issues. In the case of the BRCC as a bilateral chamber of commerce, there was the issue of how to balance the interests of our members in Romania against those in the UK – or elsewhere. Similarly, both the UK and Romania are large countries and business in each of them does not only operate around London and Bucharest respectively, although we exist to serve businesses in all areas.

Two particular comments from BRCC members exemplify the change that we have made in response to the pandemic.

The first was that we are now more active than we were last year. The response to the pandemic has been a learning exercise for governments and some measures have been less successful (or more disruptive to business) than others: we have been able to pass the experience of members on to the government. Perhaps paradoxically, the increase in the Chamber’s activities has also been a response to the cancellation of our normal calendar of face-to-face meetings and events. Faced with an empty diary and with staff working from home, the BRCC has come up with a mixture of online events and low-risk „in-person” events over the summer months.

The second comment was that the move to online activities has been a great equaliser. It was made in the context that online working can put disabled people on the same footing as the rest of us, but it is also true in the sense that it now does not matter where a member is geographically located. Our online offering is equally available to all who have access to the internet and we have added new channels of communication to suit our bilateral status. Expert and high-profile speakers who we would have found it difficult – and expensive – to bring to speak to an audience in Bucharest are now available to give presentations online to all of our members and do not need to spend time in travel.

The most exciting opportunity for the BRCC that the pandemic has brought is the realisation that our membership of the global network of British Chambers of Commerce can be leveraged to give members in Romania access to an exceptional business network throughout the UK and also around the world where bilateral British chambers of commerce exist. It also allows us to present opportunities in Romania to businesses in the UK and elsewhere. The BRCC is now networked with other British chambers and I am already seeing inquiries from the UK which we have been able to match to members in Romania. Other initiatives are also in development but we have not overlooked the importance of printed business publications, which have a wide audience. We are delighted to see that DeBizz is being joined by „TheBizz” and wish this English-language publication every success.

Mădălina Cîinaru, Director BRCC

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