Exporting British design talent

British brands have huge international following - like Burberry, Mulberry ... British designers are cool - think Alexander McQueen, Zaha Hadid, Terence Conran, James Dyson, Jonathan Ive ...

Here is an opportunity for British architects to export their design skills internationally.

You don't have to be a enormous practice like Norman Foster or from metropolitan London - at the RIBA Guerrilla Tactics conference last week, Helen Ibbotson from Hope Valley in Derbyshire explained how her small practice has won significant work in China. You can see the range of projects on her (bilingual) website www.ibbotsonarchitects.co.uk 

And Liz Vaising from the UKTI Creative Services (East of England region) advocated architects to check out www.ukti.gov.uk  because there are grants available to visit new markets in Europe for as little as £99.  Brasil, Russia, India and China are the biggest markets - where you choose to go will depend on your specialisms, contacts ad preferences.  I think travelling with a group from your region is probably more effective than with trips sponsored by the RIBA.

The statistics speak for themselves: there will be more construction globally in emerging markets in developing countries than in the UK - and if your practice us looking to grow - you should not hesitate to consider international expansion.

Shin Marounouchi Tokyo