In Focus

Making the grade

British companies carry out more foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Germany than in any other European country – and by far. Between 2008 and 2013, the latest reporting period, 402 FDI projects were carried out by UK-based firms in the country, fDI Markets data shows. This compares with 293 projects in France and 270 in Ireland. BP, British Telecom, Vodafone, GlaxoSmithKline, British Airways, EasyJet as well as a diverse range of British software companies have all invested in Germany in recent years.

Founded in 1997, Amsterdam-based architecture and interior design firm Concrete won the Dutch Architect of the Year Award in 2012. Concrete spent its fledgling years creating a range of stylish and interesting commercial interiors in the Netherlands. Over the past few years, however, Concrete has broadened its horizons, taking its Supperclub concept worldwide and expanding its citizenM concept, a hip hotel brand offering low prices and high design values.

Small businesses looking to improve efficiency are increasingly finding that every cloud has a silver lining. Indeed, cloud computing, which is IT jargon for accessing applications as services over the internet, is becoming a game changer for many small companies, allowing them to access a growing number of innovative services that are easy to manage, provide transparent pricing and will scale up as a business grows. In addition to embracing cloud computing, small companies are also using Skype and video conferencing to boost their responsiveness, support consultants working in the field and expand the business.

Does this sound familiar?
Looking back at your last meeting, you have mixed feelings. The topic was interesting, the speakers distinguished – yet somehow it fell short of your expectations. The problems began at the opening ceremony – the speaker spoke too fast making it difficult to understand his points. Then there were the forums and workshops – these were in English but they failed to spark your imagination. The speaker had a strong accent and clutched his notes nervously – reading them rather than presenting his ideas. It was good to talk with colleagues from all over the world but some questions remained unanswered and it was not always easy to communicate – perhaps because not everyone was a native English speaker?

Which destination would you choose or recommend for a congress or conference? The range may seem endless to the layman, but there is an option for MICE you should not ignore: San Sebastian, in Northern Spain. We will try to disclose why.

Overlooking the sea in the very heart of the city of San Sebastian (northern Spain), Kursaal is a cutting edge architectural complex, which has been granted the European Union Mies van der Rohe Award for Architecture. It has the latest technology and offers multipurpose, versatile spaces. The Kursaal conference centre is an ideal location to hold any event format.

The city, San Sebastian, is an elegant and cosmopolitan business destination, headquarters of the International Film Festival and European Culture Capital 2016.

In 2012 Russia became the member of World Trade Organization and that gives a lot of new responsibilities as well as many possibilities for the development of Russian Economy under the new International conditions. It also results in the increase of International meetings and conferences, which take place all over the country and especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Galaktika Company is happy to state that within the last few years the number of components of MICE industry has grown dramatically in Russia.

Iconic, impressive and ideally situated just 15 minutes away from downtown Frankfurt, the futuristic THE SQUAIRE building is home to the Hilton Frankfurt Airport Hotel. Designed as a horizontal sky scraper with a length of 660 metres and width of up to 65 metres, THE SQUAIRE sets new standards in architecture and design.

“Location, location, location”, Conrad Hilton‘s famous words truly apply to Hilton Frankfurt Airport. The award-winning hotel has an outstanding location at Frankfurt Airport with pedestrian access to Terminal 1. In addition, the stylish hotel offers direct motorway access, and more than 185 high speed trains with rail links across Europe leave from the Inter-City railway station underneath the building on a daily basis.