Stammtisch

There is obviously a lot of uncertainty and speculation around Brexit at this moment in time. If Article 50 is triggered by the government and negotiations with the EU are concluded, only then will we know for certain, what changes there will be for UK/EU businesses, what it means for EU/UK residency and movement between countries.

In the absence of clarity, I thought I might from time to time share information from various sources that may be helpful or give some food for thought.

The German Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DIHK) now distributes a monthly newsletter re Brexit. If this is of interest to you, here’s a link to register for it. Ireland’s economy, for example, is heavily dependent on trading with the UK and the possible impact was investigated in a report by Dr. Voker Treier (DIHK), Dr. Brian Murphy (Dublin Institute of Technology) and Ralf Lissek. Click here for the publication.

If there are any areas of interest regarding Brexit, please let me know and I will keep my eye out for relevant information.

You may be aware that Germany has around 1,500 forest and nature kindergartens/ groups – the umbrella assocation is the Bundesverband der Natur- und Walkindergärten. Children and their ‘Erzieher’ spend all day outside, playing and exploring their environment – no matter what the weather is like. If you search on YouTube, you can find many examples of videos of such Kindergartens – here’s an introduction.

If you would like to follow in the little ones footsteps, why not explore Northumberland National Park? They are organising a guided Winter Walk in Coquetdale on Sunday, 5 February between 10.30am and 2.30pm. Click here to register.

Have you heard yet about ‘The National Gin Museum‘? Well, it’s a news story I came across on local tv earlier this week. The Managing Director of the Gin Company, that produces the very nice ‘Steampunk Gin’ here in Gateshead, would like to get funding to create exactly that here in the North East. You can either simply donate a sum or donate and get a reward – for example £50 will get you a bottle of gin, plus two entrance tickets. More information can be found on Crowdfunder.

If you now have a drink on your mind, you may want to meet up tomorrow, Thursday, 19 January with the InterNations Group in Newcastle. They meet for the first time in 2017 and the venue is Browns Bar in Grey Street, Newcastle, where you can mingle with people from over 26 countries from 6pm.

Enjoy the rest of this week & all the very best for 2017!

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Belt Technologies designs and manufactures metal belting and conveyor systems for wide ranging applications in the automation, electronics, packaging, food processing, medical device, tobacco, and aerospace markets.

Based at the European Sales office in Washington, UK, the job holder would have an initial placement at the company’s head office in the USA (BTI) for product training (length of stay dependent on candidate) before returning to the UK to begin work as the Sales Engineer for the German- speaking markets.

Responsibilities

1. Provide professional technical support for the German markets
Using existing knowledge and experience, gained from placement at BTI, provide customers and new contacts with professional , technical support about Steel belt applications . Liaise with BTI to obtain further input as and when needed to the benefit of the customer and help with developing applications.

2. Protecting and growing existing business
Liaise with existing customers and develop relationships with their R&D and purchasing functions. Explore in depth current sales with possible other growth opportunities in mind. Manage price and day to day delivery issues. This will be done in coordination with our Mrs Cartwright( also a native German speaker and customer services rep).

3. Research and acquire new business.
Use knowledge gained to seek out new business opportunities. Pro-actively contact new potential accounts and use leads provided from shows, media, website as well as ones gained from own research. Grow these new contacts into new, profitable accounts.

4. Arrange customer visits – ideally out on the road 1 week out of 4 weeks. The job holder will be following up leads from our website, marketing campaigns and exhibitions as well as service regular key accounts.

5. Manage and tailor the company’s current German media to suit marketing needs.
Follow –up all leads and research new forms of media which will best suit our product image in Germany.

6. Attend German shows as and where necessary. Research new shows. Visit new shows to evaluate with a view to future exhibiting. 2 German shows are planned in 2017.Interpack and Motek.

7. Maintain regular communication with the BTE team.
Develop good two -way communication with BTE team who will be your primary point of contact on a day –to-day basis whilst on visits. A good team fit will be needed so the ability to work within a team is key to the job holder’s success

The Employer reserves the right to assign other duties and other markets.

Minimum Qualifications

• Engineering degree or several years’ experience in a similar role with technical product.
• Fluent in German and English
• Ability to spend several weeks based in USA at head office, at beginning of acceptance of position for training purposes.
• Experience of sales / distribution of technical product.
• IT literate- Word/Excel/CRM systems
• Self –starter/Team player

Remuneration
Remuneration will be offered according to experience and qualifications .

If you are interested in this position, please send your application to recruitment@bte.co.uk.

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