British-Estonian Chamber
of Commerce
Ahtri 6A
10151 Tallinn
Tel: +372 56 622623
Fax: +372 626 4360
Email: becc(at)becc.ee
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The Charity Burns Supper 2012 on 27 January at the Mustpeade Maja The BECC Charity Burns Supper 2012 on 27 January at the Mustpeade Maja The most high-spirited charity event of the winter season – the BECC Burns Supper 2012 – was held on 27 January at the Mustpeade Maja. We celebrated the life and times of the great Scottish bard Robert Burns. It was an evening of culture, haggis, neeps & tatties, good music, bad dancing and Scottish whiskey! We had a live Wullie Fraser Ceilidh Band all the way from Scotland performing for us and tens of Scots showing off their fabulous kilts! The highlight of the evening was the charity auction with a record-breaking 17 items on display! Also, more than 80 prizes were given out in our famous charity raffle - the main prize of the charity raffle was a trip for two to Berlin, sponsored by airBaltic and Swissotel. With all of our supporters’ help from the last year, we managed to give the Estonian Cystic Fibrosis Association a donation of 5 300 euro for buying a respiratory vest for the Estonian children suffering from the disease. We would like to thank all of our members and friends who donated the prizes or helped us out in some other way; all the guests participating in the charity auction and raffle; and of course all of our sponsors – main sponsor of the event RSA, Law Office Glikman & Partners, Altia Eesti AS, DHL Express, Chemi-Pharm, SPI Distribution Estonia, Tallink Hotels, IPA AS, Coca-Cola Hellenic, A le Coq, Merchant’s House Hotel and Overall Eesti AS. It was the biggest BECC Burns Supper in history with more than 180 guests – we sincerely hope that you all enjoyed it! Thank you all so very much!
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BECC Christmas Carols & Cocktails, 8 December at the British Ambassador's Residence The Chairman of the British-Estonian Chamber of Commerce Ardi Roosimaa and the British Ambassador Peter Carter welcomed the BECC members at the Christmas Carols & Cocktails event at the Ambassador’s beautifully decorated residence on Thursday, 8 December. The BECC CEO Egle Org gave an overview of the successful year and thanked all of the Chamber’s members and sponsors of 2011. She also gave the Ambassador some lovely presents from the BECC and its members to thank him for the great co-operation during these past four years as he has been the British Ambassador in Estonia. We were entertained by the wonderful guitarist Jorma Puusaag and all of us were singing some traditional Christmas carols ourselves! We want to thank Unique Hotels - Kreutzwald Hotel Tallinn, City Hotel Tallinn, Von Stackelberg Hotel Tallinn, and Vihula Manor Country Club & SPA - for their support to our Christmas celebrations - their great and handsome bartender Alan from Casa Do Brazil was shaking the tasty Mojitos and Strawberry Margaritas at the event! |
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BECC November Mingle, 15 November at the Meriton Old Town Garden Hotel With around 60 people attending the November Mingle, it was a great evening in a Spanish atmosphere. We and our guests from the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Estonia were hosted by the Tapas Bar & Restaurant, which is situated in the Meriton Old Town Garden Hotel. In this lovely historical, yet modernly comfortable venue we were treated with delicious Spanish tapas prepared by the chef himself; and offered great wine. The welcoming words and the introduction about the hotel were given by Mihhail Burõhh, CEO. All who wanted could try making some tapas themselves! |
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BECC Guy Fawkes Night, 6 November at the Winners Lounge The BECC Guy Fawkes Night took place on Sunday, 6 November, this time we had the event at the new great place - Winners Lounge at the shore of the Pirita river. There was more than one hundred people who enjoyed the beautiful evening, amazing fireworks, great company, good food and a bonfire with the exciting burning of „the Guy“.
Children had their special programme organised by Väike Päike and adults tested their knowledge in the Guy Fawkes Quiz. Everybody had a great time and there was a lot of fun!
We would like to thank the sponsors of the event: our main sponsor - MARSH Kindlustusmaakler, and also AS Tallinna Vesi together with United Utilities, A le Coq, Väike Päike, and the pupils of Tallinn International School for making „the Guy“.
We would also like to thank all our members and companies who donated prizes for the charity raffle and all the participants who bought the raffle tickets - together we gathered a considerable amount of money for the charity again!
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BECC Executive Women's Dinner, 2 November at the Swissotel The BECC Executive Women's Dinner was a wonderful evening with more than 80 successful executive ladies attending the event. It was a delicious dinner with a lot of networking opportunities and exchanging business cards. We were honoured to have a very inspiring woman Ms Kristiina Ojuland, the Member of the European Parliament, as our keynote speaker.
At the end of the event, we were treated to a private Oksana Tandit and Mulberry fashion show presented by the SÜDA Boutique. Before leaving the event, every lady got a lovely gift bag from MaxFactor.
With everyone having an enjoyable and exciting evening, we look forward to seeing all the ladies again at the next BECC Executive Women’s Dinner!
We would like to thank our partners of the event: Hedman Partners, SÜDA Boutique (Oksana Tandit & Mulberry) , ATL Group, MaxFactor and Swissotel Tallinn. |
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BECC October Mingle, 18 October, at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Tallinn With over 40 people attending the October Mingle, it was a great evening. We and our guests from the Finnish-Estonian Chamber of Commerce were hosted by the Madisson Grill and Bar which is a fantastic restaurant attached to the Radisson Blu Hotel Tallinn. We had also a guest speaker from SA Tallinn 2011 - Ms Maris Hellrand who is the International Communications Manager and has helped to organise and promote the brilliant events over the course of the year, of which we and a lot of tourists have been able to discover the culture of Estonia.
We would like to thank Radisson Blu Hotel Tallinn for such a great opportunity to let our members mingle and get new contacts. |
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BECC Special Speaker Evening with Mr Geoff Mulgan, 13 October Evening with Geoff Mulgan was very interesting, cheerful and inspiring! But what else could we expect from the man who has been a strategic adviser to the British government but has also advised governments of the United States, Russia, Japan, Australia, Denmark and many more, has written several interesting books and has lectured in more than 40 countries. Geoff gave a speech about innovation and the future of education, and the evening continued with discussions over several other interesting topics while enjoying the dinner. It was definitely worth meeting Mr Mulgan! |
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BECC Trade Mission to Scotland, 12-17 September From 12-17 September, we organised our third annual trade mission to the UK – this time the destination was Scotland. More than 20 people attending, it was a week full of interesting visits, meetings, networking possibilities and also getting to know Scotland and it’s history a little bit better. Covering both Edinburgh and Glasgow, there were some great ideas and cooperation possibilities found throughout the visit while having an absolutely beautiful Scottish nature views as a background. We’ll definitely go back there someday again!
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SmartEST conference "New Nordic Estonia" at The Signet Library, Edinburgh on 13 September The SmartEST investment conference “New Nordic Estonia” took place on Tuesday, 13 September at the Signet Library in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a very interesting and successful event – there were very high level speakers both from Estonia and Scotland, interesting discussion panels and networking possibilities. We are convinced that there are very interesting cooperation and business possibilities existing between Estonia and Scotland!
We want to thank all our partners and sponsors, especially Enterprise Estonia, Law Firm LEXTAL, LHV Bank, DHL and UK Trade & Investment! |
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BECC September Monthly Mingle, 6 September, at the Clayhills Gastropub The BECC September Mingle was a great success with over 50 people coming to Clayhills Gastropub in the Old Town, most even being given an unexpected hearty round of applause by the Northern Ireland fans outside on the terrace! We were treated to inspiring speeches from Elaine Curran, Invest Northern Ireland and Martin Murray, owner of Clayhills. As the mingling continued, wine flowed and, if you could get to the bar, snacks were nibbled on too. As the evening came to a close, the traditional BECC raffle was done, with fabulous prizes such as a dinner for two at the Clayhills Gastropub and for those lucky few, three tickets to watch the much awaited football match between Northern Ireland and Estonia in the VIP lounge! |
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BECC Summer Party, 14 August at the Vihula Manor Country Club This year’s highly awaited BECC Summer Party got underway with a truly delicious home grown lamb barbeque and the welcoming words. The first of the activities to get underway was the pony ride for children closely followed by the rowing on the river which turned out to be a huge success and fortunately no re-enactments of the Titanic! With everyone safe and dry, the golf carts were next and once they took the style of a non-stop train across India, they set off in search of treasure and clues around the Manor. A brief pit stop enabled everyone to fill up once more on lamb, wine, beer and dessert and then we were off again, this time with a Manor tour all be it rather slower and more relaxing than before. The children were then able to be let loose around the grounds, in a more child-orientated treasure hunt of their own. We concluded the party with a fantastic raffle and socialising too. The acoustic guitar that was greatly enjoyed by all was played by Jorma Puusaag. We hope everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and hope to see you all back next year! We would like to thank all great sponsors who helped us with this great event: Merko Ehitus, RSA Insurance Group, ATL Group, Viru International, Bestwine and Vihula Manor Country Club. |
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BECC charity grants were given to two extraordinary students of Tallinn University of Technology BECC 1000 EUR charity grants were given to two extraordinary students of Tallinn University of Technology - Evelin Viilmann and Hanno Kase - to continue their studies in Master Degree Program this autumn. Ardi Roosimaa, Chairman of the BECC Board, gave over the cheques to these two young people, who were chosen from several strong candidates presented by TTU to the BECC Board. The grants to students are paid out from our charity account which is gathered in cooperation with our members and friends through our charity events. |
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BECC Executive Women's Dinner, 20 June at the Meriton Grand Conference & Spa Hotel The BECC Executive Women's Dinner was a great success with more than 70 influential ladies attending the event. It was a great networking dinner with very inspiring speaker - the President of the Estonian Parliament, Ene Ergma.
Conversations bubbled, wine flowed and business cards were swapped as the evening flew past. To end the event, we were treated to a private Karen Millen fashion show, with the models modelling day-time and luxury evening pieces. And before leaving every lady got a lovely gift bag by The Body Shop. With everyone having a relaxing and much needed evening, we look forward to seeing all the ladies again next time for the next BECC Executive Women’s Dinner! We would like to have the opportunity to thank our partners: Karen Millen, BestWine, The Body Shop and Meriton Grand Conference and Spa Hotel. |
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June Monthly Mingle on Wednesday, 8 June at the Bar Bogart at Sokos Hotel Viru This years’ June Monthly Mingle was hosted in the famous Sokos Hotel Viru. We mingled together with members from the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. We were treated to delicious canapés and wines before ascending the lift to the infamous KGB museum. A brief history was explained of the various tricks and ideas behind their secret top floor lair, before a glance at the fantastic views from the 23rd floor.
We concluded the evening with dessert and a raffle and a chance to discuss business and collect contacts. Last but not least, we would like to thank Sokos Hotel Viru and Peep Ehasalu for the informative guide around the museum. |
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Foreign Chambers' Football Tournament 2011 on 21 May, at the Hiiu Stadium Tallinn We are happy to announce the winners of the Foreign Chambers' Football Tournament 2011 powered by Sampo Pank - the BECC did it again! Lastly, we would like to thank the BECC team sponsor MARSH for sponsoring one of the most exciting events of the summer! |
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May Monthly Mingle - Brazilian Night, on Thursday, 12 May at the Casa do Brazil at Kreutzwald Hotel This time the BECC members mingled together with the Spanish-Estonian Chamber of Commerce members in the newly redecorated Kreutzwald Hotel - a lot of great Brazilian food and wine were served and we enjoyed lovely Brazilian rhythms by Denise & Jei while networking. Kreutzwald Hotel gave out some great prizes which were won through surprise treasure hunt and our traditional raffle. A great event indeed hosted by Unique Hotels! |
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BECC Open Golf Tournament, 8 May 2011 at the Estonian Golf & Country Club The sunny Mothers’ Day morning began with 84 golfers gathering at the Estonian Golf & Country Club, Jõelähtme. After a small warm-up at the driving range the opening ceremony with the Mothers’ Day champagne toast, welcome speech and raffling out two first prizes started. You could already feel the energy and excitement in the air! At exactly 9:30 a shotgun start officially opened the BECC Open Golf Tournament 2011. The format was Florida Scramble with teams of four. There were interesting competitions and great prizes available at most holes and for that we would like to thank all our hole sponsors at the tournament: BaltCap, PleasyGolf, Värska Vesi, Prike, Weir Golf, Overall Eesti, Fitness.ee, Viru International, Tark Grunte Sutkiene, Inchcape Eesti, Laitse Rally Park, Unique Hotels and also Nordic Hotel Forum and Microsoft who gave out different prizes. Our special thanks ofcourse goes to the main sponsor of the event: Law Firm LEXTAL! The winner of this year’s tournament was the same as in 2010 - team HEDMAN, congratulations! The second place was won by the team MA&MU. It was a great day with wonderful weather, smiling golf players and huge amount of great prizes!  |
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April Monthly Mingle: BECC & German-Baltic Chamber Bowling Challenge and Mingle, on Tuesday 19 April BECC April Monthly Mingle took place on Tuesday 19 April, at the Al Mare Bowling. This time we did something different – BECC challenged German-Baltic Chamber in bowling. In the beginning everyone played in mixed teams which was a great opportunity to mingle and after 1st round the six best players were selected who played in the finals; from British chamber: Karita, Robert and Dmitri and from German chamber: Taimo, Martti and Andrus. At first it was promising - luck was on the British team side but it didn’t take long for German team to catch up and win the challenge with 422 points leaving the BECC on the proud 2nd place with 372 points. Congratulations to them – at least this time! |
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Annual General Meeting 2011 on 12 April at the Three Sisters Hotel BECC Annual General Meeting 2011 took place at the Three Sisters Hotel on 12 April. On the AGM the Board members Märt Haamer, Paul Taylor and Phillip Marsdale allowed their seats to be occupied by new blood - Ants Karu (Lextal), Mart Mere (Marsh) and James Oates (Cicero Capital). Warm welcome to our new board members! |
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Investment seminar "All Aboard the Nordic Express!", 24 March, at the Swissotel Tallinn BECC SmartEST/British Embassy investment seminar "ALL ABOARD THE NORDIC EXPRESS!" took place on Thursday, 24 March at the Swissotel, Tallinn. A lot of people gathered to listen great speakers both from the UK and Estonia. Edward Lucas, International Editor of The Economist, gave an overview of New Nordic Estonia and Anthony Kleanthous, a writer, speaker and consultant from the UK talked about the Business of Sustainability. There were very interesting speakers from Estonia who talked about finance, property and ICT sectors development in Estonia after joining the Euro zone and OECD.
BECC thanks Law Firm GLIMSTEDT and Swissotel for sponsoring the event. |
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BECC at the Successful Britain event in Viru Keskus, on Saturday 19 March 2011 The British Embassy in Tallinn organised a Successful Britain event in the Viru Keskus with a variety of stalls representing highlights and various aspects of British life. From classic British food, travel and education, to Defence and Olympic Britain where we had two Estonian Olympians: Gerd Kanter and Ksenija Balta speaking of their Olympic success and future plans. The BECC was among the stands promoting our organisation and members to the public. All in all it was a huge success, with Estonians of all ages getting a taste for British life. |
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St. Patrick's Day Mingle at the Radisson Blu Hotel Olümpia, on Wednesday 16 March One of the most popular traditional British events got under way at The Englishman Pub, together with the members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Estonia. We had exclusive green beer at the bar and a welcome speech by the Irish Ambassador, Mr Peter McIvor. The night was wrapped up with a fantastic Irish trivia with the winner taking home a prize of a sauna for ten! A night thoroughly enjoyed by all. |
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BECC Tourism & Hospitality Round Table with Tallinn 2011 team, 2 March 2011 More than twenty people gathered around the table to discuss the plans regarding the 'Tallinn - Capital of Culture for 2011' project and how to maximize the cooperation with Tourism & Hospitality sector businesses. Tallinn 2011 team gave an overview of biggest upcoming events, marketing & communication plans and their Hospitality Training Project taking place this spring. All the participants had a chance to ask their questions and propose ideas for better communication and cooperation. |
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February Monthly Mingle on Wednesday, 16 February at the Swissotel Tallinn Held on the 6th floor of a 5 star luxury hotel, the BECC February Monthly Mingle took place at the most dominant building in Tallinn’s skyline – the Swissotel Tallinn. A night of wine, snacks, individual tours of the hotel, a welcome by the General Manager of the Swissotel Tallinn, and even a business activity were on offer at BECCs best mingle of the year so far! The BECC mingled together with the Danish-Estonian Chamber of Commerce, Holland Business Club and the Norwegian-Estonian Chamber of Commerce and all had a fantastic night of socialising, eating, drinking and laughter. A night thoroughly enjoyed by all.
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The Charity Burns Supper 2011 on 28 January at the Glehni Castle The most high-spirited charity event of the winter season - the BECC Burns Supper 2011 - was held on 28 January at Glehni Castle. We celebrated the life and times of the great Scottish bard Robert Burns.
It was an evening of culture, haggis, neeps & tatties, good music, bad dancing ... and possibly a partaking of a wee small dram or two as well.
A good time was had by all and we've had great feedback from guests so far!
A highlight of the evening was the charity auction and charity raffle which made a new record for the BECC!
We would like to thank all our members and friends who donated the prizes for the auction and raffle, all the guests participating the charity auction and raffle, and of course all our sponsors, the main sponsor of the event was MARSH Kindlustusmaakler. Thank you all very, very much!
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Evening with the Ambassador of Ireland in Estonia, Mr Peter McIvor We had a cozy evening with the Ambassador of Ireland in Estonia Mr Peter McIvor and his lovely wife at the residence. Mr McIvor gave a short overview of his career and work and made a presentation about Irish economy at the present. Wine reception followed the presentation and everybody had a chance to meet the Ambassador personally in this informal atmosphere. |
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BECC Christmas Celebrations 2010 on 8 December The Chairman of the British-Estonian Chamber of Commerce Phillip Marsdale and the British Ambassador Peter Carter welcomed the BECC members at the Christmas Celebrations at the Ambassador's Residence on Wednesday, 8 December. The BECC Chairman Phillip Marsdale gave an overview of the BECC's successful year and most interesting events throughout 2010, thanked all the sponsors and speakers of the events and BECC members for a great cooperation. We had a musical greeting from children of |
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November Monthly Mingle on Tuesday, 30 November at Meriton Grand Conference and Spa Hotel The BECC November Monthly Mingle was held on Wednesday, 30 November at the Meriton Grand Conference & Spa Hotel mingling together with the members of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Estonia. We celebrated the opening of the new Russian restaurant Balalaika with a shot of vodka, blinis, caviar and a Russian dance show. |
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BECC Business Briefing on Wednesday, 24 November The BECC Business Briefing "So you think you're ready for the Euro" took place on Wednesday, 24 November at the Nordic Hotel Forum. Veiko Hintsov, the partner of Deloitte Audit AS gave an overview about what a Board Member and CEO should know about the upcoming changes and how to control the planning process, Tiina Pukk from Law Firm LEXTAL explained what will change in corporate governance from January 1st both concerning the Euro and other important issues for businesses. Chris Lautre from Rocksoft talked about their work regarding rebuilding of big systems using the example of EMT and how big investments are actually behind these kind of system changes. James Oates from Cicero Invest introduced the possible scenarios for Euro in nearest future, Europe's economy regarding the crises and upcoming changes in the Euro-zone which lead to an interesting discussion about what EU should do to avoid the collapse. |
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The Guy Fawkes Night 2010 The BECC Guy Fawkes Night took place on Sunday, 7 November at the Pirita Beach and Restaurant-Lounge Pärl. There was more than one hundred people who enjoyed the beautiful sunset, outstanding fireworks, great company, good food and a bonfire with the exciting burning of „the Guy“. Children had their special programme organised by HappyKids.ee and adults could test their knowledge on the Guy Fawkes Quiz. Everybody had a great time and there was a lot of fun! We would like to thank the sponsors of the event: main sponsor RSA Insurance Group, AS Tallinna Vesi together with United Utilities, A le Coq and the pupils of Tallinn International School for making „the Guy“. We would also like to thank all our members and companies who donated the charity raffle prizes and all the participants who bought the raffle tickets – together we gathered more than 9000 EEK for the charity with this event! Thank you all very much! |
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October Monthly Mingle on 27 October at Tallink Spa & Conference Hotel Our October Monthly Mingle took place at the Cigar Bar Fidel and was hosted by the Tallink Spa & Conference Hotel. We mingled together with the members of Rotary International Tallinn. Aivar Sõerd gave a short overview of the hotel business this year and plans for the next year. A cosy place, interesting people, delicious snacks and wine, cognac and cigar introduction - what else could you think of to spend an enjoyable mingle evening! |
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September Monthly Mingle on 28 September in Estonian EXPO Center We had an interesting evening in unusual environment together with the members of Junior Chamber International Estonia - meeting new people, enjoying wine & snacks and excellent music by Virgo Veldi! Short overview about the Branding Estonia was given by Jan Vistisen and everybody had a chance to take a look at Estonian brands represented in the EXPO Center at Tallinn Airport security zone next to Gate 3. |
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SmartEST conference in London on 16 September and BECC Trade Mission 14-18 September The SmartEST investment conference took place on Thursday, 16 September at the Mansion House, London. It was a great success – there were more than 100 registered participants and the feedback on the conference was very positive. We hope to be able to report some results in the near future! Special thanks to our co-organisers, partners and sponsors! BECC annual Trade Mission to London was very successful, interesting and brought several future cooperation plans between Estonian and UK organisations. There were more than 20 companies attending the trade mission this year - very many interesting and useful meetings, visits and networking events took place to get new business contacts, find cooperation partners and get new ideas. |
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August Monthly Mingle on 24 August at von Stackelberg Hotel courtyard Our August Monthly Mingle took place on 24 August at von Stackelberg Hotel Tallinn courtyard! Interesting business networking with delicious grill-snacks, excellent wine provided by Altia Eesti and fresh news about Tallinn 2011 program. This time we mingled together with the Finnish-Estonian Chamber of Commerce. It was a perfect cozy summer evening! |
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June Monthly Mingle on 16 June at Three Sisters Hotel Our June Monthly Mingle was generously sponsored by Eesti Mündiäri and it was fascinating to have a closer look at some beautiful commemorative coins. They showed us for example FIFA football coins and London Olympics first gold coins. |
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Foreign Chambers' Football Tournament 2010 powered by Sampo Pank on 22 May 2010 at A Le Coq Arena This was a great tournament with 10 football teams attending. And the BECC team won it!!! Our team was very good and the captain Richard Barnwell just brilliant. Richard was also awarded as the top scorer and also for the best goal. |
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How to find a perfect foreign partner?, interactive workshop on 13 May 2010 at the Ambassador's Residence At this interactive workshop we found out how other companies have entered foreign markets, found the right partner and started successful exporting. The speakers were Ken J Davey, Founder and Managing Director of Smarter Limited in London and Vello Koore from Linette. The workshop was followed by active networking. |
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BECC Open Golf Tournament 2010 on 9 May 2010 at Estonian Golf & Country Club 88 golf lovers had a fun day with the emphasis on the social side of the game. The tournament format was Florida Scramble this year. After the game we had some great Indian food afterwards. The winner of the tournament was the team of Hedman Partners. Thanks a lot to all the sponsors, especially to the main sponsor eGovernance Laboratory. |
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April Monthly Mingle on 20 April 2010 at Nevskij Restaurant Russian kitchen and indoor golf fit together. We had these two combined at our April Monthly Mingle at Nevskij Restaurant. This time we mingled with the members of the Norwegian-Estonian Chamber of Commerce. Nevskij presented its new head chef Vladimir Iljin, who offered delicacies from the restaurant's current menu. Since a new golfing season is on the doorstep, Estonian Golf & Country Club offered a possibility to refresh the basic principles of golfing. |
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Evening with The Independent on 15 April 2010 at Radisson BLU Hotel The BECC invited one of the UK's most respected financial journalist Hamish McRae, Editor of The Independent to visit Tallinn and to be our Guest Speaker. He was named Business and Finance Journalist of the Year 2006 at the British Press Awards. He is the author of the book What works published in January 2010. At the BECC event he looked at examples of businesses and communities that have worked from all over the world. During his visit here he wrote an article about Estonia which was published in The Independent on 16 April 2010. To read the article click http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/hamish-mcrae/hamish-mcrae-estonia-is-a-model-of-restraint-1946363.html |
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Internet tips & tricks to improve the performance of your business on 9 April 2010 at Clarion Hotel Euroopa At this Power Breakfast Robin Gurney from altex marketing oü and Janno Siimar from Velvet Creative Alliance gave us useful tips how to make our website work harder for our company's benefit. We got tips how to quickly improve the visibility/performance of our website and how to improve our company or brand image on the internet. |
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BECC Executive Women's Luncheon on 30 March at Nordic Hotel Forum The BECC launched a new event series for women - Executive Womens Luncheons, which kick-off took place on the 30th of March. We were especially honored to have a very inspiring woman, Marina Kaljurand, as our keynote speaker. Marina Kaljurand is the Undersecretary at Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the moment. She served as the Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the Russian Federation (since 3 February 2006). |
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March Monthly Mingle on 18 March 2010 at Kaleva Travel, Baltika Kvartal This Monthly Mingle was organised in partnership with South-African Embassy in Helsinki and Kaleva Travel. We were exploring South-Africa as a travelling destination and country to do business with. Accompanied with some very good South-African wines of course. After the mingle (with the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce this time) we had an exclusive opportunity to do late shopping (with great discounts) in the Baltika's Fashion Street. |
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Annual General Meeting on 25 February 2010 at Reval Hotel Olümpia The Annual General Meeting held on 25 February 2010 gave its approval to the BECC 2009 Financial Report and elected the new Board. |
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February Monthly Mingle on 18 February 2010 at Three Sisters Hotel It was a cozy evening with delicious snacks by Three Sisters Hotel and excellent wines provided by Triinu Kundla from BestWine. A perfect setting for bumping into some familiar faces and for creating new connections. This time we mingled together with the AmCham. |
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Rise and Shine, Estonia: How to Make the Best of the Recovery, Investment Conference on 29 January 2010 at Swissotel This was the kick-off conference of the year to listen to the parade of high-profile speakers and meet the top decision makers. The speakers were Daniel Franklin and , Executive Editor of The Economist and Sir John Stuttard, Former Lord Mayor of the City of London, Vice Chairman Advisory Board, PricewaterhouseCoopers UK, Juhan Parts, Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications, Peeter Saks, Managing Partner of BaltCap, Veiko Sepp, Vice-President, Market Unit Nordic and Baltics of Ericsson, Andrus Alber, Chairman of the Board of NASDAQ OMX Tallinn, Peep Mühls, Chairman of the Board of Estonian Cooperation Assembly, Märt Haamer, Chairman of the Board of Overrall Eesti. Moderator was Ardi Roosimaa from Prime Assets. Thanks to the Special Interest Group 'Investment' and, of course, the sponsors - UKTI, BaltCap and PricewaterhouseCoopers. To see the photos of the visit to the e-democentre and pre-conference dinner hosted by the British Ambassador Peter Carter on 28 January click here. |
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Visit to the e-demo centre and pre-conference dinner hosted by the British Ambassador Peter Carter on 28 January 2010 On 29 January 2010 the BECC organised an investment conference "Rise and Shine, Estonia: How to Make the Best of the Recovery" with very special key-note speakers - former Lord Mayor of the City of London Sir John Stuttard and the Executive Editor of the Economist Daniel Franklin. On the previous evening the BECC organised a visit to the e-demo centre and British Ambassador Peter Carter hosted a dinner at his residence. |
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Burns Supper 2010 on 22 January at Swissotel This was the 6th Burns Supper organised by the BECC. Of course, it was again the most high spirited event of the season. Special thanks go to the main sponsor, the RSA Group, experts in the field of insurance and all the other sponsors/supporters. Thanks also to Mr Iain Lawson for being such a great Master of Ceremonies! |
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Christmas Cocktails on 1 December 2009 at the Ambassador's Residence We kicked off the festive season with mulled wine, cocktails, festive snacks and some well known Christmas Carols with piano accompaniment. Thanks a lot to the Ambassador Peter Carter for hosting such a great event. Very special thanks go also to the friendly Cocktail Waitresses from the Unique Hotels (City Hotel, Unique Hotel Mihkli, von Stackelberg Hotel and Vihula Manor Country Club and Spa) who served cocktails during the whole evening. |
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Great British Breakfast on 24 November 2009 at the Ambassador's Residence We enjoyed full English Breakfast and listened to the Guest Speaker Nick Daubney, the Leader of King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council. He spoke about how small businesses cope with a recession in the UK. |
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Biznes Po-Russki, seminar on 20 November 2009 at Nordic Hotel Forum We learnt from the top specialists how to do business in Russia and about Russian market. The speakers were CEO of EADS Secure Networks Oy Hans Holmberg, CEO of US Invest Peeter Tohver, Rene Varek from Eastfood International, Vera Burtseva and Harry Hedman from Law Firm Hedman Partners. |
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November Monthly Mingle on 17 November 2009 at Olde Hansa The BECC invited the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Estonia along to have a playful feast at Olde Hansa. We enjoyed a medieval Christmas meal and followed a drama play about a wealthy merchant's daughter Margarete Büddinck and a Fransiscan monk Johann von Hilten. It was a true story from the 15th century which came to life again. |
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Guy Fawkes Night on 1 November 2009 at Restaurant-Lounge Pärl Family event Guy Fawkes Night is one of the BECC signature events with fabulous fireworks and the exciting burning of the Guy. The fireworks were sponsored by IBE Estonia, the developer of the Uuesalu residential area which is situated in the Rae parish, mere 8 km from the Tallinn city cente and 4 km from the Ülemiste shopping centre. To read more please visit www.uuesalu.ee |
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BECC-BCCL London Visit on 21-24 October 2009 The BECC in cooperation with the British Chamber in Latvia organized a joint delegation visit to London to get new business contacts and ideas. The program included visits to Skype London, Think London, the Houses of Parliament, receptions at the Estonian and Latvian Embassies, an exclusive lunch at the Royal Air Force Club hosted by the RM Group and meeting with Estonians living in London at the Red Lion Pub. |
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October Monthly Mingle on 6 October at Gallery M We had an exclusive preview of the exhibition of vintage French posters the day before its opening and enjoyed good French wines. This time the BECC members mingled togethter with the Spanish-Estonian Chamber of Commerce. |
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Coaching Teams to Success, Power Breakfast on 24 September 2009 at Tallink Spa & Conference Hotel Marcus Herold, Chairman of the board of MPS Enterprises, and Jörgen Jaanus from MPS Eesti introduced BECC members the common characteristics of successful management teams and sport teams and how can effective coaching improve performance in a management team. |
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The Art of Networking, Speaker's Corner on 16 September 2009 at Meriton Grand Hotel The BECC invited a lobbying expert Garry Parker, Executive Chairman at British & Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce in Finland, to give guidelines for successful networking. His speech was followed by Speed Networking. |
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Monthly Mingle on 3 September 2009 at Nordic Hotel Forum BECC members mingled together with the Finnish-Estonian Chamber of Commerce at Nordic Hotel Forum. Altia Eesti introduced Valencian wines Hoya de Cadenas. |
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Summer Family Party on 12 July 2009 at Vihula Manor The BECC invited its members with their families and friends to an unforgettable Party in Vihula Manor which is as beautiful as a fairy-tale. There were many activities in addition to enjoying food and drinks - rowing on the river, carriage rides with horses, yoga and pilates, relaxing neck massage and charity raffle. And weather was just fantastic! |
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Morning Coffee with the Minister on board HMS llustrious on 19 June 2009 The BECC members had an opportunity to have a cup of coffee with the Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts on board HMS Illustrious, the British Navy Aircraft Carrier. Mr Parts who focused on tourism issues, invited the tourism sector to come out with more ambitious projects to attract more tourists. |
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Demystifying Social PR, Power Breakfast on 11 June 2009 at Radisson SAS Hotel Villu Arak, CEO of Hill & Knowlton Estonia and Peter Parkes, part of the team at We Are Social who joined us over a video call, demystifyied the topic of Social PR. |
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Doing Business in Moldova, seminar on 26 May 2009 at LEXTAL Law Firm Moldova has three times the population of Estonia and slightly reminds Estonia 15 years ago. The country is worth getting acquainted to. After listening to the presentations of Tarmo Sild from Lextal Estonia, Pavel Burghelea from Lextal Moldova and Carolina Perebinos from the Moldovan Embassy and tasting Moldovan wines we were absolutely convinced in it. |
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BECC Open Golf Tournament 2009 on 10 May at Jõelähtme, Estonian Golf & Country Club The annual BECC Golf Open 2009 was definitely as much fun as last year :) The winners were the following: 1. Priit Alamäe and Taavi Kotka; 2. Mari Suursalu and Marko Palm; 3. Peter van Buuren and Indrek Hirvlaan. |
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English Cheese & Beer Event on 29 April 2009 at the Ambassador's Residence At this event BECC members learnt that English cheese is a really good partner with English beer. We tasted 19 different types of cheese with 6 different beers and a cider. What a dinner! |
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AGM & Speed Networking on 23 April 2009 at Tallink Spa & Conference Hotel The BECC connected the AGM with Speed Networking this time. Speed Networking really seemed to work even in Estonia. During the Annual General Meeting the approval of the 2008 Financial Report and Amendments to the BECC Articles was given. |
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Foreign Chambers' Luncheon with Prime Minister Andrus Ansip on 24 April 2009 at Radisson SAS Hotel This luncheon was organised by AmCham Estonia in cooperation with the BECC, SCCE, DECC and NECC. Our Guest Speaker Prime Minister Andrus Ansip spoke about Current Economic Situation and Government's Strategy for 2009. |
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Evening with the Economist on 31 March 2009 at the Restaurant Margarita, Barons Hotel The BECC was honoured to have the Economist journalist and author Mr Edward Lucas as a Guest Speaker. He recently published the highly acclaimed book "The New Cold War". Being the Central and Eastern Europe correspondent for The Economist he has been covering the region for more than 20 years. In his speech he focused on the Russia's economic crisis. |
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Achieving higher productivity in a recessionary environment, Power Breakfast on 25 March at the Meriton Grand Hotel CEO of Webmedia Group Priit Alamäe, Managing Partner of Catella Corporate Finance Aavo Kokk and Director of PerCapita Martin Dungay shared about creative ways to continue a successful business and how to generate new ideas and innovation from employees while cutting costs. |
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Visit to the Bank of Estonia on 5 March 2009 The members of the British-Estonian Chamber of Commerce, Deutsch-Baltiche Handelskammer in Estland, Lettland, Litauen and Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Estonia met with Andres Lipstok, the President of the Bank of Estonia in the historical Independence Hall of the state bank. |
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Who we are? Gaining value from these organisations, Breakfast Briefing on 26 February 2009 at the Tallinn City Government's Residence The BECC, UK Trade & Investment, Enterprise Estonia and English Speaking Union introduced how they can help business people. |
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Work effectively with media, Power Breakfast on 19 February 2009 at the Schlössle Hotel Madeleine Tults and Magnar Michelson from a BECC member company Pilot Communications presented how to make the most out of working with Estonian media. The Power Breakfast was packed with practical tips and real life examples. |
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Global Economic and Policies' Outlook, Seminar on 29 January at the Reval Hotel Olümpia, Senso Banquet Hall The seminar focused on the financial world's strength, funds availability and cost of capital in coming years. The speakers were Göran Lind from Sveriges Riksbank, Henrik Hololei from European Commission, Andres Sutt from Eesti Pank, Central and Eastern European Investment Expert James Oates and Aaro Hazak from PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisors. The moderator was Ardi Roosimaa from Trigon Capital. |
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BECC Burns Supper 2009 on 23 January at the Black Heads House The BECC celebrated the life, works and spirit of the great Scottish Bard - Robert Burns. |
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Financial Market and Business Outlook, Warm-Up Breakfast on 20 January at Clarion Hotel Euroopa At this Warm-Up Breakfast the Central and Eastern European Investment Expert James Oates, Senior Sales Manager of Nordea Markets Tõnu Palm and Managing Director, Head of Property Development and Investment of Trigon Capital Ardi Roosimaa discussed about Financial Market and Business Outlook in 2009. |
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Christmas Reception at the Ambassador's Residence on 9 December 2008 The British Ambassador Peter Carter and the Chairman of the British-Estonian Chamber of Commerce Paul Taylor were pleased to receive BECC members at very beautifully decorated Ambassador's Residence on 9 December 2008. |
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Film evening "Hunger" on 29 November 2008 at Cinema Kosmos British Council, the 12th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) and the BECC were proud to present a special screening of Steve McQueen’s “Hunger” to celebrate the 75th anniversary of cultural relations between Britain and the rest of the world. |
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Business Breakfast at the British Embassy on 25 November 2008 Matthew Hadley, Partner, Head of Risk Advisory Services of KPMG in the Baltics introduced the KPMG’s review which is the most comprehensive analysis of the effects of climate change on the corporate world that identifies the business risks and economic impacts at sector level. |
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'Between Each Breath' at the Ambassador's Residence on 5 November 2008 The BECC and British Embassy invited BECC members to the meeting with the famous English writer Adam Thorpe who in his recent book Between Each Breath wrote so beautifully about Estonia, especially Tallinn and Saaremaa. |
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Guy Fawkes Night on 2 November 2008 at Restaurant-Lounge Pärl in Pirita The BECC had one of its signature events of the year – ‘Guy Fawkes Night’ with fabulous fireworks and the exciting burning of ‘the Guy’. |
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Latest IT Trends in Communication & Collaboration on 17 October at Microsoft Estonia Rain Laane, General Manager of Microsoft Estonia introduced us to the very latest in IT Trends & Collaboration. His presentation was packed with practical tips and real life examples. |
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Sterling Event on 2 October in Radisson SAS Hotel The heads of the BECC Sterling Class member companies and BECC Board were invited to the Reception of the Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa Mr Sobizana Mngqikana. |
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Speaker's & Wine Corner on 24 September at the lobby bar of Nordic Hotel Forum Our Guest Speaker Mart Luik, chairman of the Board of Ajakirjade Kirjastus and a media expert, shared his views on what might happen in the Estonian media in the coming months and years. |
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Speaker Luncheon with Toomas Hendrik Ilves on 18 September at Reval Hotel Olümpia This event was organized by AmCham Estonia in partnership with the British-Estonian Chamber of Commerce, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and Danish-Estonian Chamber of Commerce. Pictures are provided by Fotki Inc |
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Power Breakfast: Everybody can sell on 10 September 2008 at the Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration Mike Southon, one of the UK's leading authorities on entrepreneurship and sales with a weekly column in the Financial Times showed us how everybody can sell. |
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Happy New Airport!, BECC visit to expanded Tallinn Airport on 22 August 2008 Tallinn Airport is getting closer to finalizing its two major expansion projects with final completion scheduled to be in September 2008. BECC members were exclusively invited before official opening to check out what’s new in Tallinn Airport. |
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Gourmet Dinner at Ammende Villa on 13 August 2008 BECC members and guests from the British Chamber of Lithuania enjoyed 6 course gourmet dinner prepared by Ammende Villa's new Chef de Cuisine Mr Tarmo Frey and the best wines of their excellent wine cellar. |
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Summer Evening Party on 1 July 2008 at the Schlössle Courtyard BECC members celebrated the start of the Summer holidays with the best BBQ in town prepared by award-winning chef Tõnis Siigur and good French wine. |
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Outstanding English Wines - Do they really exist? on 19 June 2008 at the Ambassador's Residence BECC members had an exclusive chance to check out some really good English wines which are not otherwise available in Estonia. |
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Annual General Meeting on 13 May 2008 at Ipanema Rodizio, Uniquestay Mihkli Hotel BECC members voted for a new Board member, approved the 2007 Financial Report, new BECC Articles and had a good time. |
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Golf Tournament BECC OPEN 2008 on 4 May 2008 The BECC held its annual BECC Open Golf Tournament at Jõelähtme Golf Course. It was definitely a great fun and as a networking opportunity – awesome. |
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Pan-Baltic Investment Seminar on 22 April 2008 at Reval Hotel Olümpia This international BECC seminar was organised in cooperation with Broadgate Capital, Colliers International and Savant Estonia. We were honoured to have Prime Minister Andrus Ansip as one speaker at this seminar. |
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Today Tartu, Tomorrow the World!, seminar on 17 April 2008 at Estonian Business School Increasingly we find ourselves working in an international environment - and this means we need to manage diversity on all sorts of levels. |
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Money Talk with the Minister of Finance on 2 April at the Tallink City Hotel Ivari Padar, Minister of Finance, gave an overview of the new corporate income tax and answered questions whether Estonia will keep its uniqueness also in future. |
| Off the Record with the BECC on 18 March at Schlössle Hotel Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet shared his optimistic points of view about the future of Kosovo and relations between Estonia and Russia. Of course these issues raised a lot of questions to which he was eager to answer. |
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Speaker's & Wine Corner on 11 March at the Merchant's House Hotel British Ambassador Peter Carter gave BECC members a thorough and fascinating overview of the British food & drinks. He started with English Breakfast and finished with Gentleman's Relish on Crackers. His speech was entirelly illustrated with delicious examples. |
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Changes in the Competition Board: should entrepreneurs watch out?, seminar on 22 February 2008 at Radisson SAS At this intriquing seminar we discussed the importance of the competition law and its impacts in Estonia and EU wide. |
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BECC Burns Supper 2008 on 25 January 2008 A taste of Scotland was reeling its way to Tallinn on 25 January 2008 when the BECC Burns Supper was held at the Teachers' House. It was a night to remember. |
