Department for Business and Trade

We are thrilled to have been re-appointed as an Export Champion by the Department for Business & Trade for 2023/24. The Department for Business & Trade is the UK Government department for economic growth. It supports businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities around the country.

Our role as Export Champions is to inspire other businesses to grow through exporting, drawing on our experience of entering various international markets in the last 12 years.

As a UK-based business, US2U Consulting recognises that exporting is fundamental to getting our economy back on track. Our goal is to make a positive difference across various international markets by exporting our leadership development services.

In particular, our Executive Coaching, Transformational Change and Teambuilding Services have made a significant impact in businesses in various territories from Canada through to Ireland and Dubai. We also work with UK-based businesses on specific projects to support development of their scaling up and overseas business development strategies.

Andrew Mitchell CMG, Director General, Domestic and International Markets and Exports, Department for Business and Trade, said "Export Champions play an integral role in the Government's Export Strategy - a partnership with business to encourage trade with every market in the world and realise our ambition to reach £1 trillion in exports in goods and services by 2030."

Rachel Blackburn, Founder and Director of US2U Consulting (pictured) said "We are excited to be part of this inspiring initiative; we can all play our part whether directly, or as part of the supply chain, to make an impact on this ambitious target for 2030."

Feel free to drop Rachel a line if you'd like some advice! This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

As an Export Champion, Rachel Blackburn, Founder and Director of US2U Consulting was pleased to attend the launch event of International Trade Week 2023 in London on Monday 6 November. This included various workshops to enable businesses to "Boost Your Global Success", and also a keynote address by The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State for the Department for Business and Trade.

The evening reception celebrated the Export Champion initiative's 10th anniversary and was hosted by Lord Offord of Garvel, Minister for Exports, pictured with Rachel.

Rachel said "It was a high energy event with a broad range of UK businesses determined to play our part in achieving the UK target of  £1trillion in exports by 2030."

This event was also great timing for US2U Consulting, as we have recently secured our first Executive Coaching client in New York - a key part of our current exporting strategy.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to learn how US2U Consulting can assist your organisation's international strategy.

Kerwin and Rachel Blackburn were pleased to meet Toby Usnik (pictured, left, with Rachel) - Head of Communications at the British Consulate General in New York recently to discuss potential opportunities for our services in the US. Our meeting took place in the iconic location of Grand Central Terminal, New York (pictured below).

Whilst Toby currently works for the British Consulate General in New York, he has a commercial background and was able to share positive insights into the Executive Coaching market. We are planning our US strategy so please get in touch if you have contacts who would benefit from our services in that part of the world.

Linked to this story is that the British Department for Business and Trade have asked US2U Consulting to be an Export Champion for the fourth consecutive year. Part of this role is to advise other businesses on their international strategies.

Our first year of being awarded Export Champion status was 2020 - read about this here.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find out how we can assist with you export strategies.