Haskovo VIP visit
Haskovo VIPs visit Leicester (15th to 18th April 2019)
Having been preparing for a third Chamber of Commerce business delegation to visit Leicester for over 12 months, John Townsend finally welcomed the VIPs to Leicester in April 2019. However, although it was planned that the Mayor of Haskovo would lead the commercial delegation, eventually the Mayor was prevented from travelling by preparations for the EU elections. So a Deputy Mayor, Velin Balkanski was substituted for the Mayor and he was accompanied by the Mayor’s PA, Julieta Terzieva and the Head teacher of the Foreign Language School in Haskovo, Deyan Yanev – the school has been connected with the Judgemeadow Community College for some years. In the event no Chamber members joined the party, so the planned business-focused visit turned into an educational and tourism promotional visit.
The visitors arrived early on the Monday morning and were met at Luton Airport by John Townsend with a taxi, and arrived in Leicester at around 10.00 am.
After a brief tour of the city environs in John’s car, the first meeting was arranged with the LLEP at City Hall, where Sue Tilley gave an overview of the city’s economic strategy and the LLEP’s involvement in the local Enterprise Zones.
After some light refreshment and a brief look at the Depot Workspace building, the Curve Theatre, the Open Market and the Highcross Shopping Mall, it was time to meet the Lord Mayor, Cllr Ross Grant, at the Town Hall, when Hilary Blackmore joined the group – gifts were exchanged and light refreshments were served. After leaving the Town Hall and a brief look at the Gallowtree Gate shops, the visitors returned to the Campanile Hotel to prepare for the evening.
The evening was spent at the Foxton Locks, including a meal in the old pub. The locks were of great interest, as the Bulgarians do not have such visitor attractions, or indeed any national canal network. Viv and Fred Rankin joined the group for the meal, with Wendy, John’s wife. Very kindly, Fred drove the visitors back to the hotel, to save John the double journey.
On Tuesday the 16th, the party made an early start and visited the Outdoor Pursuits Centre, where Cheryl Taylor gave an explanation and tour of the facilities. Following this, the group moved to the National Space Centre for a brief tour and viewing of the planetarium film, by courtesy of Chas Bishop.
The party then visited Rita D’Silva Griffiths at Judgemeadow Community College, where, before lunch, the party were able to witness several performances by contestants in a Regional Dance Festival – as the school was generally closed for the Easter recess, the school was hired out to the festival organisers, earning useful revenue to boost the school’s budget. The head teacher, Jason Smith, joined the group for lunch, specially prepared by the Kitchen Staff, and discussed the school’s ethos and behavioural expectations.
At 5.00 pm, courtesy of Martin Traynor, Chair of the Trustees, the group were due at the Richard III Visitor Centre for a guided tour, and were joined by Viv Rankin. The visitors enjoyed the comprehensive tour, guided by Ian Gordon, and were presented with a commemorative booklet. The party then returned to the hotel for a light supper – and were joined by Fred and Viv Rankin.
On Wednesday the 17th, the party attended a useful meeting with Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Iain Gilespie at the University of Leicester (who is a member of the LLEP), who is also Chair of the University’s Innovation Board, together with Dr Tristram Hughes, Business Development Manager and Alison Riding. They have a close working relationship with the National Space Centre – and a video workshop between the University and the Foreign Language School was discussed.
The next stop on the itinerary was at Leicester Castle (the city’s original Court House, but is now occupied by the De Montfort University Business School. This gave us the opportunity of climbing to the top of the ‘Castle Motte’ and seeing the ‘Turret Gateway’. Time did not allow us to walk through the Castle Gardens.
After a brief call at a Morrisons Supermarket to do some shopping, the party visited the Leicester Guildhall and Leicester Cathedral, before moving to Abbey Park for a ‘picnic in the park’. After this light lunch, the party visited the New Walk Museum, before returning to the hotel for a rest before the evening event.
At 4.30 pm, a taxi arrived to take the party, including Fred and Viv Rankin, to East Midlands Airport, where Ioan Reed-Apsley, the Airport’s Press Office Manager (Karen Smart, the MD, was not available on the night), provided some light refreshment and a review of the Airport’s history, business environment and plans for further expansion. Already being one of DHL’s three worldwide hubs, with unrestricted 24 hour flight access, the Airport is working with Amazon to build a new distribution centre in anticipation of the ever increasing on-line shopping delivery service – adding further to their property portfolio, which includes the Pegasus Business Park. This review was a prologue to a visit to view the DHL cargo operation and a mini-bus tour of the Airport’s ‘airside’ operating system – this required special ‘airside’ security passes and security checks. As part of the introduction by DHL, we were shown a fully operational pilot’s flight-deck simulator, which was fascinating. The visit concluded with a drive down the full length of the main runway as part of one of the driver’s regular runway checks. The party returned to their hotel just after 10.00 pm.
On Thursday 18th April the party were due to return home and a taxi was arranged to pick them up from the hotel at 10.15, so that they would arrive at Luton Airport in plenty of time for their 13.55 flight back to Sofia.
John Townsend – April 2019
