HSBC and The Telegraph team up to push business competition

HSBC took out the UK’s first translucent wrap-around on The Telegraph to launch a business competition between the bank and the newspaper. Eighteen companies will be in line to share £90 million worth of loans to fund international expansion in the ‘Business thinking 2010’ competition. 

Telegraph

Short-listed companies will be flown by HSBC to take part in networking events around the world to meet business mentors in their fields. There will also be opportunities to meet potential business partners, buyers and suppliers.

Noel Quinn, head of commercial banking at HSBC, said, “What we are trying to do is help UK businesses realise the potential that exists in the broad market, the world, rather than just the UK market.”

Over the coming months, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph will feature businesses using what the paper calls ‘some of the most promising corporate practices from around the world and applying them to their operations in the UK.’

Winning businesses could already have existing international operations but are looking to expand into new markets or they could be first-time exporters or even UK-focused businesses keen to take creative business thinking and apply it to their own ventures.

It could be that the finalists are introduced to management techniques or business processes and ideas that turn out to be applicable to their UK operations. Mr Quinn said: “It might be that they learn something in Mexico that’s nothing to do with international markets. It’s a new idea that they can apply to the UK market.”

Businesses looking to take part in Business Thinking 2010 will have to have sales of at least £2m and be planning to take advantage of the economic recovery to expand in the UK or build their international footprint either organically or through acquisitions.

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