Dear members and extended network,

I hope you all had a lovely summer.

I am personally excited to get back to business this autumn now that the world is opening up gradually. The last year has been different and in many ways challenging, and I would like to thank all our members for your continued support during this time.

As we continue to make progress and return to a more familiar business environment, we do not expect it to be exactly as it was before the pandemic.

NBCC are pleased that we have been able to adapt and to stay in touch with our valued members and network throughout the pandemic. We have had many interesting events online including several cultural awareness seminars, believing this is an important topic at the core of what the NBCC is about. NBCCs’ mission is to be a “Bridge across the North Sea”, and I believe understanding each other’s culture is an essential part of this.

As England eased restrictions in May, we are very pleased to say that we did not waste our time. On May 17, from when it was allowed to have gatherings of up to 30 people, we organised an event for our premier and partner members to celebrate the Norwegian National day. It was a memorable evening and an honour to be able to celebrate this important day with some of our members.

In addition, we organised an art gallery tour in June which was fully attended. This was a great success, and we look forward to repeating a similar event this autumn.

In spite of the pandemic NBCC recruited several new members over the last year. We are therefore very optimistic and excited about the future now that we can also meet in person. We look forward to this autumn with exciting and interesting events. Please check our website for more details and a complete list.

We regularly mention our new members in our newsletter. I would like to take the opportunity to announce our new premier partner member Aker Horizons who will also be represented on the council board. We are excited to have Aker as a part of our network and look forward to together further develop the collaboration between Norway and the UK.

I very much look forward to seeing you soon.

Annett Åbø

President