Today is my last day with the Finnish-British Chamber of Commerce as a Marketing and Events Coordinator. It is time for new challenges.

The experience has been highly rewarding, on both a personal and professional level. At the beginning of my traineeship, I wanted to develop my business skills, enhance my knowledge of international business and marketing and to learn more about the Finnish companies in Britain. During this time, I can say I learnt a lot.

Organising the FBCC events and meetings have been fantastic opportunities to gain experience and improve my transferable skills. No two days were alike, there were fun tasks of taking photos, event planning from coordination to delivery, accounting and supporting Finnish companies as they begin to enter the British market.

I’ve enjoyed my time here in the international environment and learnt about the business culture in the UK and Finnish businesses here in London.

The highlights of my time here have been the opportunities to meet our all existing and new members and participating in all amazing events we organized throughout this Spring.

I’d like to warmly thank all the wonderful people I’ve had the opportunity to meet, extend my gratitude to our general manager Emma for being a supportive and inspiring manager and the FBCC team and all our members and partners.

See you all soon!

I am Erika Sipilä, one of the Marketing and Events Coordinator Trainees for Spring 2019 at the Finnish-British Chamber of Commerce and this is my farewell blog post to FBCC Members and friends. You can read my introduction post here and my halfway greetings here.

First and foremost, I would like to thank all FBCC Members for the warm welcome I received when I arrived in London in January and everyone’s kindness throughout my six months here. Thank you also to my lovely colleagues Emma and Heli. FBCC has provided a platform for me to enhance my networking skills and really get to know the Finnish and British business communities here in London. In my introduction post I wrote that my goal was to learn more about Finnish businesses in the UK and develop as a young professional. I am happy to say that I feel like I have achieved both.

It has been a very interesting experience seeing how businesses internationalise, especially to a market like the UK, which is notoriously difficult and competitive. It has been rewarding being a part of the successes of our Members through organising events with them, networking and supporting operations here in the UK. FBCC has given me the opportunity to work very independently and take responsibility of long-term projects and divisions of FBCC operations, such as our social media. The internship has taught me more about long term project management from a directing point of view and got me well-versed in the world of InDesign. I have also gotten to meet interesting people and experience exciting things from events at the Finnish Residence and company launches to shooting a commercial.

Time has gone by so fast and I will look back to my days here in London fondly. I do not leave London with sadness but with a sense of accomplishment. I will continue to my master’s studies at Aalto University at the International Design Business Management department beginning in September. To follow my journey or to keep in touch, feel free to connect on LinkedIn and send me a message!

Patrons’ Dinner at the Finnish Residence in Kensington Palace Gardens