Each year, millions of Conference pears find their way into the fruit baskets of British tables from a long-established producer located between Brussels and the Dutch town of Maastricht, respectively the administrative heart and actual birthplace of the European Union.
Executives of Bel’Export, having expected in common with most most observers that UK voters would opt to stay in the EU, awoke on June 24, 2016 to the alarming news that Brexit had prevailed.
As the value of the pound sterling nosedived, the company lost €40,000 (Dh168,501) almost immediately. The early signs were ominous.
Britain is Bel‘Export’s chief export market, accounting for 20 per cent of sales and 15 million kilograms of pears each year.
Yet the most dramatic word Maarten Lauwens, the chief financial officer, can muster when asked to describe the unexpected Leave vote is “surprise”. Bel’Export, employing about 100 people at Borgloon, east of Brussels, simply got on with the job of selling fruit to the British.
And it may be that the company’s resilience offers an example to businesses on both sides of the English Channel as they try to grapple with the reality of life after the EU.
“I am by nature an optimist,” says Mr Lauwens while waiting to board a flight to the United Kingdom on yet another business trip. "My instinct is always to go forward, not to be stagnant, to solve problems rather than be defeated."
Bel’Export, which belongs to the British Chamber of Commerce in Brussels, must be doing something right. Last November, five months after the referendum, the company won the Golden Bridge trade and export award presented by the chamber annually to “the most successful Belgian, Luxembourg and UK companies exporting to or trading in both markets, in either the service or manufacturing sector”.
Mr Lauwens feels the company may need to increase its trade with other countries, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Finland and beyond but also explore new territories including the Middle East. Bel’Export, he says, is “examining” the prospects of deals with Arabian Gulf countries.
All the same, he is confident the UK market will not go away. Conference pears have been popular in Britain since being developed there in the late 19th century and named after a national pear conference where it took first prize in 1885, and Belgium has grown into one of Europe’s biggest producers.
Still, “it is very difficult”, Mr Lauwens concedes. “Nobody knows quite what the implications will be for companies like ours. What will be the customs regulations, will our deliveries be held up for two hours at ports?
“But no one is too worried about the future. I am pretty sure we can still sell the same volume of pears to the UK. The UK will still need to import fruit from Europe.”
What he hopes, and believes, will save businesses like Bel’Export is the common sense negotiators on both sides will have to show.
Asked what message he had to offer Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May, he addresses his response to Brussels as well as London: “I think it will be a very soft Brexit. So, while I say to the British government: ‘Don’t play it too hard’, I say the same to the EU because, at the end of the day, we need each other.”
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
AGUERO'S PREMIER LEAGUE RECORD
Apps: 186
Goals: 127
Assists: 31
Wins: 117
Losses: 33
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
Liverpool v Manchester United - 3.30pm
Burnley v West Ham United - 6pm
Crystal Palace v Chelsea - 6pm
Manchester City v Stoke City - 6pm
Swansea City v Huddersfield Town - 6pm
Tottenham Hotspur v Bournemouth - 6pm
Watford v Arsenal - 8.30pm
Sunday
Brighton and Hove Albion v Everton - 4.30pm
Southampton v Newcastle United - 7pm
Monday
Leicester City v West Bromwich Albion - 11pm
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The finalists
Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho
Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson
Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)
Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid
Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola
Results
STAGE
1 . Filippo Ganna (Ineos) - 0:13:56
2. Stefan Bissegger (Education-Nippo) - 0:00:14
3. Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) - 0:00:21
4. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) - 0:00:24
5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) - 0:00:30
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) - 4:00:05
2. Joao Almeida (QuickStep) - 0:00:05
3. Mattia Cattaneo (QuickStep) - 0:00:18
4. Chris Harper (Jumbo-Visma) - 0:00:33
5. Adam Yates (Ineos) - 0:00:39
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday Benevento v Atalanta (2pm), Genoa v Bologna (5pm), AC Milan v Torino (7.45pm)
Sunday Roma v Inter Milan (3.30pm), Udinese v Napoli, Hellas Verona v Crotone, Parma v Lazio (2pm), Fiorentina v Cagliari (9pm), Juventus v Sassuolo (11.45pm)
Monday Spezia v Sampdoria (11.45pm)