The BRCC is the bilateral chamber of commerce operating in Romania and in the UK.
Accreditation allows the BRCC to receive public funding from the UK government to promote trade between the UK and Romania. This is part of an official scheme whereby a limited number of UK chambers of commerce in the EU and the rest of the world are recognised as having achieved the highest standards of corporate governance and client service, so as to allow them to assume responsibility for official UK bilateral trade promotion work. Romania has been recognised by the UK government as a high-growth economy with particular opportunities for the promotion of trade with the UK, including through the organisation of a high-profile trade Megamission in March 2015, covering the oil & gas and nuclear energy sectors as well as the environment, water and mass transport sectors. UK government funding will allow the BRCC to expand the support it provides to members and other customers in making it easier for British and Romanian firms to do business with each other.
To gain official accreditation, it was necessary for the BRCC to pass stringent inspections on matters of corporate governance, ethics, organisation and business practices. Substantial external legal support was required by the BRCC to prepare for and to successfully pass all of these inspections. McGregor & Partners were appointed by the BRCC in May 2014 to advise on both Romanian and UK law and to provide practical legal support for the accreditation process. This included the preparation of new constitutive documents which were unanimously approved by the members of the BRCC at their general meeting in October 2014, and assistance in producing numerous documents for, and representing the BRCC in, the official inspections.
The McGregor & Partners team working with the BRCC on this project was led by Neil McGregor and Simona Lehniuc. Mr. McGregor is a British solicitor as well as being a member of the Bucharest Bar; managing partner of McGregor & Partners, he is a specialist in international corporate governance, ethics and compliance work. Ms. Lehniuc is a managing associate with extensive experience of the practical operation of businesses in Romania, particularly by foreign companies.
“The process of obtaining official accreditation is not an easy one, particularly since there are strict UK requirements which needed to be co-ordinated with the practicalities of doing business in Romania. I am delighted that the success of our work on the structure and operations of the BRCC has been recognised by the award of accredited status to the BRCC at the first attempt.”, declared Neil McGregor
“I have previously worked with Simona and Neil and was aware of their expertise in corporate governance matters, particularly where there is an official aspect to the work. They and their colleagues at McGregor & Partners have provided practical, timely and efficient advice to the BRCC in the vital process of securing access to UK government funding. Accreditation is a mark of the effectiveness of the BRCC in promoting UK-Romania trade and I look forward to continuing to work with McGregor & Partners in this in the future.”, said Ray Breden, the Executive Chairman of the BRCC.
