Cross Cultural Relations Forum Launch

Official launch at the Résidence

The Chamber’s Cross-Cultural Relations Forum (CCRF) held an enjoyable and hugely informative evening at the Résidence de France on Thursday 23 September, attended by 120 participants. This exclusive event marked the official launch of the Forum founded in May 2009 and chaired by Peter Alfandary, Deputy President of the Chamber.
The event was hosted by Maurice Gourdault Montagne, French Ambassador to the United Kingdom whose welcome was followed by an introduction from Peter Alfandary and a remarkable debate between two businessmen who both of whom boast a wealth of experience in the field of cross-cultural relations. The debate was superbly moderated by Peter  Alfandary.
One argument was presented by Jean-François Decaux, Chairman of the Executive board of JCDecaux UK Ltd and the other by Ian Fisher, UK Chief Country Officer for Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking. The participants also had the opportunity to witness the official release of the Forum’s publication, “Light at the End of the Tunnel – Practical Reflections on the French and the British in Business”  
The French Chamber wishes to thank Peter Alfandary and the Forum members for their contribution and hard work and Maurice Gourdault Montagne, French Ambassador to the UK for hosting this great event.

"Light at the End of the Tunnel – Practical Reflections on the French and the British in Business”

The need to understand cultural factors is critical to developing relationships in business. Misunderstandings can arise if this is not realised, and relationships will fail as a result of factors that are easily avoidable.
The wise businessman knows that behaviour that is unusual in one culture can be perfectly normal in another. The experience of cultural difference is best understood by people who have had long experience of working across cultures.

Many members of the French Chamber have had such experience. Many are Frenchmen who have worked in Britain for a long time and seen the behaviours of the Brits; others are Englishmen who have worked with French people and adapted their business habits. That is why they have gathered together, under the aegis of the Chamber’s Cross-Cultural Relations Forum, to produce a structured guide to cultural behaviours and attitudes of French and British businessmen. The process of creating the guide has been led by the Chamber’s deputy President and Chair of the Forum, Peter Alfandary.

This guide is both highly-functional and helpful as well as deeply based on real-life experience of Chamber members. Its brilliant insights, sometimes laced with humour, shed a new light on the way that the two cultures relate to each other, in life as well as business.

To order the book please contact Jonathan Rosen on +44 (0) 2070926638 or at jrosen@ccfgb.co.uk 

GENERAL INFORMATION