Building Bridges

When I was appointed Director of the British Israel Chamber of Commerce (B-ICC) in 1981 I was living in Sunderland with my youngest son Richard, the older two were away at university. Every Monday I left early to drive the 3 – 4 hour journey to my office in Manchester.

Half way I stopped for a comfort break in Leeds at the home of friends Shirley and Malcolm Berwin, then drove over the Pennines to Manchester. There I stayed with my parents, returning home every Friday. They regarded me a recalcitrant teenager despite my being the 42 year old mother of three grown up sons. I once returned home late to find Mother fuming on the doorstep. “What time do you call this!” A typical example of parental control that never ceased. But I suppose on balance it’s better to have a mother who worries about you than one who doesn’t.

My new occupation was something I realised I was destined to fulfil. My mother, a dedicated WIZO (zionist) lady, endlessly organised bazaars to aid the nascent State of Israel and my first ‘business venture’ was sitting in the street, aged 10, selling my comics and toys to raise money for poor Israeli children.

B-ICC’s objective was to encourage imports from Israel and create markets there for British goods. I had four regional chairmen with offices in Glasgow, Liverpool, Bradford, and Manchester – the main one. My role was to organise promotional events in northern cities, visit local businessmen to encourage them to work with Israel and take them on trade missions to Israel.

I spent hours driving along motorways. I remember that the first person I visited manufactured machine tools. I asked him what he knew about Israel. “They sell oranges and have a crack army” he replied. Well, it was a good start. However it was then, on day one, that I realised how terrified I was by the deafening noise of machinery. it was the same in steelworks, building sites and fabrication plants – absolutely anywhere where I had to wear a hard hat. I only recently discovered this is called ‘mechanophobia!

With Michael Fox, preparing out presentation

I worked closely with the British Overseas Trade Group for Israel ( B.O.T.G.I), wholly funded by the U.K.Government. The Director, Michael Fox, was hardworking, energetic and enthusiastic. I remember travelling with him one day discussing the possibility of a trade conference in Manchester. In those days little was known of Israel’s innovative developments in hi-tech and we wanted to promote this aspect. What should we call it? I recall the exact moment in the car when I shouted excitedly: “How about Techno-Trade Day?” Fantastic, he said – it was born.

On 28 May 1982 the press reported that Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Argov, would be guest of honour at our Techno Trade Day on 15 June. One June 3, just six days after the announcement, Argov was attacked by three Abu Nidal terrorists whilst leaving a dinner at the Dorchester Hotel. A bullet hit his head and he was in a coma for 3 months. He survived but was paralysed,  needing constant medical attention for the rest of his life.

We were in total shock but the event went ahead. It was chaired by the Duke of Devonshire, who held aloft Israel’s flag saying he was proud to make this gesture of solidarity with Israel. After a moment’s surprised silence the 180 strong audience rose and burst into spontaneous applause. It was deeply moving.

Lord Sieff of Brimpton

Also present was Lord Sieff of Brimpton, the President of the B-ICC – an impressive and unforgettable character. He first visited Mandatory Palestine in 1939, joined the British Royal Artillery when WW2 began and received an OBE in 1944 for gallantry in action. In 1948, the year of Israel’s creation, David Ben-Gurion, the Prime Minister, invited him to become an adviser to the Israel Defence Industry. He accepted and remained there until 1951 when he returned to London to work in the family business, Marks & Spencer. He also held several other important positions with the J.I.A, Weizmann Institute, BOTGI and more. in 1974 James Callaghan, the British Foreign Secretary, invited him to become UK Ambassador to Israel but he declined.

I met him and his delightful wife Lily on numerous occasions. Once when I was invited to their apartment I visited the bathroom. Here I saw a magnificent pair of hairbrushes, polished teak with initials M and S inlaid in silver. They were beautiful. I made a mental note to visit the store to buy some. When returning to their living room I almost mentioned this, but fortunately didn’t, when it suddenly occurred to me that the M and S might not be the store’s trademark but Marcus Sieff’s initials!

As well as organising business conferences in northern cities, we also focused on consumers, in 1981 creating B.I.G. day – ‘Buy Israeli Goods’. We linked up with Jewish organisations as well as supermarkets, restaurants and cafes where tastings, special menus and food demonstrations were held. A year later it became BIG Week (8 days so definitely big) and by 1983 it was a whole month. One noteworthy ‘scoop’ was a four page colour feature in ‘Women’s Own’ magazine. As the press reported, ‘The Taste Of Israel’ got ‘BIGger and better’.

Bank Hapoalim reception, Liverpool. 

We were fortunate having Bank Hapoalim in Manchester. They sponsored many events. Other Israeli companies in the area were Polgat, a major Israeli textile firm that acquired and reopened a factory in Wigan, that had been in danger of closing down with 320 redundancies. They also established a new unit at Skelmersdale, in W. Lancashire employing 250 and Delta Textiles revived a factory near Glasgow manufacturing leisure wear.

Tadiran Electronics were the first to introduce silicon chips and semi-conductors to the British market. I discovered only recently that they also produced the world’s first drone – the Tadiran Mastiff – an unmanned reconnaissance vehicle that began flying in 1973. I always thought of drones as something very modern. I learn something new every day.

In 1983 we took the largest ever northern B-ICC mission to Israel. This group of 30 industrialists with the Lord Mayor of Newcastle as our chief guest, was led by chairman Barry Spencer of Parkland Textiles, Bradford.( see above) We took them to several companies including Israel Aircraft Industries, Koor, Polgat and the Citrus Marketing Board. It was here that one of the party asked their MD “What on earth do you do with all these oranges?” He replied “ We eat what we can and we can what we can’t”. I remember their puzzled expressions and the long pause until the penny dropped and the group realised what he meant! The trip was hugely successful, particularly as we found some pubs for them to visit in Tel Aviv.

The period when I worked for the B-ICC was significant in many ways. In 1981 Israel was represented at the World Travel Market in Olympia, Kensington for the first time and also in London a 3-day Industrial Israel Exhibition of 200 high tech firms was held together with a seminar on Medical Industrial Technology.

Nobody in those far off days could have envisaged the gigantic leap that Israel has taken since then in Hi-tech.  There is scarcely a single part of our lives that has not been enhanced by the technology emerging out of this tiny country – much of it now taken for granted.

As a technophobe I have always struggled to cope with new innovations but perhaps it is understandable as I grew up in an age of coal fires, no central heating, no washing machines and not even T.V. We had a telephone near our front door (for some reason they were always in the hallway) and remember waiting hours for us to be connected to my uncle in New York. As for T.V. we were, amazingly, the first family in Prestwich, Manchester to have one as my Dad built it himself. I remember watching those first flickering black and white pictures from Alexandra Palace and later the excitement of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth 11 in 1953 – It was memorable.

   

Unlike me, my father had an instinctive understand of everything technical and the ability to fix just about anything. I am absolutely sure that were he here today he would be the first one I would turn to for help when I cannot operate my mobile phone.

When the B-ICC began, one of its founders, Alec Colman, wrote “It started somewhat diffidently, with well-meaning Jewish patriots trying to do something about which they knew hardly anything – to establish an international Chamber of Commerce to foster bilateral trade with Israel”. Well, it not only survived but still continues to flourish. I would like to think that I contributed in a small way towards its success.

In 1980 UK imports from Israel were £236m and exports to Israel stood at £232m. In 2017 the combined figures reached almost 7 billion pounds.

As for the future, the UK and Israel recently signed a post Brexit Trade Continuity Agreement to ‘deliver significant savings and help safeguard British jobs’. The agreement ‘allows businesses to trade as freely as before and UK consumers will continue to benefit from more choice and lower prices on Israeli goods such as pharmaceutical products’, Teva Pharmaceuticals incidentally, are  the largest manufacturer of generic medicines in the world and a major supplier to the NHS.

I am happy to hear of this Agreement, as creating positive links between the two countries has been the focus of much of my working life. After four years I eventually left the B-ICC when, at a major trade event in Liverpool an official from the Israeli Embassy mentioned that the British Israel Arts Foundation would shortly be opening in London, he said they needed a Director and I should apply.

I gave it little thought until, whilst driving back to Manchester later that night, I fell asleep at the wheel. It was very scary. This was the sign that I had to stop driving around so much and find a job in one place! I applied and was offered the job, but more about that later.