United Kingdom | Trade Mission Liverpool and Manchester

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Are you keen on delving into the UK’s healthcare landscape or looking to network with pivotal healthcare figures in the UK? If so, the forthcoming Trade mission in Liverpool and Manchester beckons your attention. This initiative, organized by the Task Force Health Care, is scheduled from June 24th to June 26th, 2024.

When: 8-10 July 2024
Where: Liverpool & Manchester
For: Dutch companies within the Life Sciences & Health sector

The mission promises an immersive experience, offering the first step of doing business in the UK LSH sector, specifically Liverpool and Manchester. Through roundtable discussions and follow-up visits of the fact-finding mission in 2023, we will engage in opportunities for collaboration with the UK LSH sector, and/or the NHS.

Regarding the UK, the nation witnessed a notable surge in healthcare expenditure in 2023, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact and therefore exacerbated inequalities. Given the rising demand for health services driven by disparities, alongside the heightened pressure on staff due to a substantial population, Cheshire and Merseyside emerge as prime candidates for collaboration. Their close proximity to the Netherlands, cultural parallels, and a strong focus on patient-centered and societal healthcare models pave the way for seamless collaborations and follow-up initiatives. These regions are particularly appealing for entering the UK’s healthcare market, thanks to their innovative healthcare providers and the presence of the expansive Manchester and Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts. Furthermore, the emphasis on digital transformation and cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics is seen as essential for enhancing healthcare access, affordability, and quality. By capitalizing on these advancements now, the Netherlands is poised to significantly benefit from the UK’s substantial investments in Life Sciences and Health (LSH) innovations. Additional market information can be found in the market report LSH UK (published in 2019).

What to expect?

During the fact-finding mission in October 2023 to Manchester and Liverpool, insights on the UK healthcare sector were gained, as well as exploring opportunities of collaboration between UK and NL. In this follow-up trade mission, we will focus on the first step of collaboration between the UK and/or with the NHS and NL in the areas of eHealth, Medical Technology and Healthy Ageing.

As such, the program will not consist of receiving information about the LSH sector, but rather providing an opportunity to present your product/service and make initial contacts to position yourself within NHS trusts. Thus, we walk through several themes related to the steps an international stakeholder must do to enter the trusts;
– Market entry approach: what problems are there within Liverpool and Manchester region and what solutions/innovations are they looking for? What funding is available for international organizations? Which distributors/agents do you need to get in touch with?
– Integrated Care Systems: what opportunities are there within the ICS for international organizations?
– Procurement: how are procurement processes structured? What regulations do you have to take into account? Are procurement processes the same at every NHS trust?
– Regulations: do you still need to do clinical trials for your product/service? Do you have sufficient evidence for your product/service’s efficacy to enter NHS trusts?
These questions will be answered by real-life examples, combined with one-on-one advice from innovation experts, distributors and procurement managers within both NHS Manchester foundation Trust & Liverpool University NHS Trust.

Program

The program is still under development but will include the following elements:
• Intake call & introduction: to increase the quality and success of the mission, an individual intake call and a joint preparation session will be organized.
• Health seminar focused on roundtable discussions with key stakeholders from Liverpool and Manchester to foster collaboration opportunities in themes centered around eHealth, medical technology and healthy ageing.
• Visits in Liverpool, to existing network to make the first step of collaboration, including one of the bigger hospitals in one of the Liverpool NHS Foundation Trusts.
• Visits in Manchester to key stakeholders discussing their needs of products or services within the hospital or organization, including visit and workshop with expert from Manchester Foundation Trusts.
• Networking activities with both public and private local stakeholders from MIDAS, Health Innovation Manchester, North Care Alliance, Health Innovation North West Coast and many more.

After this trade mission, you will be able to strengthen your…

• … entry strategy/sales & marketing strategy for your specific product/service.
• … network of key opinion leaders and possible partners in the UK LSH sector.
• … implementation process of your product/service in the UK LSH sector, and/or specific the NHS.
• … next step of doing business in the UK LSH sector, and/or specific the NHS.
• … further develop projects and/or sustainable business relationships in the UK.

Participation fee

The cost of participating in this exploratory visit is as follows:
• TFHC Partner: € 950,- (excl. VAT), per person RVO SIB Voucher 50% = € 475,- (excl. VAT).
• Non-TFHC Partner: € 1.150, – (excl. VAT), per person *RVO SIB Voucher 50% = € 575,- (excl. VAT).

This fee includes participation in the collective program, lunches and dinners when included as part of the program and local support by the organizing parties. This fee excludes travel and accommodation costs (such as hotels, international and domestic transport) and all individual costs, such as lunches and dinners outside the program.

As this is a privately organized mission, you may be eligible for RVO’s Support International Business (SIB) Grant to (partly) fund your activities to increase your business opportunities in a specific foreign country. For more information and application for the SIB grant, please visit the website of RVO.