DO you remember Michael Douglas’ Oscar-winning turn as Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street? asks Brian Dakers, NECC International Trade Manager.

I’m not much a film buff, but one oft-quoted line from that film that always stuck with me - “breakfast is for wimps!”

For the sake of this column, I agree…and, as such was insistent that when the time came to celebrate our region’s fantastic exporters, we should do so over lunch and not the pathetic excuse for a meal that is breakfast.

The great and good of North-East exporting talent met this week to toast another unbelievable year of overseas sales and hear plans for upping the region’s game even further.

NECC hosted its first ever Global Lunch, which welcomed regional leading export lights and invited members to pitch ideas as to how support for businesses operating abroad can be improved.

It is a source of great pride that we in the North-East still have the ability, lost in so many other areas of the UK, to make things and sell it…usually overseas.

It also makes me incredibly proud that my team at NECC plays such an integral role in getting those goods to market.

While it’s true that we have a relatively small number of high-volume exporters that provide a boost to our statistics, but they are still goods manufactured in our region by North-East workers and sold to foreign markets.

But more must be done to get our SMEs selling into overseas markets. NECC is delivering the UKTI’s export support service for the region and hopefully by pulling together the offers of our organisations, we will provide an export “one stop shop” that will prove invaluable.

It’s a familiar mantra of ours at NECC that we remain the most successful exporting region in the country. Our manufacturing prowess, coupled with our growing ability to sell our products and services overseas, sets the North-East apart.

We provide a fantastic support package for our businesses that are either experienced in overseas markets or are looking to explore new avenues of business.

But we mustn’t rest on your laurels and we want our members to tell us how we can be better.

The lunch provided a great opportunity for NECC global members to get advice, network and gain access to more than a hundred years of experience from the International Trade Team.

It was a fantastic event and one which I hope will be repeated.

It’s fair to say that after finishing off my rather large and aptly named “Global Lunch” another famous Gordon Gekko line sprung to mind…“Greed is good!”