A combination of indigenous cultures and many other more recent immigrant influences, the United Kingdom (UK) has been an important player on the world stage for hundreds of years. The UK has all the attributes of a strong modern nation, including a rich history, thriving economy and vibrant, multicultural population.

Doing business in the UK offers many benefits to organisations but it also can present many challenges that must be overcome for business success. Cultural Awareness Training UK courses such as Doing Business in the United Kingdom will help your organisation to build a profound understanding of the key cultural concepts and habits that can be found in the United Kingdom. Intercultural Training UK programmes will help you develop strategies for dealing with pitfalls which can arise during cross-cultural interaction in the UK.

Below are some of the key cultural concepts which can be a challenge to foreigners doing business in the UK.

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Humour
Humour is an essential part of communication in the UK. It is used a great deal in verbal interaction and can often confuse non-natives doing business in the United Kingdom who don’t necessarily understand the subtleties and context.

British Reserve
The British often come across as very reserved and distant to people from other countries who are not accustomed to dealing with them. Don’t expect to be taken immediately into your British colleague’s confidence when doing business in the UK. It might take several business meetings before anything more profound than the weather or sport is discussed.

Attitude to Time
Time, or more accurately punctuality, is extremely important in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. You will be expected to arrive at a business meeting on time, or even get there about 10 minutes early. This shows commitment to the project or negotiations and will be well received by your British counterparts when doing business in the UK.

Decision-making Process
Reaching a decision in a British business context can be a rather slow and laborious process. Meetings tend to follow a very particular and rigid structure which can sometimes be very inflexible and lead to slow decision making.

While the United Kingdom is a very modern and forward thinking country, there still remain some historic and rigid cultural peculiarities which need to be understood in order to interact successfully in business situations. Undertaking Communicaid’s cultural training for business and management courseDoing Business in the United Kingdom will give any organisation working on business ventures in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland a strong grounding for more successful cross-cultural interaction with their UK counterparts.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010