The Great British Festival in Kerala, organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in British Deputy High Commission Chennai and partnered by the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), celebrated UK ™s innovation and expertise in Infrastructure, Creative and digital media/ ICT, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Education, Financial Services and Retail sectors. The event offered an excellent opportunity for Indian companies to meet and connect with UK and HMG partners such as British Council, UK Visas & Immigrations (UKVI), Invest Northern Ireland (INI), Scottish Development International (SDI), and Welsh Development Agency (WDA) and also held structured B2B meetings with UK Companies. The Event which was held on Friday, 14th March 2014 at Crowne Plaza, Kochi was inaugurated by the British Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, Mr. Bharat Joshi. While inaugurating the festival, Mr. Joshi said the UK ™s exports to India were up 14 per cent last year, while India ™s exports to the UK were up 2 per cent. Despite the slowdown, bilateral trade between the two countries increased by 3.9 billion pounds between 2010 and 2012. Mr. C.P. Mammen, President, Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry in his Welcome Address spoke of the strong bilateral trade relations between both nations and about India being the 3rd largest investor in the UK with around 900 Indian companies in the UK and the UK being the 4th largest investor in India. Mr. T.P. Thomaskutty, Executive Director, KSIDC also spoke on the occasion. Over 35 Companies from the UK participated in the Great British Festival. More than 300 participants representing Companies from various parts of Group-g Kerala attended the event and met the representatives of the UK Companies during the sector specific sessions on Infrastructure, Manufacturing and Inward Investment in UK and the B2B and B2G sessions during the course of the day. A few of the companies who participated included Vodafone, Converging World, FG Wilson, Jaguar Landrover, Wilmax England, Marks & Spencers, Wig-o-Mania, Kannis, Vectair Systems, Vision Express, Costa Coffee, Institute of Commercial Management, London Metropolitan University, Middlesex University, Atkins, Sweett Group, Mott Macdonald, GSH, TWI and TRL. The latter part of the event featured a Retail Branding Event at Lulu Shopping Mall, Kochi in the evening where the citizens of Cochin witnessed the UK retail brands showcased in a Fashion Show organized by the UKTI.