The TransManche Development Group was conceived in January 2019 by Brian Murphy, while he was delegate for Brittany & the Channel Islands at the Franco-British Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He had instigated the Franco-British Partnership between the Ille-et-Vilaine Chamber of Commerce and the Franco-British Chamber of Commerce.
The Franco-British Partnership was signed at the first Rennes Franco-British Business Conference in April 2018 by the chambers’ respective Presidents Emmanuel Thaunier and Olivier Campenon, in the presence of Matthew Lodge, British Ambassador to UNESCO, and Emmanuel Couet, President of Rennes Metropole. The partnership created an important forum of mutual support and information throughout the pre-Brexit transition years.
In June 2018, the Franco-British Partnership launched the successful Franco-British Business Club, based in the Ille-et-Vilaine Chamber of Commerce building in Rennes, and co-managed by Nicholas Beaty (World Trade Centre, Rennes-Bretagne) and Brian Murphy (Franco-British Chamber of Commerce & Industry). The Club was supported by the Ille-et-Vilaine Chamber of Commerce, the Port of Saint-Malo, Rennes and Dinard-Bretagne airports, Destination Rennes, and Rennes Metropole amongst many others.
In March 2019, the TransManche Development Group was launched, and hubs in Jersey, Guernsey, Solent, Brittany, and Paris were quickly established by Bertrand Gervais MD of the Ille-et-Vilaine CCI, Elaine Loeillet, Ports of Saint-Malo, Nicholas Beaty WTC Rennes-Bretagne, and Brian Murphy Franco-British CCI. They received fantastic support from Nick Steel & Murray Norton in Jersey, Kay Leslie & Clive McMinn in Guernsey, and Stuart Baker & James Ford in Solent.
In October 2019, the TransManche Development Group was selected as a winner from amongst 47 projects submitted to the British and French governments’ following their call for Anglo-French innovative projects. The seven winners were selected by the British Embassy (Paris) and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In December 2020, the TransManche Development Group was registered in France as an Association Loi 1901 (non-profit) organisation.
In March 2021 (delayed by Covid-19), the Group will be officially launched by Matthew Lodge Minister and UNESCO Ambassador of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Deputy Head of Mission, British Embassy, France.
Our warmest thanks to:
We wish to thank our original partners, the Franco-British and Ille-et-Vilaine Chambers of Commerce & Industry, the WTC Rennes, and we are grateful now to have the support of the British Embassy, the Department of International Trade, the British Council, the Cross Channel Institute, and a growing number of regional partners in France, United Kingdom, Jersey, and Guernsey.