Stockbroker Pieter Burger tells annual meeting of Honiton and District Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

GLOBALISATION and how it affects everyone was the subject of a talk given in Honiton by a stockbroker.

Pieter Burger, addressing the annual meeting of Honiton and District Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the consequences of globalisation were “huge”.

“Every day it is affecting us,” he said, pointing out it can lead to shortages in raw materials.

“Brazil, Russia and China are among the countries ‘stealing’ oil and minerals that we think are ours,” he said.

“Globalisation was a good thing for us - when we were in charge. When we are not in charge, it becomes a very serious matter.

“As a country, we are being made to make very serious changes.”

Mr Burger, a member of the chamber’s executive committee, likened competition in business to rivalry in love and gave some amusing, but relevant, examples.

He said, in order to compete effectively, it was important that businesses adapted to face new challenges. “It really is up to us to make changes,” he said. “Those changes are far more important now than when everything in the garden was rosy.”

Talking about financial markets, Mr Burger said: “Whenever the market moves, there are winners - even if it goes down. When there is change, there are opportunities.

“Look at your business. Are there any opportunities?”

He said the chamber had to change - to improve its profile and how people perceived it.

To some extent, work towards that goal was already under way. He said networking events were already helping members, but that more needs to be done to give businesses joining the chamber immediate benefits.

Mr Burger was speaking at Allhallows Museum last Wednesday night.