Dordogne business link is broken

A VITAL link between the British and French business communities in the Dordogne has been broken because the Franco-British Chamber of Commerce and Industry has no representative.

There is no mention of the department on the FBCCI website and there has been no regional delegate since last autumn.

The head office in Paris says a new delegate will be appointed within the next two months.

FBCCI chief executive officer Cathérine Le Yaouanc said: "It is vital that we have somebody in the Dordogne to help us attract new British investment, to build business and to develop the network.

"At the moment we are waiting for Périgord Développement to give the final go-ahead to our plans and we will have someone in place in two months.

"We want to get back to the situation we had before 2009 when we had a strong team looking to attract British investment."

The Dordogne has a large English-speaking community of some 35,000 permanent British residents and about 1,000 businesses with an economic impact of about €200 million.