British Consulates - Closures Confirmed

That's it then.

It was on the cards, but many had hoped for a change of heart.

The reports say that only Düsseldorf and Berlin will remain open. I used to work there, (Hamburg) so I am obliged to keep my comments to myself... now it's your turn!

German reports from Hamburg:

http://www.abendblatt.de./daten/2005/10/12/491454.html

http://www.abendblatt.de./daten/2005/10/12/491353.html

RIP

A good handful of people who've been staffing the consulate in Stuttgart have now been declared redundant. The consul general for Stuttgart nearly shed tears over it. He'll be posted back to Whitehall but all the expats here are now out on their own!

The price of progress I suppose, or over pruning the flourishing bush?

We all know which Bush

Hmmmm ok but...

In my 14 years here as a civilian and the previous 6 as a squaddie I only ever had need of the consulate (in Duss.) once when my passport ran out, is there a real need for them? Has anyone here used them a lot? Seems to me in these days of the EU and much improved communications, a bit of a luxury to have more than 1 or 2 representatives in a European country.

As mentioned in a previous post...

The Consulates work together with British and German companies to promote exports and imports. A Consulate is the absolute hub of relations, especially in Anglophile Hamburg. If you were to see the amount of activity, prestige, marketing and relations building that goes on in Hamburg, you would be amazed. Hamburg's Mayor was 100% behind the plan to save the Consulate and made contact with Jack Straw.

No, it's not all about getting your passport, it's much, much more than that, which makes the closures much worse.

The Consulates and Düsseldorf work together (without going into detail) with the Business Links and UK Trade & Investment.

The Consular and press departments are very much an important and integral part of the whole story as well.

A lot more goes on behind the scenes than most people realise! You don't have to be interested in what goes on, but you'll notice it when it's gone.

I believe you when you say that more goes on behind the scenes than I realise, maybe that's one of the problems, if people cant see a tangible use for the Consulates they're not going to kick up a fuss when they go. Maybe instead of trying to play matchmaker with business and politicians the Consulates had made the effort to contact those a few levels further down they would have a bit more sympathy. I still dont see how I personally will miss them when they are gone, sorry but I am not as yet convinced.

Sorry but I don't agree. The average Joe expat has little or no need for the consulate here unless they need a new passport. I really doubt I will miss the services of the Stuttgart consulate at all. Last time I went there was to get paperwork to get married 15 years ago and then they couldn't help me, it had to be done in Frankfurt.

Most official forms are available on the Internet now and there are usually instructions on where to send them, so I don't see the need for an overpaid shirt to 'oversee' things.

Just my opinion

Your right, but it would the case if they stayed or not. I've been here for 10 years and only had to go to pick up papers twice, but that's not the main reason why they are here. Many are concerned about British export and import interests being centralised and relations at a local level being lost. Jobs could be lost in the UK and here. All the clubs who enjoy the patronage of the Consul-General could lose out. The press dept's are doing excellent work to promote British events and interests at all levels... what can I say... it's not about paperwork and passports by any means, that was centralised years ago anyway.

The amount of work created by Consulates through export and import, relations etc is as you say, something that the average person cannot see. But without them the statistcs could well speak for themselves in a few years, especially if the Chinese and the East European countries find out what has happened and move in. Relations at a local level, especially in Hamburg where a majority of British products go through the port, is very important. Visits to exhibitions to meet the distributors and to make contacts is an important factor as well, as is bringing delegates over to meet company managers.

I guess you could ask the question, how does a record or a cinema film reach number one. Without the work marketing the interests of the companies behind films such as Titanic, would it have been a hit? Why do we need the marketing companies, when all we need to do is buy a ticket in the cinema...

Ask yourselves how Weetabix got onto the shelves in Germany, or Walkers Crisps etc. The Consulates could well have played a part in getting the ball rolling for many of these and other British products in Germany - believe me, the list is very long. The amount of work created in the UK by Consulates working for British interests is also something you don't see.

Ask a few British companies in Germany if they received support from a Consulate. Who works for a company that received support? Either help to import into the UK, or to import into Germany. Many ex-pats work for companies that received support from official sources, and many more do not even know that was how it all started in the company where they work.

You can only get passports from Düsseldorf anyway, so no change there.

The above is not my personal opinion, or an official view, just a collection of bits and pieces from various websites etc. Mistakes could have been made.

That's all from me in this thread. No more additions from me. Please read the details on the websites I posted further up. The answers are there.

My original post was to pass on the news, not to find out if they are any good or not.

Cheers, and let's hope all the Consulate staff get new positions when it's over.

TTFN