On 25 June 2026 the Council ran the second session in its GCC update series, a forty-five minute briefing on the UK-GCC Free Trade Agreement and the wider Gulf market picture, with particular attention to Saudi Arabia. Cordelia Begbie, CEO of SBJBC, opened the session and introduced two speakers whose remarks covered the agreement itself and the current wider regional energy and security context in the Guld. Fizza Muhammed, Head of Trade Policy and Market Access for the GCC at the British Embassy in Riyadh, set out the terms of the agreement and what it offers to businesses on both sides. Laurent Ruseckas, Executive Director for Research and Analysis at S&P Global Energy, gave a reading of conditions in the Gulf following the recent conflict, with a focus on the Strait of Hormuz and the outlook for oil and gas prices. This brief covers the key details from the session and ensures that SBJBC members stay up to date on the current gulf crisis, alongside being able to prepare their businesses for the new trade environment that the UK-GCC FTA will foster.
Read the full article: [SBJBC FTA and Gulf Crisis Update Brief]
