Canning House

Canning House is named after George Canning (1770–1827), British Foreign Secretary between 1807-1809 and 1822-1827, and briefly Prime Minister in 1827. Canning was a prominent advocate of the emerging republics in early Latin America and is a recognized figure in the region with several streets bearing his name.[2] Canning House first came into being in 1943 with the creation of the Hispanic Council and the Luso-Brazilian Council simultaneously. Following the end of the Second World War, both councils were merged and the resulting entity was commonly referred to as Canning House. In 1973 the Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Council was registered as a limited company, and in 1997 Canning House was set up as a wholly owned subsidiary.[3] Initial meetings took place at the Shell-Mex House before offices were set up in Berkeley Street in 1947. From 1953 until 2018 Canning House was based in Belgrave Square before moving to 126 Wigmore Street, where it can be found today.[4]

Canning House has a number of areas including Trade & Investment,[5] Government & Policy,[6] Education,[7] Research[8] and Culture.[9]

In the area of Trade & Investment, Canning House takes an active role in encouraging links between the UK and Latin America. It holds several events each year discussing the opportunities available across many sectors and informing British businesses about the Latin American market. This ranges from hosting trade missions from countries such as Bolivia,[10] to holding conferences on the Biofuel industry in Latin America,[11] as well as smaller, focused policy roundtables with key figures from selected industries.[12]

Canning House has served as secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) meetings on Latin America since 2015,[13] and has contributed to parliamentary papers examining the UK’s relationship with Latin American nations.[14] Each year Canning House holds the Canning Lecture, a series of lectures presented by visiting heads of state in which they offer their perspective on UK-Latin America relations and explore possible avenues for cooperation in the future. Previous figures to have given lectures include former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet,[15] the President of Colombia Ivan Duque,[16] and former President of Brazil Fernando Henrique Cardoso.[17] In 2010, then-Foreign Secretary William Hague became the first British Foreign Secretary to give the Canning Lecture, renamed in that year as the Canning Agenda. In it, he set out the government’s foreign policy agenda with a renewed focus on Latin America, outlining a desire to increase trade and encourage British businesses to explore the region in the context of an increasingly globalized world economy.[18]

Canning House operates a membership system that includes both Individual and Corporate membership offerings. Individual and Public members are given access to Canning House newsletters, Canning Insights and to Geopolitical, Cultural, Flagship and Business, Trade and Investment events at a discount, while Corporate members have full access to all Canning House events and publications[19]

• Official Website
• The Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Council at Open Charities