Dominic Meiklejohn

Part of UK in USA [New York]

20th February 2010 New York, USA

HMG in NYC

This is the first in a series of occasional blogs on what the Consulates-General do in the US.
 
In New York, the Consulate-General is headquarters to UK Trade and Investment’s operations in the US (we’ll say more about how we support the British economy in future blogs).  Our UK Borders Agency team handles visa applications from 34 countries in the Americas.  We have a steady flow of senior visitors- about 140 a year.  And we work in this incredible city: dynamic, diverse, rewarding, challenging, frustrating and amazing in the space of just about every hour of every day.  Most of the world’s cultures are well represented here.
 
(I won’t get into the London vs New York thing.  They’re both great.  Having lived and worked in both, I’d say they’re two sides of the same coin.)
 
Highlights for 2010 so far:
 
– Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, visited in January.

– The Treasury Committee taking evidence from Paul Volcker in our offices in February.  Commitee chairman John McFall MP also commented about the importance of UK-US trade.

– Kevin Brennan pursued the Government’s further education and skills agenda here in January- and spoke about the British economy.

– Two New York-based Brits, Marian McPartland and Peter Tear, honoured in the New Year list.
 
And coming up:
 
– International investment conference in London on 22 February, where US companies will be a strong presence.

– Nigel Sheinwald, HM Ambassador to the US, will drive forward our relationship with Yale University next week.

– And a couple of Ministerial visits which I’ll talk about in the next edition.

About Dominic Meiklejohn

I was born in Woking, outside London, in 1967 and attended Merton College, Oxford University, graduating in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. After university, I worked for HM Customs and Excise…

I was born in Woking, outside London, in 1967 and attended Merton College, Oxford University, graduating in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

After university, I worked for HM Customs and Excise before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1990. After working for the European Community Department, I learned Polish and began a posting at the British Embassy Warsaw, where I headed the British Know How Fund for Poland (1993-96). In 1997, I worked for the OSCE Mission in Albania, before heading up the India team in the South Asian Department of the FCO. In 2000, I was posted as First Secretary to the British Embassy Warsaw, with a particular focus on European Union issues in the run-up to Poland’s accession to the EU. In 2003, I returned to the UK as Deputy Head of the Environment Policy Department. From 2004-2005, I led the FCO’s Knowledge Management Programme. During this period, I led two deployments of the FCO’s Consular Rapid Deployment Team– to Sri Lanka, after the tsunami in 2004 and to Pakistan, after the earthquake in 2005. From 2006-2007, I served as Deputy Consul-General, Basra, Iraq. From June 2007 I worked with the FCO’s Change Unit.

I took up my current appointment on 22 January 2008. My wife Joanne and I are the proud parents of Olivia. Outside of the office, I cycle around Manhattan, play soccer (football) and, when parenting duties allow, enjoy the cultural riches offered by New York. I try hard to understand baseball.

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