•  AWARD-GREAT HONOUR!  FABB was named the Best British Business Association in the USA by the Weekly Telegraph newspaper, circulated to expats in 47 countries, in its 2010 Best of British Awards.  

How it started:    In 1990 I was newly divorced and therefore unemployed, because my job had been Vice-President of Marketing in my husband's Ft. Lauderdale company.  I had exactly $800, a home office and a creditcard. The problem was not my ability [had business experience, degrees etc] but identifying WHAT I could actually do in Florida, as a foreigner.  After numerous job interviews, where American employers said being a British newcomer was against me,  I decided the answer was to turn that problem into the solution.  So I started a one-woman British Bureau public relations business, working exclusively with Florida's British community.  While this is a commercial business my office does much pro-bono work, advising Brits in distress or sorting out relocation issues. 


THE WORK OF THE BRITISH BUREAU..........overview

New Horizons, a colour glossy published in the UK, invited me to write an article in March 2004 about the work of the British Bureau. Since it gives the best detailed overview, here it is below.   The British Bureau is a public relations/marketing business, focusing exclusively on the British community in Florida:    English, Scottish, Welsh businesses or individuals. Established in 1991 by ex-Londoner Patricia Kawaja, it fulfills separate but interwoven roles:  1] Public relations/marketing work for clients needing to reach the British community in Florida for various reasons.  2] It functions as a mini-British Consulate,  providing solutions to the problems of the many expratriates who contact us with an endless variety of issues.   3] As the Florida Association of British Business office.   4] As the Florida office of Union Jack Newspaper, the national publication for the British community in the USA.   This has become my life's work since 1991---helping and promoting the British community in Florida. I created the name and designed the BB logo.  Have had scores of newspaper and magazine articles and TV programmes etc done about the British Bureau. In 1993 the Miami Herald headlined me as MISS BRIT in an article about my work. See  CLIENTS and MEDIA page on this website for complete list. 

► FABB   [formed later in 1997]  is part of the British Bureau. 
REASONS TO JOIN FABB IN FLORIDA or UK   1] If you are a British professional or businessowner resident in Florida you benefit from joining FABB and having your  Florida British business listed on this website.  2] UK Brits wishing to emigrate to Florida should click on the green EMIGRATE meny on this website.

►  THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF BRITISH BUSINESSES IN FLORIDA, from hotels to pubs to hairdressers to flight schools to travel agents to retail/wholesale outlets and web-based businesses--all run by Brits. This website can never list them all because Brits are opening new businesses, or closing, or returning to the UK. They are not obliged to notify anybody so nobody can track changes. This website [that you're on] is the only one to list current British businesses in Florida.   Because we invest time and money to market this site heavily, any Florida British business with a presence on this site benefits.

►  IN OUR DIRECTORY ARE MEMBERS OF FABB,  companies in all fields with a British owner or manager or British-Florida Connection. The directory changes often and represents a small percentage of British businesses and entrepreneurs operating in Florida.   Nobody else but the British Bureau maintains a complete list of British-owned or run businesses in Florida. The British Consulate, which works with FABB on some of its UK-USA projects/missions, focuses primarily on UK companies with subsidiaries or branch offices in Florida and has alist of those.    We market and promote this website on behalf of FABB members.  All our members are British or Irish immigrants from the UK.  Some are UK-based Brits who are planning to move to Florida and FABB is assisting and advising them on all their needs.  We also have a few British members in Spain, Greece, South Africa, France and the Caymans who are using our services to emigrate to Florida.  This list, which grows every day and, by its very nature, can never be complete, represents a small percentage of the thousands of British businesses and entrepreneurs operating in Florida.  [Also see the British companies in Florida page on this website].

►  FABB HISTORY  The British community in Florida has become huge.  About 400,000 Brits live here permanently or temporarily. I.4 million British tourists visit Florida every year.  Since the late 1970's, when the first Brits came over to Central Florida to see the newly-built Disney World, they have been flooding into the Sunshine State.  Delighted by what they found, thousands settled here, started businesses, bought homes and spread throughout the State. The British Ambassador to the USA recently stated that 1 out of 40 Brits come to Florida from Britain each year. By the early 1990's, Ft Lauderdale and Orlando had become the area where most Britons took up permanent residence . According to US Government 1990 Census Figures, Broward County had the most British-born residents. Small British- owned businesses all over Florida flourished. This was reflected in the many British pubs opening up across the state----to serve the burgeoning British community.  Brits must have their pub, wherever they live in the world! By 2003 Sarasota had developed a considerable British community.   Brits have also settled in large numbers in Jacksonville and now in Miami...attracted by the Magic City's international ambiance. When Patricia moved the FABB office [and her home] to Miami in 2002, the Miami Herald did several features on FABB and the British Bureau.  But back to the beginning.....In August 1997 British-born attorney Michael Towner from Liverpool, and Londoner Patricia Kawaja, owner of the British Bureau of Florida, formed a partnership to launch FABB.   Both were Ft Lauderdale residents, well-known and active in the South Florida British community.    In July 1999 the partnership was amicably dissolved and Patricia runs FABB with her relocation team and professional associates.  Mike remains a lifetime member and his early contribution was invaluable.    Patricia Kawaja's work with FABB and the British community has been featured in countless newspaper articles and TV programmes, here and in the UK.  [See Media testimonials and work page on this website].

►  FABB MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES Florida and UK members in all professions.  [Explore the membership directory on topleft of this website].  Since early 2002, with the unprecedented demand from UK Brits to emigrate here, a major part of FABB's work is now steering UK-Based Brits through the whole legal and business process of moving here.  Our expert team offers superb and trusted relocation services.  To reflect the times, since early 2006 FABB has become primarily internet-based, with few actual functions.  Members gain more business via the FABB office and FABB website than by attending functions in person.