Wokingham: Breakfast Indaba launches with great success

On Thursday, 22 February, the inaugural meeting of the Wokingham branch of the Breakfast Indaba was launched with great success at South African-managed Chalk restaurant.

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Co-ordinated and hosted by local South African expat Craig Plowden, originally from Cape Town, 15 South African rallied together to share, network and support each other.

PROACTIVE NETWORKING FOR SOUTH AFRICANS IN THE UK

Each guest was given the opportunity to present their business and share how they were looking to grow and discuss the support they needed while enjoying breakfast.

The host and founder of the Wokingham branch of the Breakfast Indaba, Craig Plowden, shared ‘the business connections made through a common desire to succeed and to see fellow South Africans expand their businesses in the UK. It was wonderful to hear the individual stories and personal journeys from the attendees. The golden thread through all of them was that in spite of the difficulties of being an expat (some recent, some not) we can achieve our goals through commitment, enhanced by the support of each other in the Saffa Business Network. Our inaugural guest speaker, James Durrant, shared his inspirational story of his journey to success via his network of friends, family and fellow entrepreneurs. May the golden thread continue to weave its magic’

The open networking after the formalities went on until 11:00 with business cards being exchanged, relationships established and exciting new opportunities discussed. 

It was great to know our breakfast venue, Chalk is South African run!

JAMES DURRANT SHARES HIS JOURNEY

Cape Town-born guest speaker James Durrant, a serial entrepreneur, talked through his journey from founding, building and growing a wide number of ventures from food manufacturing and tech to publishing and art investments.

He arrived in the UK in 2001 to establish an office for his tech business Bluegrass Digital and soon realised that networking was the only way he would integrate and find the people he needed to help him grow his business ventures. His determination to support and connect South Africans abroad led him to managing and running the SA Business Club and later founding and establishing the South African Chamber in London.

SIGN UP FOR THE NEXT EVENT

Dates for the next Wokingham Breakfast Indaba will be released this coming week. 

They will feature smaller group breakfasts focused on getting to know each other, sharing insights and proactively working out how they can support each other’s businesses.

To make sure you are notified of the next Breakfast Indaba meeting then sign up for the next event and join our Breakfast Indaba LinkedIn group or WhatsApp group.