The SACC hosted a well-attended cocktail party in Johannesburg on Monday evening.
Guests were drawn from the Chairman, Sharon Constançon’s network of contacts, including the British Chamber of Business in South Africa, the UK High Commission in South Africa, the DIT, DTI, from her membership of the International Committee of CISI, and her own business Valufin, a currency advisory firm trading in South Africa as Constançon Currencies.
Three addresses were made, from the UK’s High Commissioner to South Africa, HE Mr Nigel Casey, the Chair of British Chamber, Mel Brooks and the Chairman of the South African Chamber of Commerce (UK), Sharon Constançon.
Attendees represented a wide range of companies, including ABSA and Hogan Lovells, SACC platinum member and strategic partner respectively, plus representatives of accounting firms, banks, lawyers, international business, as well as some of this year’s SACC Award winners, CISI, TIKZN, Deputy Chairman and former CEO of Standard Bank and now also an Investment Envoy for Cyril Ramaphosa, Jacko Maree, Valufin / Constançon Currencies Associates and local Valufin team members, and many more. This gave attendees exposure to a very different network of people compared to the usual focused networks.
HE Nigel Casey shared his views on Brexit, the election of the new Prime Minister, and trade relations between SA and the UK in the future.
Mel covered the value that Britcham brings to trade between our two countries, and Sharon talked about the growth of the SACC, its new Commerce Centre, and invited attendees to attend UK and SA events to assess the value of membership. Sharon said that the two Chambers are working closely with one another, and announced the first shared member of the Chambers.
Sharon also covered the importance of forex management for international trading companies and explained that, managed effectively, companies can secure a direct bottom line net benefit of in excess of 2.5% of the forex trade value.
