I was pleased to receive this message on my Linkedin inbox from an old 1990 school mate. I'm hearing of more and more connections being made. Please make sure you're using the network tools, let us know your stories and load your business profiles from around the world.

"Dear Brendan

I wanted a highlight an extremely positive business development that emerged last year in the depths of the COVID level 4 lockdown as a result of the new entrepreneurial ODU initiative entitled 'OD to OD Benefits'. In that ODU Business & Professional Network website publication, I noticed Greg Elk's corporate finance consulting offering. At Hillingdale Capital, we bring decades of international investment banking experience to our corporate capital-raising projects, and we have 150 global financial institutional investors and lenders that we secure funding from. The pandemic created extreme stress in financial markets, similar to that of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008. Having worked on the trading floor of Barclays Capital London during the 2008 GFC, I knew that chaos also brings fresh opportunity. With this in mind, I contacted Greg Elk (2007M) to explore synergies between Hillingdale Capital and Elk Advisory. After initial discussions, Greg travelled to Cape Town to meet with us, and during that meeting, we agreed to form a joint venture whereby Elk Advisory would introduce businesses requiring funding to Hillingdale Capital. Shortly thereafter, Elk Advisory and Hillingdale Capital were co-mandated to raise a substantial amount for a business requiring infrastructure funding. Leveraging off Hillingdale's global investor base, I am pleased to announce that the capital-raise has been a phenomenal success. This is a fine example of ODs working together in business, but the transaction would not have come about without the ground-breaking work done by the ODU to launch the Business & Professional Network and OD to OD Benefits initiative, and I wish to express my sincere thanks to all involved at the ODU. Working alongside ODs has been an incredibly positive experience, and would welcome more OD partnerships and initiatives.

Best regards,

Haydn Hammond"

A fantastic result. Both of their business profiles can be viewed here: Elk Advisory and Hillingdale Capital
Please make sure you:

1. Join the OD Professional & Business Network : click here
2. Add your business profile: click here
3. Join the linkedin OD Professional forum group: click here