It’s always been a huge dream of Paul and Tracey’s to visit Necker Island and to meet Sir Richard Branson.
On December 3rd, 2019, this incredible dream came true.
For the whole story, we need to rewind back to early 2019, when Introbiz was invited to guest speak at a business conference in Dublin. By chance, Tracey was telling the audience that one day she’d love to work with Sir Richard Branson and host an event on Necker Island. Lo and behold, a man in the audience approached and mentioned that he knew someone that had been to Necker and that she would like an introduction. Over the past year, Paul and Tracey have built an invaluable and trustworthy relationship with Hannah who was the lady that went to Necker, and has even spoke at a number of our events.
Paul and Tracey were then introduced to James Cluskey, Sir Richard’s very own tennis coach, who visits Necker Island regularly to plan and partake in the Necker Cup tournament. James spoke at the Dragons Expo held in Newport in September and again, has built a long-term, trustworthy relationship with Introbiz.
After much planning, booking and packing, the tickets were purchased and Introbiz were well on the way!
After taking a long flight from Gatwick to Antigua, Paul, Tracey, members and their guests arrived on Beef Island, an island located in the British Virgin Islands. A boat picked the group up and took them across to Necker Island for an unforgettable dinner at The Great House. Sir Richard Branson was stood at the bar, mingling with his guests and made sure to spend time with every single person who introduced themselves. Paul and Tracey had packed some gifts to present, including a signed copy of Tracey’s book, as well as an impressive portrait of Sir Richard painted by Cardiff-based artist, Christopher Langley. Sir Richard was grateful and even mentioned that the portrait would hang in a meaningful location in his home.
On the third day, the Necker Cup tournament began. If you’re not too sure what the tournament is all about, it’s the most fun and exclusive pro-am tennis tournament in the world. Founded by Mike Richards, Remington Reynolds and Trevor Short, the tournament is held on the island in extremely luxurious surroundings, with plenty of fun beach activities and delicious cuisine to keep you going throughout the whole day. At the end of the first session, Paul decided to do a quick Facebook Live, sharing exciting content from the event, when Sir Richard appeared in the background of the camera and appeared for a short time, discussing his time on the tennis court!
There are so many highlights following the trip that Paul and Tracey would like to share with you. Of course, not all can be mentioned but here are some of the stand-out moments.
As you can imagine with a pro-am tennis tournament, Paul and Tracey met a whole host of professional sportspeople including Martina Navratilova, Tommy Haas, Rod Laver, Radek Stepanek, Carol Zhao, and Sabine Lisicki. There was also a pro-am tennis tournament going on where Sir Nick Faldo and his son Mathew Faldo were playing. Paul was even invited to play on the course with a handful of other guests which was an honour for a keen golfer.
Another highlight were the other guests within the group. Everyone was absolutely lovely, humble (regardless of their status or wealth), they were great networkers as everyone was introducing themselves to each other. Paul and Tracey asked and listened to the advice and guidance that Sir Richard and other countless entrepreneurs shared. This advice will be passed on during our networking training sessions throughout 2020, so make sure you attend to learn and grow your own business. It was interesting to hear that Sir Richard is a big advocate of networking and really encourages all businesses to invest and take time to network.
Paul and Tracey also visited Sir Richard’s other, more contemporary island, Mosquito Island where there was yet another tennis tournament taking place.
Every evening, all guests were constantly entertained – singer/songwriter, Jewel took to the stage, Bob Marley’s own son, Skip Marley belted out some of the classics, Hannah also sang some fabulous songs as she is a songwriter as well as a digital marketing agency and Andy Grammer also serenaded the gang. Sir Richard’s son, Sam, also took to the stage to share his music.
Paul and Tracey would like to thank everyone for making the whole experience completely unforgettable. The guests they took and the people that they met, the hardworking staff on the island, to Trevor for allowing us to forge a strong partnership going forward, to Sir Richard for the warm welcome, advice and guidance he imparted and to all of you for all the positive well-wishes, support, likes and comments across our social media platforms. We’ve been overwhelmed with all the positivity and can’t wait to take this through to next year to create another fabulous experience for Introbiz members only.
It’s set to be a very busy 2020 as Introbiz will work as an exclusive partner with Premier Live, hosts of the Necker Cup. If you’d like to attend the event from the 16th to the 21st November, 2020, you can get in touch with Paul Smolinski directly at [email protected] or call 07920 772707.
