speakers
We love our talented TNC speakers and what they bring to our events! Every month, we walk away with a brain filled with new nuggets of knowledge thanks to their engaging and informative talks.
TNC welcome some of the most influential speakers with expertise in many exciting sectors. With keynote talks, motivation and interactive seminars, our events are here to entertain and inspire.
Our incredible speakers to date include:
Michael Wood
Managing Director of Embrace Video
Rachael Taplin
Founder of Media Matchmaker LTD
Daniella Genas
Founder & Business Growth Specialist at She's the Boss
RAJ KANDOLA
Head of Policy & Strategic Relationships of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce
KATE WASS
Business Development Director of Premium Sales Consultancy
ANDY WILKINSON
Chair of IoD Birmingham & Founder of OWB Creative
Gareth Evans
Group Managing Director at Cogent
Jake Barrett
CEO & Founder of Barrett Film Co.
Henrietta Brealey
CEO at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce
Deborah Leary
CEO of Forensic Pathways
Tru Powell
Award Winning Entrepreneur, Personal Branding & Publicity Coach
Bart Dalton
Founder of Bart Dalton Management Consultancy
JAs sansi
Photographer & Videographer
Dee Vadgama
Managing Director at Gloss
the host
Omar Rashid
Omar was born in Sandwell and is a Brummie through and through. He wanted to be a cricketer but was encouraged by his family to pursue education and went to university to be an Accountant. This was not as enthralling as he hoped, and it was only a module in Human Resources Management in his final year of his degree did he feel he found his profession.
He went back to university to complete a master’s degree in Human Resource Management in 2006 an began his HR career from 2007. Omar has a wealth of HR and Recruitment
experience in private, public and charity sectors.
Omar started his business with The HR Dept, a franchise model on 1 January 2018. He now concentrates on supporting SMEs on all their HR and Recruitment issues and challenges, mainly within the Birmingham and Black Country Areas.
In November 2018 he won Most Outstanding Start-up Business of the Year at the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) Awards. In April 2019 he was elected as an Executive Committee board member and in April 2022 he was elected as Co-President of the ABCC.
He co-founded the Breakfast Club with Gurdas with the first event in February 2020 having previously co-hosted with Gurdas Cereal Network from September 2018 – December 2020.
In October 2021 Omar began a radio show on Unity FM called The Business Hour which is aired every Tuesday 6pm. You can listen to these episodes as a podcast on Spotify. Omar also hosts another podcast called Diary of a HR Man which showcases his HR experiences and stories.
Omar is a massive Chelsea, cricket and darts fan.
the host
gurdas Singh
Gurdas is an award-winning entrepreneurial individual with spark and a solid self starter mentality with 6+ years’ experience within Advertising & Marketing. Proud of his unorthodox route to the position of a Marketing Manager of a growing SME, Gurdas has also founded his own businesses and whilst initially being self-educated within Marketing he is now on route to becoming a Chartered Marketer.
With his first venture into Advertising as Founder of Taxi Advertising business, Slapsticka Media – Gurdas was responsible for co creating and arranging the outlay of campaigns working on tens of projects and advertising on over 300+ taxis across the UK and providing local and global businesses with invaluable brand awareness.
Through the power of networking, Gurdas was approached for a role at OnLogistics, starting as Marketing Executive within a year he was promoted to Marketing Manager and now plays an integral role in promoting the business as an integrated logistics provider to the wider region and specific sectors. He is also Marketing Manager for My Festival Bag, a business focused on reducing landfill at music festivals.
As well as aiming to thrive in his career and industry, Gurdas is actively contributing and looking to get more involved with charitable organisations and projects. Gurdas has recently joined well-known local charity Love Brum as a Marketing Volunteer.
Gurdas is now currently spearheading his newly founded marketing support service named WANAMA (We Are Not A Marketing Agency) focusing on supporting SME’s and Large businesses to maximise resource on campaign based marketing projects.
Through co launching ‘The Networking Clubs’ and co-hosting two separate events under the brand, Gurdas and Omar look to provide immense value to the local business scene.
