Five Days, One Table: Lessons from the UK

Welcome back to Inside 25/8 Fintech.

This edition is a little different. For the last five days I have not been writing from my desk in Austria, but from trains, coffee shops and restaurant tables in Birmingham and London. As you read this, I am on my way home. So instead of four separate topics, this week is one story with four lessons, all about what happens when people who have only ever met on a screen finally sit at the same table.

Lesson 1: Delays Are Not in Your Control. How You Treat People Is ✈️

The trip started with a classic. My flight from Graz landed in Munich 30 minutes late, with 60 minutes to connect and boarding for London already running. Instead of a sprint through the terminal, another passenger and I were picked up right at the aircraft and driven straight to the gate. Then the London flight itself left almost an hour late.

An hour on a full plane can sour any mood. Not this time. The Lufthansa crew kept everyone informed, checked that I was settled after the express transfer and even made sure my suitcase had made it on board. Clear communication and genuine good humour turned a delay into a good flight.

You cannot always prevent the problem. You can always decide how you treat the people affected by it. That is true for airlines, and it is true for every financial business I know.

Lesson 2: The Squares on the Screen Are Real People ☕

For months I knew most of The Global Partnership community as small squares in our twice-weekly calls. On Wednesday, at the Coffee Morning at Brindleyplace in Birmingham hosted by Andrew Thomas, those squares turned into handshakes. Andrew later put it perfectly: until that morning, they had only ever seen me in a tiny window on Zoom.

Something happens at a table that never happens in a call. You notice who lights up at which topic. You hear the side story that never makes it into an agenda. The coffee morning ran straight into lunch, because nobody wanted to leave in the middle of a good conversation.

I brought a few copies of my book "You Just Gotta Do It" and gave them away. Not as a business card, but as a thank you for the time. Giving first changes the tone of every conversation that follows.

Lesson 3: Networking Is Only Half the Work. The Other Half Is the Day After 🚆

On Thursday morning, my office had a window seat: the train from Birmingham to London, laptop open, countryside rushing past. That is where I learned the most underrated lesson of the week.

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Meeting people is the easy part. What decides whether a connection becomes a relationship is what happens the next day. Who gets a thank you message? Who gets the introduction you offered? Who hears from you again next week?

This is exactly where systems matter. Behind my daily work there is a setup that captures every conversation, every promise and every follow-up, so nothing gets lost while I am travelling. The connections from Wednesday were in my system before I went to bed. The handshake builds trust. The follow-up keeps it.

Lesson 4: Different Worlds, One Conversation 🌍

On Thursday, Susan Kabani brought a group of TGP members together for lunch at King's Cross. Around the table: someone who organises expeditions to Kilimanjaro, marketing and business support specialists, and me with fintech and trading. Completely different worlds. And yet within minutes it was one conversation, less about job titles and more about what drives each person.

Friday was a day of one-to-one coffees in Marylebone. Smaller tables, deeper conversations, the same pattern: trust grows through time spent together, not through the number of messages exchanged.

What I Am Taking Home to the SKYTRADERS Community

As Association Chairman of the SKYTRADERS Community, building a community is my own job at home. That is exactly why I value being part of TGP: I get to see how others bring people together.

The biggest takeaway is simple. Our portal and our calls keep us connected, and they matter. But trust is built at a table. That is why personal meetings, events and real conversations will play an even bigger role in our community from now on. A video call can start a relationship. Only time together can finish it.

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Five days, two cities, dozens of conversations. If I had to sum it up in one sentence: show up in person, give before you ask, and follow up the day after.

Thank you to everyone in Birmingham and London who made me feel so welcome. And thank you, as always, for reading.

Stay focused and trust the process. Your Thomas