The OMPEG UK launched its first regional chapter in Midlands in a unique hybrid manner. Some of its members, especially those in Midlands observing all norms as prescribed by the UK government didn’t allow their enthusiasm to die had met physically in Coventry city hotel and joined virtually by other members and well-wishers from different parts of UK and India to launch the Midlands chapter. The launch was webcast LIVE via ZOOM.
The OMPEG completes 4 years of its journey demonstrated the fact that it is a thriving organisation of professionals and entrepreneurs. The launch stands testimony to the fact that Indian entrepreneurs display tremendous resilience power. OMPEG UK with its strong team of Co- Founders, volunteers and organisers of the launch gave a clarion call that Indian entrepreneurship is unbeatable and those from the state of Maharashtra in UK are business warriors with their contribution towards building and reviving the economy.
The spirit and enthusiasm coupled with professionalism as witnessed in all earlier OMPEG events stood as the hallmark of the event. The USP of all OMPEG events is the camaraderie among its members , light banter on occasions add the necessary warmth without making it trivial to a well organised event.
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Mr. Andy Street CBE, Mayor of West Midlands and Dr. Shashank Vikram, Consul General of India (Birmingham) both welcomed OMPEG’s arrival in Midlands region with virtual messages. Both threw light on the OMPEG contribution , its stellar role in UK and expressed that OMPEG can become a significant player in building the Living Bridge between India and UK. It can be recollected that West Midlands Combined Authority , West Midlands Growth Company with the recent launch of West Midlands India Partnership have exhibited tremendous interest to work with Indian businessmen – both in UK and India.
Mayor Andy Street also spoke about the successful contribution of the Maharashtrian community in Midlands and pointed out that it was engaged in many professions and businesses there.
CGI Dr. Shashank Vikram congratulated OMPEG on its 4-year journey and welcomed OMPEG Midlands Chapter with best wishes to promote professional growth and entrepreneurship and encouraged cross-pollination of ideas with local Indian diaspora.
Happy Guptan, Consul (CGI, Birmingham) joined the event at the venue and formally launched OMPEG Midlands Chapter by a traditional lighting of the lamp. In her launch address, she highlighted OMPEG’s successful journey over the years and expressed confidence that a day is not far for OMPEG to become a brand to reckon with. She also assured all possible support and collaboration from Consul General’s Office at Birmingham.
In his welcome address for the Midlands Chapter, Ani Kaprekar, Co-Founder of the OMPEG UK spoke about the core principles of OMPEG and highlighted that “OMPEG in action” is all about its members and their success stories– from diversified fields like Food to Fashion to FinTech. The launch was also attended at the venue by the other OMPEG Co-founder Ravindra Gadgil, while other founding team members and core volunteers joined virtually.
Advertising entrepreneur Pranoti Jadhav and Cllr Dr Nitish Raut (first Maharashtrian Councillor in the UK) – both part of OMPEG Midlands Volunteering and organising team – spoke about the key reasons for launching OMPEG Midlands Chapter. A vibrant local Maharashtrian Community , a combination of many Engineering, Manufacturing and Automotive industries, famous universities and industry bodies were some of the reasons for the OMPEG Midlands launch said the organising team.
OMPEG members Mayura Chandekar (Architect & founder of MCAPS Global Ltd.), Dr Vijendra Ingale (A doctor & founder of MaayMarati UK), Sujay Sohoni (Food entrepreneur and co-founder of Shree Krishna Vada Pav(SKVP) and Pranav Deo (young entrepreneur & founder of GainOn) spoke about their experiences in OMPEG and the value of connections, collaborations and mentorships. London based SKVP launched their Solihull branch in August 2020 as part of their expansion plans.
Midlands based entrepreneurs Ketaki Gokhale and Manjiri Khare, who attended at the venue said that they enjoyed the spirit of the launch and joined OMPEG as fee paying members on the launch.
The anchoring for the event was done by Sujata Gothoskar and Nitin Bam who kept the audiences engaged, both at the venue and on Zoom. From the Midlands team, Santosh Deshpande (Senior Project Manager from Siemens) diligently ensured that everyone was following COVID19 guidelines and Nitin Nimbalkar and Deovrat Vaidya (both IT professionals) effectively managed the Tech setup for a seamless virtual experience for the LIVE webcast.
OMPEG UK (Overseas Maharashtrian Professionals and Entrepreneurs Group) was founded in April 2016 by a group of entrepreneurs and community influencers with a mission to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship in the UK based Maharashtrian community. In just 4 years OMPEG has galvanised the UK-Maharashtrian community with many success stories.
OMPEG is a fee-based membership organisation and is run entirely through voluntary efforts. The current core volunteering team that leads OMPEG UK includes Reshma Deshpande, Rajan Shegunshi, Ravindra Gadgil, Jay Tahasildar, Sushil Rapatwar and Ani Kaprekar – all are leading professionals and entrepreneurs in their respective fields.
The Midlands Chapter OMPEG volunteers team includes Pranoti Jadhav, Sujata Gothoskar, Santosh Deshpande, Nitin Nimbalkar, Nitin Bam, Deovrat Vaidya and Cllr. Dr Nitish Raut.
For more information on OMPEG: www.ompeg.org.uk
