“The qualities you need to succeed
are drive and determination.”
- Penny Streeter OBE
ABOUT
Penny Streeter OBE is the founder of the A24 Group, a medical staffing agency that she founded with her mother in 1996. In 2002, Fast Track 100 declared it the fastest-growing UK company.
Today, she lives with her husband in Cape Town, South Africa, and in addition to a market-leading medical staffing business owns wine and hospitality businesses Benguela Cove Lagoon Estate, in South Africa, and in the UK Mannings Heath Golf and Wine Estate and Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens, Sussex.
A keen conservationist, Penny bought and restored the Grade I Listed gardens of Leonardslee, in one of the largest UK garden restoration projects for nearly 30 years.
Having been homeless herself, Penny supports a refuge in Hermanus, South Africa, close to the Benguela Cove wine estate.
“The best way to start a business is with no money. It makes you work harder. One problem with our (first and only) loan was that we bought fancy stuff. None of it was necessary. We just needed a telephone.
“The qualities you need to succeed are drive and determination. You don’t need training. It’s all about common sense and knowing your market. I never got any GCSEs and have met entrepreneurs who can’t read or write who have done well.
“I remember my school’s accountancy teacher throwing books at my head, telling me how stupid I was. As soon as I had real money I suddenly became brilliant at it. I’ve never seen him again.”
