8 April 2005 British ORTs prestigious Business Breakfast has raised more than 90,000 ($169,000) nearly double last years total for ORT projects around the world. A record 420 guests attended the early morning meeting, including the ambassadors of Israel and Argentina and official representatives of Mexico, Latvia and Lithuania as well as Travelex boss Lloyd Dorfman and the owner of The Daily Express newspaper Richard Desmond. BBC chairman Michael Grade, a long time ORT supporter, addressed the event. He was joined by Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive of Tesco, one of the worlds top three international retailers with 2,318 stores and 326,000 employees. Sir Terry said he admired ORTs work enormously and spoke of Tescos own educational projects. He likened Tescos emphasis on staff development to ORTs ethos, saying: You have understood from the beginning the power of training, how you can change lives if you give people a practical skill. British ORT Vice-President Michael Naughton, who has organised the Business Breakfast since its inception 12 years ago, said he was delighted with the events wonderful success. When we started the Business Breakfast we attracted about 200 people, Mr Naughton said. Now, for the first time, weve had to turn people away because we couldnt accommodate them! We may have to consider a larger venue for next year. But Mr Naughton said it was the quality of attendees as much as the quantity that counted. The calibre of people who come to support us is superb and we get only the top speakers. The Business Breakfast is the first British ORT event to be held since the arrival of Rhonda Marcus as the organisations Campaigns Director in January. This event has been a thrilling introduction to British ORTs social calendar; the response from the community was overwhelming and I look forward to continued success in the future, Mrs Marcus said. The next major entry on British ORTs calendar is the Patrons Lunch, which will be held at Spencer House, the 18th century palace in the heart of London that was built for John, first Earl Spencer, an ancestor of the late Princess Diana.