Internationalise
yourself, your wealth and your business
Accounting
Citizenship
Forex
Immigration
Education
Wealth
Explore
Offshore Property
SA Tax
1st Contact
What service are you looking for?
1995
Founded over 25 years ago in London
6
Offices helping clients across four countries
150+
Dedicated staff across our business divisions
2m+
Clients helped with global services
89.6
Net promoter score from happy clients
Cross-border financial and immigration services
Accounting and tax
Outsourced accounting service for businesses, private individuals and contractors.
Citizenship
Professional consultancy providing advice and representation in nationality law matters.
Forex
Experts with over 20 years of experience in private and corporate currency solutions
Immigration
Expert advice and services that have helped thousands immigrate to the UK and Australia
Education
Study abroad advisory for students as well as UK education corporate services for providers.
Wealth
Building long-term relationships to help you earn, save.
We are Sable International
Our clients are always at the heart of what we do and our teams in the UK, South Africa and Australia are perfectly positioned to ensure that when you decide to move overseas, invest offshore or expand your business internationally, you’ll do so with a team of local experts in your corner.
The world is getting smaller, isn’t it time you started thinking bigger?


Welcome to Sable International
You’re at the right place!
The whole 1st Contact team are still here, and we are still offering the same great service, we’ve just packaged it under a new name: Sable International.
If you have any questions, please get in touch by emailing info@sableinternational.com.
What our customers say
Meet our directors
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Reg BamfordGroup CEO
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Andrew RissikGroup International Director
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Gary KockottChief Operating Officer
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Marilie du ToitChief Financial Officer
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William LouwDirector: South African tax
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James EdwardDirector: Forex
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Mike AbbottDirector: Sable Wealth
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Scott BrownDirector: SME
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Tim PowellDirector: Forex
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John DunnDirector: Citizenship and Immigration
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Mishal PatelDirector: Citizenship and Immigration
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Philip GambleFounder and Senior Partner
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Sam HopwoodDirector: Australia and Oceania Region
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Darren FaifeManaging Director: Business immigration
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Alan RobbinsAccounting Director
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Megan CopleyDirector: Offshore Real Estate Investment
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Reg BamfordGroup CEO
Having qualified at Deloitte & Touche in Cape Town, Reg moved over to London and spent three years in investment banking in the city.
He founded a small tax consultancy in 1996 and in six years turned this into a company with offices in three countries and over 200 staff.
Reg lives in Putney, with his wife and two young sons. In his spare time, he competes internationally at croquet – he is a seven-time winner of the World Championships.
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Andrew RissikGroup International Director
Andrew grew up in South Africa, where he was schooled at Michaelhouse after which he completed his education at the University of Stellenbosch.
He served as an officer in the South African Navy before completing his management training with the McCarthy Group.
He established a company that facilitated the investment of UK client money into the emerging South African property market. He successfully sold his interests before being appointed to head up Sable International's forex team.
Andrew is a keen sailor who has competed internationally and spends many weekends away either sailing or enjoying the outdoors with his wife and two children.
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Gary KockottChief Operating Officer
Gary was schooled at Grey High School in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, after which he completed a BComm degree at the University of Port Elizabeth.
He sold his business in 2002 and headed to London, where he joined Sable International in 2004, managing numerous facets of the business including tax, immigration and commercial. Gary joined the board as a director in 2004.
He is an avid mountain biker, plays tennis and squash in his spare time and enjoys watching all sports.
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Marilie du ToitChief Financial Officer
Marilie qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1998, after which she worked at Deloitte & Touche in Cape Town, London and Brussels.
After returning to Cape Town in 2003, she fulfilled the role of Finance Director for South African operations at Panalux until she joined Sable International in 2008.
Marilie describes herself as meticulous, fair, committed and lucky. She loves rules and reasoning. She taught herself to read at age five and has not stopped. She is also a closet chef with a deep love for gnocchi.
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William LouwDirector: South African tax
William started his career by studying towards a Chartered Accountant degree through Unisa. Since then he has worked in firms around South Africa and Namibia as a Professional Accountant.
He has led teams across several companies including 1st Contact’s South African tax division and started his own firm in 2011.
In 2019, William merged his company with Sable International to form our South African tax division. His goal has always been to help clients get the maximum benefit from their tax situation.
He is an avid croquet player and has frequently represented the country.
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James EdwardDirector: Forex
James has 35 years of banking experience, 15 of these intimately involved in international trade finance, including eight years as head of Capital Equipment Imports and Trade Finance, Nedbank Corporate (previously BoE Corporate Bank).
He previously headed up the Durban office of Reichmann’s Trade Finance, part of Investec Bank. James has a BComm degree majoring in Economics and Business Finance, a Banker’s Diploma and has completed an Advanced International Finance course at the University of Cape Town. In his spare time, James enjoys surfing and has a very active family that love the outdoors.
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Mike AbbottDirector: Sable Wealth
Mike grew up and was educated in South Africa, after which he began his career at Investec Private Bank.
In 2006, Mike founded the property and lending advice division of Sable International. He now runs the business and is head of the investment committee.
He loves sport, mostly triathlon and golf. He is a trained NLP Practitioner and an avid reader of all things relating to economics. He is married and has two children.
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Scott BrownDirector: SME
Scott majored in Accounting and Business Administration at Canterbury University in Christchurch, New Zealand. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant and working for five years within business services and taxation, he headed to London and joined 1st Contact.
In 2010, following the merger with a number of smaller accountancy practices to form Sable International's accounting team, he became Managing Director of Accounting, heading a team of accountants and assistants specialising in SMEs and contractors.
Scott is also interested in travel, music, fine dining and wine.
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Tim PowellDirector: Forex
Tim has 25 years of work experience, including at the likes of Price Waterhouse Coopers, Combined Motor Holdings, BoE, Ernst & Young, JD Edwards in South Africa, Deutsche Bank and 1st Contact Forex in London.
He started an online forex business in London before returning to South Africa. He then joined FX Capital, growing the business to annual trade in excess of R4 billion per annum.
In 2017, FX Capital merged with Sable International and Tim is now the director of Sable International’s South African forex business.
On weekends, Tim enjoys climbing mountains with his wife and two sons.
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John DunnDirector: Citizenship and Immigration
John joined Sable International in 2008 and has managed multiple divisions during his time with the company.
He has over a decade of experience in immigration, citizenship and residency-by-investment. He combines that with a background in sales, marketing and management to ensure that Sable International is the go to for all things relating to citizenship and immigration around the world.
Outside of work, John is dedicated to his young family. He enjoys fitness activities and loves the outdoors.
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Mishal PatelDirector: Citizenship and Immigration
Mishal was born in Mombasa, Kenya and relocated to the UK in 2004 after a successful colonial nationality claim through Philip Gamble & Partners.
Mishal joined Sable International in 2009 and is a registered Level 1 adviser in UK immigration with the OISC. Mishal works closely with Philip Gamble and assists in isolating claims to British nationality for those who have connections to former British Territories, those who are resident in the UK and those adopted by British citizens. Mishal has a special interest in East Africa and the sub-continent. He is fluent English, Kiswahili and Gujarati.
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Philip GambleFounder and Senior Partner
Philip trained with the Home Office within their Citizenship Directorate until 1992. He was the founder partner of Montgomery and Co and later Managing Director of 1st Contact Visas.
He has assisted in developing Government policies with the Points Based System and has instigated changes in Policy towards the descendants of Government employees of former British Territories. Philip is also responsible for immigration training in NHS Hospitals.
He is widely regarded as an authority on British nationality law and the effects of decolonisation within the former British Empire. Philip is registered with the OISC as a level 2 adviser in Immigration.
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Sam HopwoodDirector: Australia and Oceania Region
Sam is a registered migration agent and a member of the Migration Institute of Australia.
Sam studied as an undergraduate at the University of Newcastle, NSW and later completed the postgraduate certificate in immigration law at Victorian University. He has worked in the area of Australian immigration law for 14 years and has helped thousands of people relocate to Australia.
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Darren FaifeManaging Director: Business immigration
Darren has over 25 years’ experience heading award-winning organisations as well as providing immigration and compliance services to large-scale, multinational businesses.
Having run his own successful immigration practice for over 20 years, Darren possesses a strong commercial mindset and provides an efficient delivery of strategic solutions, while consistently driving value contributing to core business objectives.
Darren joined Sable International in 2020 to bring his wealth of expertise to our business immigration services. He is registered with the OISC at level 2 in UK Immigration.
Outside of work, Darren is a “car man”, who makes his annual trip to Le Mans every year.
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Alan RobbinsAccounting Director
Alan went to school, studied and completed his articles in Cape Town, after which he started work as an audit manager. His next move was across to the UK in 2003, where he joined Quotient Financial - later part of Sable International - and worked as a client accountant for just under two years. He then worked as an internal auditor for Interserve PLC, a FTSE-listed facilities management and construction company.
With a view to returning to Cape Town, he re-joined the Quotient team in June 2007 in the role of client manager. In August 2009, he relocated to the Cape Town office to manage the accounting team based there.
Alan enjoys most outdoor activities as well as any opportunity to travel.
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Megan CopleyDirector: Offshore Real Estate Investment
Megan was educated at St Peters College, followed by Stellenbosch University, before leaving South Africa to pursue a property career in London.
Predominantly working in real estate across Europe, the UK, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean, advising clients on their portfolios, Megan has worked for Savills and UK billionaire John Caudwell and now spearheads Sable International’s Real Estate Investment division.
Her vision is to advise clients, through a very personalised process, on investing in real estate abroad and to build a division anchored on integrity and trust, using her ample experience in the property world.