Women: focus on the Future

09.45 on Friday 20 April 2018 at the Park Inn Hotel, Nottingham, the Sheriff of Nottingham, Councillor Glyn Jenkins,opened the 80th Annual Conference of Business and Professional Women (BPWUK)with invited speakers from the Midlands and beyond.

In his address he spoke about the women who have also held the position,which has been a ceremonial one since the creation of the police in 1832.

The day was made up of three panels:

Entrepreneurship, Education and Training, and Health and Medicine

BPW member Jennifer Barrett chaired the Entrepreneurship session and started with citing some early business start-upsby women such as Coco Chaneland Body Shop founder, Anita Roddick.

JulieAnneHart built her business on the family ethics and values of her grandmother, some of which were lost in the banking crisis of 2008. Her work is getting people to find their inner purpose rather than following the crowd of popular choices and said:

“There needs to be balance between politics, potential, prosperity and professional salary”.

Another local solo-preneur, Lesley Brown, saw an opportunity when she was very young and designed a dog grooming bag. The business then expanded by sourcing tools to fill it with. Out of her research and development into leather collars, Lesley went on design a robust harness for police dogs and stated:

“Starting and growing a business is a leap of faith and involves being innovative, adaptive, and a driver”.

Both speakers expertly answered questions on the viability of their business models in the face of ever changing consumer demands. JenniferBarrettended by noting that business ideas need to be ‘realistic rather than idealistic’, unlike those portrayed in some reality television programmes.

In Education and Training, the two speakers also spoke from different

areas of learning. Dr Lorna Treanor, of the Haydn Green Institute at the University of Nottingham, has a PhD in women’s entrepreneurship and education, andcharted her journey of researching women’sdevelopment in business to overcome their personal barriers in asking for what they want. Her empirical research had found differences in how women and men of similar age and status value a piece of work observing that ‘the elephant in the room is a pink one’.Lorna now specialises in lecturing on entrepreneurship and teaching people to find their passion and to value their time and skills.

Carol Brooks developed from a career in the military, building up training practices and personal development along the way and reflected that there are several accepted stages and systems to be followed in designing and delivering a course. To really make it effective, the process must be reviewed regularly otherwise “If you don’t review, you don’t do”.

Both are able to support learners at different stages and ages in their development and agreeing with research that shows the brain continues to make as many cells at 90yrs as at 19yrs.The moderator of the panel, BPW memberChris Nendick, gave the vote of thanks and picked up on the need for good female teachers, role models and mentors to inspire young women.

The third panel explored issues that challenge the development of Health and Medicine.

Professor Kerry Jones, who masterminds the Magnet development programme forNHS nurses at The Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), also researched the nature of changing attitudes of different generations of staff and patients and spoke of some interesting statistics in her work ‘Mind the Gap’. In 2017, 17,800 nurses left the NHS before retirement while a further 7,500 took early retirement.

BPW member Norma Huddy, whose career included involvement with companies such as Imperial Chemicals Industries (ICI)researching chemicals and medicine, updated delegates on the progress of medicines through clinical trialling.

‘Since 1948 – when the NHS was first set up– pharmaceutical companies have worked in a highly successfulpartnership with Government, policy makers and healthcare professionals to ensure that the most effective innovative medicines reach patients as quickly as possible.’

‘The partnership has led to a remarkably successful R&D programme that has produced numerous medicines responsible for reducing mortality and morbidity, while enhancing quality of life for countless patients’,ICI.

Both panelists fielded a variety of questions about the ongoing changes in the health arena, supported by BPW member and moderator, Jill Turner,who spent spent all of her career in the NHS.. Health As part of the wider focus on health and social care issues, materials from Care Englandmaterials were made available at Conference following initial attempts to secure their Director of Policy as one of the panelists although r. Regrettably she was not unable to attend due to a diary clash.

ManizhaHadi from Afghanistan, a keynote speaker, is currently at Durham University and working with Muslim women in the North East of England whose lives have been disrupted by war. Manizha updated us on the progress she has made over the last year to give women the confidence to move forward in their lives and overturn the disadvantages a female faces, not only in education and a professional life, butin factors affecting sexual and reproductive health. She used her own personal insights from growing up in Afghanistan, as well asinformation gained from her Masters and PhDresearch.We learned about the terribly high rates of maternal deaths in Afghanistan and how they compare to the UK and the violence and inequity many women face. Manizha concluded by discussing someof the difficulties health care providers and international organisations face in attempting to combat some of these inequalities and her suggestions for improving the current situation for women in Afghanistan.

Already a qualified Doctor in Afghanistan, Manizha is seeking to gain the English equivalent to help in this work and be a role model for women to believe in their aspirations. This is against a culture of resistance of both Afghani men and women in women’s aspirations, education and sexual health.

The day came to a close with Caroline Beasley,a solo-preneur, trainer and mentor in marketing, delivering a practical session on presentation skills and integrating on-line promotion tools to attract the right audience, as well as having that all important business and marketing plan to keep the business on track.

For editors

Business & Professional Women (BPW), an international NGO, links 28,000 like-minded women in 90 countries all over the world. At the heart of BPW’s international advocacy is our work with the United Nations, through our consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and participatory status with the Council of Europe.

Affiliated to BPW International, BPW UK's main goal is to help women achieve their full potential in the workplace and public life and we do so through networking sessions, lobbying, training and social events – all designed to build the confidence so many women lack.

Our members include:

  • professionals in services, arts, sciences
  • entrepreneurs (start-ups, established and expanding companies)
  • directors, board members and trustees of public and private organisations
  • employees from all levels of the public, private and third sectors
  • students and apprentices

As a civil society organisation, BPW UK lobbies on many issues including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Business, Diversity in the Boardroom, Overcoming the Gender Pay Gap, Women’s Empowerment Principles, Women in STEM and Violence against Women and Girls.

Each year we run a National Conference as well as a programme of workshops and other events across the country.

Contact 01277 623867