MAJOR speakers are being lined up for the second annual Women’s Business Forum.
The event, which is spearheaded by Holmfirth-based Heather Jackson, takes place on Thursday, September 29, at Rudding Park Hotel in Harrogate. Entitled, It’s Time, the event will see 650 business people attend from as far afield as the UK, Europe and the USA.
The inaugural event last September focused on the issue of balancing company boards by creating more opportunities for women to rise to top positions.
Heather said: “With the publication of Lord Davies’ Women on Boards report in February this year – which recommended a number of measures to tackle the current problems – this year’s forum takes on greater significance.”
The Women’s Business Forum 2011 has already attracted the Royal Bank of Scotland Group as headline sponsor and has taken bookings from companies such as Google, Ernst & Young and DLA Piper alongside a large number of other household names supporting the event.
Said Heather: “Our theme this year is It’s Time. We’ve chosen this because we believe it’s time we stopped talking about the issue – perceived and real barriers facing women and organisations – and started doing something to change things.”
Speakers at the event include Chris Sullivan, chief executive of RBS UK Corporate Banking, and Carla Stent, chief operating officer at Virgin Management. The line-up of other high-calibre speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.
The event is open to businesswomen and men in senior executive and management positions – with the aim of achieving a mix of 80% men and 20% women working together.
Said Heather: “This year’s forum aims to show all three major political parties why women need to aim for the top and how – without growing the talent pool – we have no chance of satisfying the demand for ‘board ready’ women.
Go tot www.thewomensbusinessforum.co.uk
