Almost 400 business leaders from the Swansea Bay region gathered at the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, last Friday (October 11) to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Women in Business Awards.
As well as recognising the achievements of a number of female entrepreneurs and business executives in the region, the awards also welcomed American businesswoman, model, actress, and TV personality Caprice Bourret as the day’s keynote speaker, who inspired the audience with her life story.
The event also recognised the achievements of all of the inspirational winners from the past decade who were also invited back as part of the judging panel.
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These included 2011 winner Connie Parry, 2013 winner Hayley Davies, 2014 winner Heather Cooper, 2016 winner Alison Orrells, 2017 winner Debbie Green, and last year's winner Karen Hewitt.
They were joined by Lisa Cameron, Media Wales commercial managing director, and Alison Vickers, managing partner of Bevan Buckland. The overall winner of the event was revealed as Danielle Watts-Jones, managing director of DWJ Wealth Management.
Lisa Cameron opened the event with a speech that both recognised the achievements of previous winners of the event but also offered some startling statistics around the extent to which gender disparity still exists in business in the 海角视频.
“In the 10 years since we launched these awards, I feel we have done much to encourage women to start and develop businesses in the region. I hope these awards have played a part in giving some the confidence to go out and fulfil their potential,” she said.
“But at a national level, the news is not so positive. According to The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship in the 海角视频, published in February this year, the gender parity gap between male and female entrepreneurs in the 海角视频 has been worsening steadily since 2013 – and is now at its lowest level since 2008 – the year before we launched these awards!
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“In the same period, many other countries including Canada and the Netherlands have reduced their entrepreneurial gender gap – the proportion of women running businesses compared to men – by about one-third.
“This is important. Up to £250bn of new value could be added to the 海角视频 economy if women started and scaled new businesses at the same rate as 海角视频 men. Even if the 海角视频 were to achieve the same average share of women entrepreneurs as best-in-class peer countries, this would add £200 billion of new value to the 海角视频 economy.
“We all know that women do not lack ability or ambition. Yet only 1 in 3 海角视频 entrepreneurs is female. Female-led businesses are only 44% of the size of male-led businesses on average, in terms of their contribution to the economy, and male SMEs are five times more likely to scale up to £1 million turnover than female SMEs.
“I know that none of the women I know lack ambition or are afraid of hard work. The fact is that we need to find the solutions. And I firmly believe that events such as this do much to encourage women to start businesses.”
The first keynote speaker was local businesswoman Jessica Rice, founder of JR Events & Catering, who delivered a motivating and empowering speech. She said: “As women, we are often told statements like ‘Smash the glass ceiling’, however we don’t talk enough about how to do this, or how to build an empire. We need to discuss this more.
“I want to tell you all my five coping mechanisms to achieve positive outcomes: HAPPY. This stands for Handle failure, Attitudes are contagious, Peach, Play fair, and You time.
“Peach is particularly important, even though it sounds a bit peculiar. You can be the fluffiest, juiciest peach, but not everyone likes peaches. And that’s ok”.
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Women in Business Awards
Growth & Expansion, sponsored by Natwest Cymru
Winner: Alex Shufflebottom, Shufflebottom Ltd
Highly commended: Victoria Hartson, Hartson Fire
Highly commended: Catherine Butler, Hugh Phillips Gower Butcher
Rising Star, sponsored by Baldwins
Winner: Amy Price, The Social Butterfly Marketing
Highly commended: Sian Watkins, The Cosmetik Clinic
Highly commended: Carly and Ellie Allchurch, Allchurch and Co
Professional Woman, Sponsored by LTC Mobility
Winner: Sarah Davies, JCP Solicitors
Highly commended: Marian Evans, Elevate BC Ltd
Highly commended: Tracey Jones, Ferguson & Peters
Highly commended: Danielle Watts-Jones, DWJ Wealth Management Ltd
New Business / Start-Up, sponsored by University of Wales Trinity Saint David
Winner: Sian Cartledge, Max Rocks
Highly commended: Caroline Petrinolis, No 59 Skin & Beauty
Highly commended: Selena Booth, Magnolia Centre
Role Model/ Mentor, sponsored by Slimming World
Winner: Danielle Watts-Jones, DWJ Wealth Management Ltd
Highly commended: Marian Evans, Elevate BC Ltd
Highly commended: Sara Morgan, Aragan Sports Ltd
Innovation in Business, sponsored by Coastal Housing
Winner: Dawn Lyle, iCreate
Highly commended: Gemma Amura, It’s Science
Highly commended: Rebecca Edwards-Symmons, Swansea City Football Club
Best Boss, sponsored by Securahome
Winner: Sarah Wynne, Wynne and Co
Highly commended: Stephanie Wood-Gilbert, Bespoke Education Service Team Ltd
Best Networker, sponsored by Leather Sofa Company
Winner: Emily Fender, Girl Boss Club
Highly commended: Kaye Harris-John, Primedia Marketing
Highly commended: Robyn Lee, Cygnet distillery
Champion for Change, sponsored by AB Glass
Winner: Nia Jermin, Jermin Productions
Highly commended: Samantha Nicholson, CanDo Hub
Highly commended: Sara Morgan, Aragan Sports Ltd
Inspirational Woman, sponsored by Gower College Swansea
Winner: Marian Evans, Elevate BC Ltd
Highly commended: Rachel Thomas, ICreate Training Ltd
Highly commended: Michelle Martin, M&D Care Ltd
Highly commended: Selena Booth, Magnolia Centre
Influential Woman of the decade, sponsored by JR Events & Catering
Winner: Hayley Davies, JCP Solicitors
Lifetime Achievement, sponsored by JCP Solicitors
Winner: Lynne Sanders, Swansea Women’s Aid
Woman of the Year 2019, sponsored by HMT Sancta Maria Hospital
Winner: Danielle Watts-Jones, DWJ Wealth Management
This speech resounded with the audience, who gave Jessica a standing ovation.
Presenting the awards was Frances Donovan, a journalist and broadcaster. She praised all of the women in the audience, saying: “Thank you for being brilliant and coming today so we can celebrate you.”
Caprice Bourret, the second keynote speaker, then addressed the room, injecting some humour into her speech. She said that she had no idea that she wanted to run her own business, as she came from an underprivileged background.
“I was one of the first people to license my name, approaching the CEO of Debenhams to do so. I know what it’s like to be poor, so I am always forward thinking. Since I am plagued with the stereotype of an American model, I continuously want to prove myself, and prove others wrong,” she said.
“I wasn’t taken seriously by stockists at all, so I fell into a depression. It took a lot of time for me to get out of it, but I managed to pull myself together. I told myself, ‘Stop victimising yourself!’. Now, I have a homeware range that is supplied in Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Macy’s.”
Caprice also offered advice on how to run a successful business.
“You’ve got to live, breathe, and love your business,” she said.
“Invest in good contracts, and make cashflow your bible. Sometimes, the best thing to do in business is to dump a really bad idea. Change is amazing ladies, don’t be afraid of it.”
Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived. It was time to crown the Woman of the Year 2019. The inspirational woman who claimed this award was Danielle Watts-Jones, managing director of DWJ Wealth Management.