A group of Lancashire businesswomen attended the latest Women in Business lunchen at Ribby Hall Village in Wrea Green to listen to four fascinating speakers.
The women, from an array of sectors throughout the county, were first treated to tea, coffee and a light breakfast, as well as an opportunity to enjoy some early morning networking ahead of the event, which was sponsored by Guild Promotions.
They then heard from three inspirational speakers, starting with Jane Lowe of Business Room 52, who talked about how women can give away their power and steps they can take to ensure they do not do that in future.
During this talk, Jane put the women through their paces and got them on their feet during a couple of entertaining exercises that contained serious messages about empowerment in the workplace and beyond.
Dr Sharon Xuereb, of Bereux, a trained psychologist, then talked about the impacts of stress in the workplace on people’s wellbeing and explained numerous coping strategies that can be employed to avoid burnout and stress.
And the morning session was concluded when Caroline Rayner, a solicitor at Baines Wilson LLB, discussed the implications of social media in the workplace and gave examples of real-life legal cases that have landed employers and employees in hot water because of actions on social networks such as Twitter.
Delegates then enjoyed a three-course lunch in Ribby Hall’s luxurious restaurant, and further opportunities to network, before listening to an inspirational speech from business owner Helen Broughton on how she and her husband built Lytham-based accountancy firm Danbro.
Speaking after the event, Mrs Broughton said: “I talked about raising Danbro. We are a company that very much has a family feel in the same way that we have raised our children and now we have raised a company as well.
“I have just been sharing our story and some of the things that haven’t gone so well and some of the things that have obviously gone great and how we have done that.
“This event has been great and I met some lovely people.
“It is always great to meet other women in business who all have their own inspirational stories. You just connect and you pick up things that you can take back to the office, making your work life a better place.”
Susan Burns, of event sponsors Guild Promotions, said as soon as she heard about the event she wanted to get involved.
She said: “The clue is in the title. Women in business is very dear to my heart.
“We are a nation of people that don’t really take compliments too well and I think there is an awful lot of women out there who do amazing jobs so I very much wanted to be part of this.
“It was absolutely brilliant and I challenge any woman in there today to have not left this room feeling inspired and proud of everything they do.”
