Pink Shoe Summer Reception at the House of Commons

We were delighted to be hosted by Anne Marie Morris MP, for a relaxing summer reception

Entrepreneurs, professionals, international business people and politicians mingled on a splendid summer evening. Anne Marie gave a warm welcome to guests and said how important it was to see so many successful women and men networking to help drive business forward.

Helene Martin Gee thanked the MP for so charmingly hosting the event - especially as she had injured her arm in a disagreement with a photocopier!

She praised Anne Marie's vital work in supporting and promoting UK enterprise, especially SMEs and micro businesses.

Helene thanked everyone for attending and was especially glad to see such a great mix of longstanding friends and those attending a first event.

She gave a special welcome to new members Antonella Ragona and Sandra Roycroft-Davis, and much praise to Sheila and Olivia for all their hard work.



As ever at Pink Shoe events we were very well catered for, with a stupendous seasonal buffet perfectly accompanied by Pimms and Prosecco, as well as local elderflower and Kentish apple juice.

A well-deserved round of applause went to Vida & Mustapha for serving us the lovely food & drinks.





Another highly congenial evening was enjoyed by all - a fitting end to the busy summer season before heading off for the holidays.


Images by Olivia St-Clair Bloomfield.

Pink Shoe Club Hosts Oman Delegation

A private tour of the Palace of Westminster was arranged for a distinguished group of delegates from Oman, including the First Minister from the Embassy of Oman in London. On behalf of Diane Shawe, who accompanied the group.

Before meeting with Anne Marie Morris MP, Helene Martin Gee, former Serjeant at Arms Jill Pay, and Pink Shoe members, delegates enjoyed a visit to both Chambers, including hearing the Shadow Foreign Secretary in a debate in the House of Commons.

They also paid a visit to the Royal Gallery, then to the Peers Guest's Gallery of the House of Lords, and went on to join guests in the Jubilee Room. 

Pink Shoe joins Addidi for Inspiration Awards

Pink Shoe members were thrilled to be invited by Anna & Janardan Sofat to join Addidi for their Inspiration Awards at Home House. This is definitely one of the highlights of the summer season, as Addidi hosts this glittering annual event where inspiring women of today celebrate women achievers from history.

Firstly we heard from Anna about Addidi – her ground-breaking wealth management company, especially focused on women, and about angel investment opportunities and the Addidi Pioneers.

On to the award itself, the focus this year was on women entrepreneurs. We heard five enthusiastic presentations on whom we should vote for. All the entrepreneurs from history were women who had made an impact on fashion, not just from the design perspective but also with financial success, as fashion is and has for many years been a key contributor to the economy.

Julia Grinham, co-founder of the fabulous Upper Street Shoes, opened the event and championed Margaret Cameron, a milliner designer & corset maker –to prove her point Julia wore a super sexy corset!

Then Fashion Designer Angele Delanghe was marvellously brought to life by her champion Courtney Blackman, Founder & MD, of Forward PR and MD of The Industry.

Our third presentation was about Anna Maria Garthwaite Designer, of Spitalfields Silks and championed by Fiona Cruickshank OBE, Director at SCM Pharma. We loved hearing about Anna Maria!

And finally we heard from Sarah McVittie, Co-founder of Dressipi, who spoke eloquently about Fashion Designer Lady Duff Gordon, Lucy Christiana.

As the evening drew to a close after five fabulous presentations from-and for- five fabulous women we wanted to vote for them all! However we were delighted to hear that the final winner was Margaret Cameron, thanks to Julia Grinham.  We also thought that Anna and Addidi should have an award for creating such a splendid event!