interprise:13 GEW High Impact Award for 4th year!

A packed House of Lords room was the scene for the 7th annual ‘interprise’ event to Inspire Entrepreneurs to Take a Step Forward! In celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week. Discussions followed the same format as stage I, held in Manchester in June. Delegates included business people of all ages and sectors, along with students from Woodside High in Haringey.

Earl of Erroll-Merlin-Chairman of the All-Party Group on Entrepreneurship, opened the event with a welcome for our keynote speaker, Matthew Hancock MP, Minister of State for Skills & Enterprise.

The Minister displayed real understanding of all the many issues surrounding entrepreneurs and small business owners. At a time of record levels of UK business creation, he stressed the importance of perseverance and giving it a go ‘the real failure is not to try at all’. 

Matthew promised to listen to all the ideas delegates suggest, as he is keen for Government to continue its support for SMEs and reinforced the willingness to improve opportunities for those wishing to start a business.

Anne Marie Morris MP, Government’s South West Business Ambassador and Founder/Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Micro Business spoke briefly before dashing off to vote!

Helene Martin Gee and Jill Pay set the scene for the evening and questions were announced as delegates broke into discussion groups.

The Groups were chaired by Alison Loveday, Managing Partner of Berg in Manchester; 

Diane Shawe, CEO and Founder of the Academy of Vocational and Professional Training.









Matt Smith Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurs and co-founder & former policy director of NACUE; 

And Jenny Wardle, co-founder of sparkling wine boutique retailer Grays & Feather.


There was a real buzz in the room as discussions got underway. 



Once ideas were agreed for each group they were put to the dynamic Panel chaired by Sue Lawton, with Liesl Smith of the Federation of Small Businesses; Alex Mitchell, Founder of Young Brits and chairman, G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance; and Helene Martin Gee. Discussion then followed with more ideas being added and suggestions incorporated from the panel.

The final interprise Ideas included:

Embed enterprise in curriculum at age 7

Create a portal to link entrepreneurs of all ages to share skills & experience

Commission more positive media and TV  how about a ‘Strictly Come Business’ programme with helpful feedback for start-ups from experienced entrepreneurs

After a vote, the best idea was agreed as: Create open door regional peer2peer networks of SMEs to invest (cash/time/resources) in local start-ups

These ideas will be added to the outcomes from Manchester then presented to the Minister for consideration. 

PSC is thrilled to have been awarded GEW High Impact Award for the 4th year running!

PSC Women in Public Life Programme Launches

As part of its partnership with Parliament Week, Pink Shoe Club kicked off the Week with a ‘Women in Public Life’ luncheon at the House of Commons to launch its innovative Shadowing Scheme.  Conversation covered a variety of topics from exciting upcoming projects to empowering stories from club members. 

PSC founder Helene Martin Gee shared an overview of the ‘Take a Walk in My Shoes’ project she has created. 

Alongside the shadowing scheme, Una McBride has devised a video series. PSC is commissioning short films featuring women role models, all of whom will be interviewed by broadcaster Susan Bookbinder.

Focusing on its aim to promote hands-on experience alongside successful women, including Sarah Anderson CBE; Kate Barker CBE; Claire Ighodaro CBE; Anne Watts CBE; Sandi Rhys Jones OBE. These high profile role models will be shadowed by board-ready career women. The shadowing experience will be supported by professional workshops and other key activities.

Ling Tyler-Bennett went on to explain that the recruitment process includes a fair, open and objective assessment that takes into account both technical abilities and behavioural characteristics.  Having completed its feasibility study and planning stage but PSC is recruiting its pilot cohort of 5-6 candidates ready to begin the programme in January.

Vanda Green explained this is part of Pink Shoe’s commitment to supporting ‘lifelong development of women’. She further outlined the training, which includes four workshop sessions involving panel discussions and relevant talks such as the ‘Seven Principles of Public Life.’  Vanda emphasised PSC's high expectations and suggested applicants should only apply if they are poised to further their careers and potential through the programme.

Sharing personal insight, Jill Pay said that part of the responsibility of holding a public appointment is always giving back.  Also essential is to come to terms with the fact that you are in the public eye.  She then brought out what was a recurring theme during the luncheon: Women in public life must believe in themselves, because being in a public role implies that others have already placed their trust in you.

Guests, all women in senior roles, then heard from the indefatigable Sandi Rhys Jones, who shared her extensive experience as a board director in private, public and third sector organizations. Sandi had some excellent tips and said visibility is key when seeking that first role. She pointed out that the lovely room in which we were lunching had many august portraits from history – no one of them a woman. Sandi welcomed the PSC initiatives as she believes it will challenge ingrained behaviours of power holders.

Stella O'Brien from the Cabinet Office expressed Government’s keen intention for more women to take up public appointments. Her insights into the process were both interesting and enlightening as she explained the different areas of public appointments. As a first action, Stella provided ‘Public Appointments’ Information packs for guests to take.

Jill Pay then led roundtable debate in which members shared personal experiences specific to their area of expertise.  This showcased the wide range of PSC professionals and the empowerment of women in public life. Discussions overall highlighted self-belief and confidence, to take advantage of support that is offered and most importantly: never give up!

Parliament Week Launch

At the House of Commons we heard from many Parliamentary supporters of Parliament Week, which is on track to deliver the biggest and best selection of events ever in 2013. 

As a Partner in both the Women & Democracy and Business & Enterprise categories, Pink Shoe Club has a number of events lined up for Parliament Week, both in the week itself which starts on November 15th, and during December.

We were welcomed by the Lord Speaker, Baroness D’Souza who stressed the importance of engaging with as many people as possible. 

Lady D’Souza said that welcoming young people into Parliament is one of the most enjoyable parts of her role. 

Then Mr Speaker addressed the crowd, enthusiastically praising this year’s topic of Women and Democracy. Mary Macleod MP spoke warmly of how glad she was to see so many partners present and that she looked forward to an exciting week. We were especially delighted to hear this as Mary will open our own international conference in December!

There was then an opportunity to mingle and meet other Partners, as well as time to enjoy a sumptuous array of homemade cakes!

Enterprise Forum with Enterprise Research Centre

The latest Enterprise Forum roundtable was held at the House of Lords in partnership with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship and the Enterprise Research Centre. 'Turning fast growth into a habit – policy and finance reports'.

Delegates were welcomed by APPGE Chairman the Earl of Erroll.

Professor Stephen Roper and Professor Mark Hart then presented their research fndings and started discussion on one of the ERC ideas - a National Growth College. 

Sue Lawton then led the interactive and absorbing debate with many interesting points raised by delegates, especially Lorely Burt MP, and Anne Marie Morris MP who asked how this would impact on micro business. A full report is to be published by the APPGE.

At the reception afterwards the discussions and networking continued. 

Pink Shoe Ladies who Lunch

After the success of Pink Shoe's summer lunch programme, the intimate Founder’s lunches are proving very popular so will continue throughout the season. With numbers kept at no more than 8-10, all guests are able to get to know each other in the smaller group. 



Recently we spent a lovely Friday lunch sharing tasting platters at the Adjournment in the House of Commons with a great mix of long standing ambassadors and some fabulous potential new members.

Pink Shoe Foundation Inaugural Meeting

The first meeting of the proposed Pink Shoe Foundation was held at Westminster. The charity will aim to encourage and support the lifelong development of women via a range of activities.

The first three Trustees are all founder members of the Club. Vanda Green, Úna McBride and Ling Tyler-Bennett, along with PSC founder Helene Martin Gee and Senate Chairman Jill Pay, have identified the first project to help fulfil the club's maxim of 'Creating Positive Footprints'.

PSF kicks off with a role model reinforcement project: ‘Take a Walk in My Shoes’. This is the Pink Shoe Shadowing Scheme for Women in Public life. It will involve a practical shadowing experience, with women wishing to contribute to public life shadowing those already in such a role, especially Ministerial Public Appointments. The shadowing is then supported by a series of workshops providing training and development for participants. The scheme will be launched at the House of Commons in November as part of PSF’s partnership with Parliament Week.

Splendours of the Commonwealth Fashion Show

Pink Shoe Club members were thrilled to be invited to launch London Fashion Week at the MayFair Hotel with Splendours of the Commonwealth Fashion Show in aid of the Commonwealth Countries League Education Fund.

The event was brilliantly organized by Judith Fisher and Sue Lawton and the clothes were stunning!.

PSC Patron Tessa Sanderson White CBE was guest of honour along with Baroness Boothroyd, Ade Adepitan and Baroness Flather amongst others.





The evening started with a wow when we received a rousing traditional Maori welcome! 

Fashion was from hugely talented young Commonwealth designers Shipra Malhotra, Ekta Solanki, Duchess, Kitty Ferriera,  Tina Lobondi, Sika, Sunita Mukhi and the grande finale from Jenny Packham. 

All shown with great panache by an array of models from throughout the Commonwealth and compered by Russel Amerasekera. 

The evening was a huge success with a party atmosphere and super service from the hotel team. 








As we enjoyed the Champagne guests perused the silent auction with a range of art works contributed by many of the schools in the programme.  

We heard first hand just how important is the work of CCLEF. It sponsors bright girls to give them equal opportunities for secondary education in their own countries. So far over 3000 girls, have been helped and currently 397 girls across 25 Commonwealth countries are being supported.