Celebrating International Women’s Day

Celebrating International Women’s Day

At UBC and Inigo Business Centres, we’re privileged to work with hundreds of talented individuals every single day.

Our wonderful clients come from all walks of life and run a great variety of businesses. We are proud to foster a culture of inclusivity at our centres, and we welcome the opportunity to celebrate diversity whenever we can. And what better opportunity than International Women’s Day?

International Women’s Day, marked on Wednesday 8th March, brings attention to gender equality while celebrating the social, economic, and cultural achievements of women.

A 2023 report, the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, found that women in the UK established over 150,000 new companies in 2022 – more than twice as many as in 2018. However, there is much more that can, and should, be done to empower and enable female entrepreneurs.

Why? Because according to the Alison Rose Review, a whopping £250 billion of new value could be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled new businesses at the same rate as men.

To celebrate International Women’s Day (which is every day, in our book!), we interviewed a number of incredibly talented female business leaders based at UBC and Inigo offices. Allow us to introduce you…

Kerry Hudson – Director, Bullivant Law Ltd

Kerry Hudson, Bullivant LawKerry first joined Bullivant Law back in 2008 as a Paralegal, whilst undertaking the Bar Vocational Course (training to become a Barrister). She became a Police Station Accredited Representative whilst undertaking Paralegal work and eventually cross-qualified as a Solicitor.

Having worked as an employed Solicitor in the firm for many years, she was made a Director and then took over from the retiring Director.

Kerry says: “I relished the opportunity to run the business in a way which encouraged more women into leadership roles. We take pride in making sure that we do our best to create a working environment which encourages women to progress their careers and aspire to run their own firms or join the judiciary.

“Although the ratio of women/men solicitors is now broadly 50/50, there is still a disproportionately low number of women in Partner/Director roles within law firms. I am part of an organisation called Women in Criminal Law (WICL) which is working hard to change that.

“Perhaps what is unique about Bullivant is that it is headed by two female Directors. We both started at the firm as Paralegals/Trainees and worked our way up to taking over from the retiring Director.”

Kerry and her team are located at Inigo’s Blackwell House offices at Guildhall Yard in central London. Discover more about Bullivant Law at www.bullivantlaw.com.

Fiona Turner – Founder and Director, Turner Wise Recruitment

Fiona Turner, Turner Wise RecruitmentFiona started her own recruitment company, Turner Wise Recruitment, in 2015. The company specialises in recruiting for estate agency and property management jobs in London.

Before setting up Turner Wise Recruitment, Fiona worked in the property sector for over 10 years. “I have a sound understanding of how estate agencies work and what they need to succeed, so I wanted to set up my own property recruitment company.”

Fiona leads a team of five and has established the company to the point where they now have “an excellent reputation with some of London’s leading estate agencies and candidates.”

This served the company well in 2020 when the pandemic hit. Like many others, especially in the recruitment sector, Covid-19 created significant challenges for Fiona’s business. However, she and her team are now bouncing back and the company is once again going from strength to strength, with Fiona focused on expansion over the coming years.

As for female entrepreneurship, there is still significant imbalance in recruitment. Even in 2023, Fiona feels that female entrepreneurship doesn’t get enough attention. “The fact that I cannot recall seeing/hearing or reading anything about female entrepreneurs within my industry is telling.”

Discover more about Turner Wise Recruitment in London at www.turnerwise.co.uk.

Clare Barnes – Director, Barnes IP Training Limited and Head of Corporate Development, Barnes IP Limited

Clare Barnes, Barnes IP Training LimitedClare provides niche CPD for trainee patent attorneys who are looking to pass the professional exams to qualify in the UK. Clare started the business to gain better work/life balance. “I wanted to be able to fit my work life around my family life, rather than the other way around.”

In addition to leading the training and corporate development side of the business, Clare is also working to empower candidates through mental health support.

“The exams to qualify as a patent attorney are some of the hardest professional exams in the UK and most people do not pass first time. For many candidates, incredibly intelligent graduates, this can be the first time they have ever failed anything in their life.

“Without any experience of having to pick themselves up and carry on, this can be incredibly bad for their mental health, especially at the start of a career which has historically been quite high pressured, so it’s really important to make sure that trainee attorneys know what support is available.

“Organisations like IP Inclusive, which supports minority demographics in the IP industry, and the charity Jonathan’s Voice, founded after an attorney completed suicide, provide camaraderie and mental health and wellbeing advice.”

In terms of gender equality, Clare welcomes focus on working women and entrepreneurs, as she feels there is still a lack of support especially for those who have family commitments.

“There are increasingly more organisations that focus on female founders, but I think it would help for people to be more aware of flexibility and family friendly working practices, which still affect female entrepreneurs more than their male counterparts. For example, my accountant knows that I would prefer to have a meeting just before the school holidays or just after!”

Looking ahead, Clare is focused on building more versatile training to cover more of the qualification exams, and to provide additional mental health support for candidates struggling with exam pressure. As if that’s not enough, Clare added that she would love to expand their training courses to cover European qualification exams, too.

Clare and her partner are located at Inigo’s Windsor offices. Discover more about Barnes IP and their range of services at www.barnesiptraining.co.uk and www.barnesip.co.uk.

A huge thank you to our wonderful clients who have taken part in our special female entrepreneurship focus.

We’re continuing to highlight some of the many talented women at UBC and Inigo over on our social media channels. Why not join the conversation and share your stories with us?

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Header image: Direct Media, Stocksnap