Championing gender balance in business addressed at East Midlands International Women's Day event

Getting more women into senior roles and financial empowerment were among topics discussed by 150 East Midlands businesswomen at Enterprising Women’s International Women’s Day Conference 2025 on 7th March.

The conference followed news that 43% of roles on company boards are women and 31% in the 50 largest companies, according to the 2025 FTSE Women Leaders Review report released on 25th February.

Taking place on the eve of International Women’s Day, the event was powered by East Midlands Chamber’s Enterprising Women network, and comprised talks and panel discussions, following the worldwide theme of #AccelerateAction. 

The conference marked the official launch of the 2025 Enterprising Women Awards, opened for entry. 10 categories were announced, set to recognise outstanding achievement of the region’s women in business at a ceremony later in the year.

Business expert Fiona Lambert was the keynote speaker at the Enterprising Women International Women’s Day Conference, sharing insight from a wealth of experience across the fashion retail sector.  

Speaking afterwards Fiona Lambert said: “It’s important to recognise your superpowers and what you bring to a business. As a woman in leadership, I've always mentored and sponsored young women in businesses and made sure that they have no fear of failure, are willing to step out of their comfort zone and recognise that there’s nothing holding them back and they can grow in any job they go to. I'm a big believer in having a support network that you can go to. Have your cheerleaders who will support you as you're growing in businesses.”

BBC TV presenter Anne Davies, former England international Vicky Macqueen and Enterprising Women Businesswoman of the Year 2024 Andrea Gray were among a range of inspirational speakers and panelists.

Anne Davies chaired a panel discussion on motivation, inclusivity and empowerment. Afterwards she said: "If everybody can go back into their own environment and make one tiny change, that adds up to a big change and there's always room for improvement, room to enable women to have a greater say in every walk of life.

“Believe in yourself, set realistic goals, making sure you action what your dreams are and connect with like-minded people. If you love what you do and believe in what you're doing, you're going to get there.”

didi rugby UK CEO and former England international Vicky Macqueen said: “You should always inspire and motivate people to succeed, to be themselves and understand what they can achieve. In all walks of life, whether that be playing rugby for England like I did, it’s about determination. That took me there, with lots of failures on the way and lots of resilience exercises. No journey is smooth. It's always a rollercoaster. If that’s the case, it's probably going to be a success.

“Not getting selected for the World Cup, I could have ditched it and gone ‘I can't do this anymore.’ But I thought ‘no, I I want to come back stronger.’ I came back for 34 caps. You need obstacles to succeed.”

PPL PRS former Managing Director Andrea Gray was the Enterprising Women Businesswoman of the Year 2024 and talked through her career journey and experiences.

Speaking afterwards she said: “Events like this are super important. For me, it makes me realise that it's not just me that worries or thinks I'm not good enough. If it was a group of men, the conversations would be different and the themes too. As women, many of us do suffer impostor syndrome - fear of failure or not being good enough.

“I’ve been in very male dominated careers, and always been surrounded by men, mainly reported into men and my peer group has mainly been men, but I've never felt held back. I know a lot of women have but I've been lucky that the men I've worked with have been very supportive.”

Enterprising Women co-founder Eileen Perry MBE DL opened the conference with co-founder Jean Mountain.

Afterwards she said: “Getting so many of our region’s businesswomen together in one place never stops being vitally important. While the recent FTSE Women Leaders Report proved again that progress is accelerating, it’s not accelerating quickly enough. It’s encouraging that there’s been an increase in the number of women on boards but 43% is not equal – it’s just a sign we’re going the right way. In the top 50 companies that number is only 31% so we’re still far away from where we need to get to.

“In 2025 there shouldn’t still be a gender pay gap. There shouldn’t still be women wondering if they can make it or be recognised for their abilities.  That means we cannot stop talking, we can’t afford to take the foot off the gas.

“The East Midlands International Women’s Day Conference, put together by Enterprising Women, rocket charges that conversation.  The region is fortunate to have forward-thinking businesses, but how often do women in business get together and actually talk about the challenges faced? Every year the conference hears examples of inspiring women and their journey.  By collectively addressing the challenges women face the East Midlands can lead on fixing gender inequality in business.” 

Jean Mountain said: “For many people International Women’s Day might just sound like another of those days in the calendar, but it can never be brushed off.  With each year we see an increase in the number of women in leading roles, innovating, driving growth at every level of business operation.  We can’t let these discussions stall as there’s still a long way to go.

“Yes, we all know there’s been progress on the road toward gender equality, but that’s only when you compare where we are now with decades ago. There are still women who feel held back, who need assurance they can get to the top, where they deserve to be.  The International Women’s Day conference is all about empowerment and it was wonderful to hear stories of resilient, resourceful women in business whose journey really inspires.”