Women in North Wiltshire and the surrounding areas are invited to join their local MP, Danny Kruger, for an informal event offering networking opportunities, business support and advice.
Whether you are an established business owner or have ideas about your own enterprises but aren’t sure where to start, the Make It Your Business Devizes session will offer guidance from other likeminded women at all stages of their business journey.
The free event will take place via Zoom, on Friday, February 26, from 4pm to 5pm and will be introduced by Danny Kruger MP. Three local panellists will be sharing their business stories, followed by an opportunity for questions and networking.
Alison Cork, founder of Make It Your Business will be joined by panellists Justina Pettifer, director of The Healthy Life, Ltd (in Little Brittox, Devizes), Jemma Brown, director of OHM Clothing Ltd (in Sheep Street, Devizes) and Katharine Graves, founder of KG Hypnobirthing.
To register for this event visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/make-it-your-business-devizes-tickets-138417433269?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=escb&utm-source=cp&utm-term=listing
Information on the Panellists:
Jemma Brown:
Jemma Brown is one of the directors of OHM Clothing Ltd, based in Wiltshire. Having run the business with her husband Anthony for the last 2 and half years, they have seen the business grow and grow – adapting particularly during the global pandemic. OHM supplies branded school uniform to schools and workwear to businesses right across Wiltshire and has a strong military connection, providing uniforms and badges to many UK units.
With a shop in Devizes and a workshop in Swindon, the business has had to develop, adjust and change during the pandemic and has established a charity arm to help charities with their clothing needs and requirements – it’s a hugely exciting offering and will help charities grow their brand and incomes.
Jemma has had a varied and dynamic career, working for both Wiltshire Police and Wiltshire Air Ambulance in strategic roles and before that as an account director for a large and successful publishing house in Oxfordshire.
She is one of the founding members of Devizes Retailers and Independents, ‘Devizes Indies’, which was set up in 2020 to help and support all the local businesses in Devizes. With a degree in business and a passion for arts and music, driving forward both The Invitation Theatre Company and the Fulltone Orchestra and Fulltone Festival, Jemma is a mum to a teenager doing (or not!) her GCSE’s and is a massive Labrador lover!
Justina Pettifer:
Justina Pettifer is the owner of The Healthy Life, a small high street retailer.
As a small business owner, one needs to be the HR manager, The Marketing Guru, A buyer, a negotiator, the captain of the ship and innovator.
Having owned THL for 11 years she has moved with the times, has launched a successful website and is committed to helping the community.
Katharine Graves:
Katharine Graves is the founder of KGHypnobirthing, a concept that has grown from being almost unknown 15 years ago to being the antenatal training of choice for thousands of women in the UK, often recommended by their midwives.
Like many women, Katharine spent the years when other people were developing their careers caring for her four children as they grew up. When they flew the nest she looked for a job and no-one wanted to employ her as she had no track record and no impressive CV. So it became apparent she had to do something for herself.
Katharine teaches women to have a positive and empowering birth, often pain free, and totally different from the agonising and over-medicalised event which can so sadly be the experience of the majority of women. Yes, it really does make that much difference. Her company, KGHypnobirthing, is the largest organisation in this area in the UK, and possibly in the world.
As well as having taught thousands of pregnant women, Katharine has also trained over a thousand other teachers in her method, and has trained midwives in every hospital in the UK. Since lockdown her trainings have gone international as zoom has meant they can be reached worldwide.
Katharine is on the Council of the Maternity and Newborn Forum of the Royal Society of Medicine, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the HypnoFertility Foundation of America. She is a member of the Association of Radical Midwives and of the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services, and an associate member of the Royal College of Midwives.
Katharine lives near Marlborough, but her office is in Andover as she suffers from inadequate rural broadband speed at her home. She is very aware of the need to use social media and all online resources for anyone who wants to develop a business.
Her immediate goal is to take her training to pregnant women in prison, but it is amazing how difficult it is to get into prison without committing a crime. If anyone can help with this, she would be very grateful.
Her overall aim is that giving birth should be a positive and empowering experience for all women, but she has quite a lot more work to do to achieve this.
She loves what she does which is incredibly satisfying when she sees the difference it makes to people’s lives.
Alison Cork:
Frequently in the press and in TV and radio, entrepreneur Alison Cork has over the past 20 years built up a home interiors empire encompassing publishing, online retail, design, licensing and TV shopping.
Prior to that, she co-founded publishing company Carnell Ltd, which floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1994.
A champion of female entrepreneurs, in 2017 Alison founded Make It Your Business, with the aim of supporting and encouraging women throughout the UK to start their own business.
In 2018 she was appointed Government Champion for Women Entrepreneurs and also stood as a prospective Conservative candidate for London Mayor 2020.
In 2019 Alison became ambassador for the British Library Business & IP Centres.
Alison lives in central London with her husband and two sons.
