International businesswoman at school conference
Pupils from across the Oswestry and Welsh border area joined a business mini conference at Moreton Hall School.
Marking International Women's Day the keynote speaker was Polly Barnfield OBE. Voted one on the top 100 women in UK Tech 2019 by Computer Weekly, entrepreneur and former International Sportswoman, Polly took the delegates through her journey from sporting glory to leading tech entrepreneur in a world still dominated by men, with her company Maybe.
With a decades-long track record of fostering entrepreneurial spirit amongst its pupils, not least with the school's student run business, Moreton Enterprise, the girls’ school near Oswestry, for the second year in a row, put business at the top of its International Women’s Day agenda.
Conference delegates also included girls and boys from St Martin’s, The Corbet, The Priory and Ysgol Dinas Bran schools, so it was fitting that the keynote address to the 150 strong conference was delivered in the recently opened Holroyd Community Theatre.
Opening the conference, Old Moretonian and Moreton Enterprises mentor Clare Downes said: “All of our guest speakers feel passionately that they wish to share all that they have learned with you, to support you with preparing for your future career.
"They hope that this may help with understanding the opportunities and challenges ahead of you.
"You will learn about the skills that you need to be successful in making decisions, working within teams, launching new products, truly being your best, managing your time and developing your own personal confidence.”
Students chose two of an impressive array of workshops on a variety of entrepreneurial topics from teamwork to time management and from starting up to managing change. Among the speakers were Old Moretonians, Annabel Abell, from ReAssure; Tiffany Corbett, co-founder The Shropshire Flower Company and Caroline Strickland from Meridian Foods Limited. They were joined by HR Consultant, Kay Heald; Executive Coach and Mentor, Thea Roberts; Property Developer, Business Consultant and Co-Founder of My Shrewsbury Magazine, Joycelin Hoyland; MD of Wellmeadow Consulting, David Parry and husband and wife team, David and Beverley Penney, from Penney Financial Partners.
