Moreton Hall School – Moreton Means Business Mini Conference
14 Mar 2019
Moreton Hall is renowned for nurturing young entrepreneurs, not least with the school’s student run business, Moreton Enterprises, so it was only fitting that enterprise and business were at the heart of a very special event to mark International Women’s Day on Friday: the inaugural Moreton Means Business Mini Conference.
The aim of the conference was to give students from Years 9 to 12, including those studying Business and Economics at GCSE and A Level, the opportunity to gain first-hand insight into the world of work and the realities of being a women in the workplace from some fantastic women in business, several of whom cut their own entrepreneurial teeth in Moreton Enterprises.
Opening the conference, OM Clare Downes, Owner of The Circle and Monkhouse Granary explained that behind the event were “Women who feel passionately that they wish to share all that they have learned with you, to support you with preparing for your future.”
Keynote speaker, Leanne Crowther’s talk took the girls on the journey of her meringue business, ’Flower and White’, from a home start up, into a renowned aspirational £2 million plus turnover brand. For Laura from Year 9, her talk was a highlight: “I found Leanne Crowther really inspirational. The way she had worked up from her own kitchen to running a successful business”.
Workshop sessions throughout the afternoon were an opportunity to focus on many key business skills including ‘working as a team’, ‘showing the world the best you’, ‘making life choices and being allowed to change your mind’, ‘turning a business dream into a reality’ and ‘the future is tech’’.
For Bea in Year 9, her favourite session was “a workshop about coming out of your comfort zone. I felt that even if we don’t plan to go into business that was a valuable life skill to take away.”
The conference ended with an Any Questions session in which the delegates reflected on their own experiences and shared their insights with the girls. According to Bridget in Year 9: “It was great to hear the women sharing their different experience, showing how they had experienced some of the same challenges as business women.”
Everyone, delegates and speakers agreed that it was a really inspirational afternoon and a great way to celebrate International Women’s Day.