Lanarkshire women have a mind for business

A Mind For Business attracted 125 women from across Lanarkshire, with attendees sharing a common interest in developing motivation and mindset, as well as gaining access to expert business insights from leading local female entrepreneurs.

The event was part of a planned series being piloted this year under the Lanarkshire Women In Business banner. Partners behind the initiative include North and South Lanarkshire Councils, Business Gateway Lanarkshire, New College Lanarkshire and the Federation of Small Businesses.

Kirsty Mac, executive coach, speaker and consultant, talked with passion and humour about the common traits that often hold women back from realising their full potential.

Kirsty provided tools to help re-think and overcome limiting thought processes and habits as well as techniques to boost confidence, performance and resilience.

The format then moved to an interactive Q&A panel session, hosted by Lynne Cadenhead, chair of Women’s Enterprise Scotland. The panel created opportunities for attendees to hear personal accounts of the business journey from local business women.

Jeanette MacIntyre, managing director of Indeglas, shared experience of a career in interior design and the progression in to business ownership as a result of management buyout.

Attendees heard about the challenges of operating in the architectural glass design and construction sector but, notably, about the huge opportunities associated with developing and leading Indeglas.

Annette Bell, director and co-Founder of Bell Group UK Ltd, established a painting and decorating business with her husband 35 years ago.

Their company has grown to become the largest, privately owned, property maintenance contractor in the UK with a network of 30 branches and 2000 employees. Annette shared personal insight to the hard work, challenges and achievements made in growing the company to its current status.

Lastly, attendees enjoyed a thought-provoking presentation on mindfulness delivered by Kirsty Paterson of The Awakened Mind.

The session explored imposter syndrome, the importance of gratitude and recognising achievements, as well as how visualisation can help ground us and increase awareness and focus.

Yvonne Weir, enterprise manager at North Lanarkshire Council, said: “This event has been the best attended in our pilot series so far. The subject matter has clearly resonated with female attendees. 125 women turned out on the day, bringing the total number attending events held so far to almost 300.

“The pilot programme was set up to help explore why women are under-represented in business numbers in Lanarkshire. It has also been a good temperature check to determine the appetite for gender-specific support.

“The pilot is showing us that there is huge potential in the Lanarkshire landscape for encouraging and enabling more women to pursue professional and business growth.”

The final event in the Lanarkshire Women In Business pilot series has been placed on hold due to current COVID-19 restrictions.

To register your interest e-mail [email protected] or call 01236 638945.