Miss Milly founder Sarah Watmore joined over 100 other female business owners recently for a special International Women’s Day reception at the House of Lords.
The event was held as part of Small Business Britain’s ƒ:Entrepreneur #ialso100 campaign, which celebrates the contribution many females founders are making to society, economy and communities across the country.
Watmore, a former retailer who launched her own accessories brand in 2012, was named an ƒ:Entrepreneur #ialso100 in 2021. The Westminster event was attended by her fellow cohorts as well as special guest speaker Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, who paid tribute to the power of female entrepreneurship.
“Getting to meet so many inspirational women who’ve set up all kinds of businesses throughout the UK was an absolute joy and such fun after two really tough years,” Watmore says. “And Dr Rosena’s speech was very motivational and humorous.”
The f:Entrepreneur campaign launched in 2017 to highlight the stories of amazing female business owners and help provide inspiration and role models across the wider small business community. Now in its fifth year, the campaign offers a host of events, training and networking opportunities to boost skills, capability and confidence.
Michelle Ovens CBE, founder of Small Business Britain and the ƒ:Entrepreneur campaign, adds: “Being in room full of such impressive female founders such as Sarah was really uplifting, especially after a tough couple of years for entrepreneurs.
“To hear all the incredible things that these women do and the impact they are making – not just in their businesses but in their wider communities – is truly inspiring. This profound desire among women to create opportunity out of their passions, to build businesses with mission and purpose at their hearts, and to drive forward success, despite everything thrown at them during this pandemic, is amazingly powerful. We must nurture female entrepreneurship so it continues to flourish in the UK and plays a key role in recovery.’
See the full line-up of the 100 amazing women featured in this year’s f:entrepreneur #ialso100 campaign here and last year’s here.