Henley Women in Business

In 2020 Henley is home to a variety of businesses, large and small, covering everything from the industrial to the bespoke. Many of these enterprises are owned and run by women and Henley Life has met with some to celebrate International Women’s Day.

 

International Women’s Day has been celebrated on March 8 every year since 1910. In the past 100 years women have come a long, long way.  In May of 1910 Queen Victoria’s eldest son Edward VII died and passed the throne to George V.  Women at that time, both rich and poor, were little more than chattels with few rights.

 

Women had no vote, even though the National Society for Women’s Suffrage was formed almost 40 years earlier in 1872.  In the early 1900s there were lots of different women’s groups campaigning for ‘Votes for Women’ and from the modern perspective we tend to lump them in together as Suffragettes. Some of the more famous women of that time, like the Pankhursts (Emmeline, Christabel and Sylvia) were pursuing a campaign of action and militancy – breaking windows, setting fires, deliberately getting themselves arrested and subsequently going on hunger strike.  In 1913 Emily Davison famously threw herself in front of the King’s horse at the Derby, and died from her injuries.

 

When the Great War broke out in 1914 the Suffragettes quit their more provocative tactics in order to support the war effort. When the war ended in 1918 women finally got the vote, well the ‘right sort’ of women did. The Representation of the People Act (1918) gave the vote to every man aged 21 and to women aged 30 who met minimum property requirements.

 

As a result of the 1918 General Election the first woman was elected to Parliament. Countess Markievicz (née Constance Gore Booth) was an Irish revolutionary who refused to take her seat.  In the following year, Nancy Astor won a by-election and became the first woman MP to sit in Westminster. It wasn’t until 1922 that other women were elected and in later years Astor described her early years as an MP as “hell”. In 1928 parliament changed the law to allow both women and men aged 21 to have the vote.

 

Although women could now vote, the business world was still heavily biased against them.  The ‘Marriage Bar’ – a rule vetoing the hiring of married women (and often widowed women) existed in some industries until as recently as the 1970s.  The ‘Marriage Bar’ also required women to resign from certain jobs – often in the Civil Service and banking, once they married. 

 

Women are still underrepresented in both business and in parliament which makes our Henley Women in Business even more exceptional – they are bucking a national trend and succeeding whilst doing so. In this month's issue, meet some of our fantastic Henley Women in Business including Ailsa Bosworth MBE who founded the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, Debbie Atkins who turned redundancy into opportunity, lawyer Punam Denley who started her post-divorce life by launching her own law firm and Suzie Hobbs who has helped steer the well-known Henley boat firm into new (tonic) waters by launching Mr Hobbs Gin.

 

 

AILSA BOSWORTH

 

Ailsa Bosworth founded the award-winning charity the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) in 2001, following a struggle to access the treatment she needed. She received an MBE for services to people with rheumatoid arthritis in the 2016 New Year’s Honours List. Based in Maidenhead, NRAS is the only patient organisation in the UK with a specific focus on providing support and advocacy for the 400,000 people with rheumatoid arthritis and more than 12,000 children and young people with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Ailsa led its development into an internationally respected and influential membership organisation for 18 years, before standing down as CEO in June 2019 to take on a new, parttime role as National Patient Champion (NPC), and to have more time to devote to her family.

 

As NPC, she contributes regularly to national and European guidelines and standards. NRAS is leading the way in the provision of supported self-management services and resources in rheumatoid arthritis, and Ailsa is currently developing a unique new e-learning programme, so that many more people can access the help they need, easily and conveniently. Name: Ailsa Bosworth MBE

 

Charity: National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS)

Position: Founder and National Patient Champion

Website: nras.org.uk 

Telephone: 01628 823524

 

 

 

PUNAM DENLEY

 

How would you describe your business and what you do today?

Hobbs of Henley is a family-run boating business in Henley-on-Thames which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. My husband Jonathan is the fifth generation. We have more than 50 boats in our fleet ranging from rowing boats to a 175 passenger Mississippi-style paddle steamer ‘The New Orleans’. I am the Business Development Manager at Hobbs of Henley, but also the co- founder of Mr Hobbs Gin which we launched three years ago to celebrate the founder of our business, Harry Hobbs (Jonathan’s great, great grandfather) and this year we will be commemorating our 150th anniversary by producing a new London Dry Gin ‘Mr Hobbs 150’.

 

How have things changed for women in the course of your career and what further changes would you like to see?

I think quite dramatically, thankfully with the Equality Act in 2010 there is now equal pay for equal work however I think we still have a long way to go. With a large share of care responsibilities continuing to rest with women, childcare support is a huge issue as childcare in the UK is the most expensive in the world. We do not make the same state investment in this sector as other European countries such as Finland. Half-day preschool education is free in Finland and full-day child care is heavily subsidised. They also have a female Prime Minister in her thirties and a cabinet which is predominantly female, they are really closing the gender gap there, I think we could learn a lot from them and as a mother of three daughters I am a huge champion of equality especially in the workplace.

What are your goals for the future?

We have a very skilled workforce at Hobbs but it is predominately male, I would like to see more women in our workforce and maybe even one of our daughters taking the reins one day! We also are becoming more and more aware of our carbon footprint, with the British Marine Federation setting a target to make the boating industry emission free by 2050 we have started the ball rolling here at Hobbs by looking at electric boats. Mr Hobbs Gin is continuing to grow and we have fantastic local support. In 2020 we would like to build on this and hopefully with the imminent launch of the Mr Hobbs 150 we can expand our distribution across more of the UK and potentially overseas.

 

 

 

DEBBIE ATKINS

 

Debbie Atkins is the Regional Director for the Reading and Henley Athena Network – connecting, training, inspiring and supporting women in business. She also has a Personal Training and Nordic Walking business.

 

“My business, now in its 10th year, has no perfect client,” she says. “If you possess a human body, I can help you achieve the unimaginable! “I do this using an ‘umbrella’ approach: Firstly, I deliver Nordic Walking sessions in Swallowfield and Whitchurch, and personal training sessions in Windsor. These two fitness offerings are supplemented with Synergyworldwide Health and Wellbeing products, of which I am a representative.

 

“Like many people, I found myself struggling to maintain my 17-year-long corporate career alongside raising two young children. “Redundancy then presented an opportunity to achieve both. While qualifying as a PT, I was introduced to Nordic Walking, and then a PT client later introduced me to the Athena Network.

 

“I instantly fell in love with the group’s vibe, and within a year, I had bought the Reading franchise. I have now been a Regional Director for six years and have six groups of 100 members across Reading and Henley. Being a member of the Athena Network has been life changing, and I am so grateful to be part of the ‘tribe’. “I am driven to connect people and businesses in order to achieve maximum success, and this is part of my role at Athena.

 

“I believe that the second half of your life can be the best. Throughout life, we accumulate valuable experiences which we can learn to repurpose and share with others. There is no work / life balance – all you need is to live your life to its fullest potential, be kind to yourself and all around you.”

 

Name: Debbie Atkins

Company: Reading and Henley Athena Network

Position: Regional Director

Website: theathenanetwork.com/debbieatkins

Telephone: 07834 861827

Email: debbie.atkins@theathenanetwork.com

 

 

 

 

SARAH PYE

 

For the past 11 years Laura Poole has owned and run Woofits Walkies --a friendly, professional dog walking service with doggy daycare and puppy visits around the Henley area. Having always loved and wanted to work with animals, and having a particular passion for dogs, she took a part-time position with a dog walking company called TwoDog whilst attending BCA college studying Animal Care. The owner Helen Whitaker eventually decided to sell up and so she took it on, expanded and it became Woofits Walkies.

 

Laura says: “I am grateful to have had a lot of support and encouragement from family and friends while developing a business I love.” She is incredibly proud of her company and the hard-working, conscientious team she has working for her. She continues:  “Over the years I have met some great people and enjoyed connecting with mutual doggie lovers and of course all the amazing doggies.”

 

Laura says she loves to support the community in any way possible and was so touched by the amazing turnout for her charity dog walk last year for the Sue Ryder Hospice in Nettlebed. She is organising another walk this year and looking forward to welcoming an even bigger procession of walkers and woofits. 

 

Website: www.woofitswalkies.co.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/woofitswalkies

Tel: 01491 682580

Mob: 07947 828 367

Email: dogslife@woofitswalkies.co.uk

 

 

 

REBECCA SUMMERFIELD