Devon Venus Awards 2015 are go!
The Bishop Fleming offices in Exeter played host to the Venus Awards sponsorship.
Businesses across the region were invited to hear about the Venus Awards 2015, which were specifically created to recognise and reward local women in business.
Business people from various companies which included Natwest, Sampson Hall, Blue Chip Holidays and Exeter Maritime service, networked over lunch on Tuesday and found out more about the Venus Awards 2015.
Hazel Tucker, Director of Business Services at Bishop Fleming who are sponsoring the Director of the Year category, said: “We have been sponsoring the awards now for three years. The Venus awards have been brilliant PR for the firm. It’s been great for us to meet so many other businesses and sponsors that we otherwise wouldn’t have met and we look forward to continue to embrace this.”
Tom Trip from Atkins Ferrie Wealth Management said: “The awards visually engage people and we have had so many people out of county come up to us and say we’ve seen you sponsor the Venus Awards, it’s really worked for us. You get a lot of PR and we are really looking forward to this year.”
The lunch, lead by Alexis Bowater and Celia Delaney, aimed to encourage businesses to sponsor the awards by presenting some real-life stories.
Julie Pogson from Exeter Maritime service, and who won Business of the Year in the Venus Awards 2014, said: “I was very nearly one of those women that didn’t fill out an application form but I’m so pleased that I did. Being in a male orientated business, for me it’s been an utter breath of fresh air.
Sam Curtis from Natwest said: “From a Natwest perspective, Venus really joins in with our values. It’s something that is dear to my heart and it’s something that we have worked really closely with. Last year we had about 140 nominations, my team and I went out and visited about 40 of those businesses and built really strong relationships with them. What we’ve learnt as a team of sponsors is that we can really make a difference.”
All present at the sponsorship lunch left keen to support the awards and with a greater understanding of how important women in business are. There are roughly 860,000 women in the UK that run their own company generating around £130 billion turnover.
The Venus Awards Devon are due to launch on Devon 21st May 2015 and are looking for female friendly businesses to sponsor the awards. If you feel your business would benefit from engaging with business women on a more personal level, you can contact Celia Delaney of SpeakingSuccess who is spearheading the awards in Devon at events@celiadelaney.co.uk
