THE FIRST WORD
network. Not that it should really matter. Because it’s important to point out that our board didn’t
L
elect this trio based on gender, but for the huge contributions they make to the region’s business community and the great successes they’ve enjoyed in their respective companies. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to each of them and they all have inspiring stories to tell
about how they reached their current positions - Dawn and Eileen as the owners of successful businesses, and Lindsey as the chief executive of a housing association responsible for 375 staff and 10,000 homes. They are just three of the enterprising women who feature in this magazine, a special
edition to mark International Women’s Day, which takes place on 8 March. On the cover are 10 women we profile in our focus feature (p60-66), which has been doubled
from its usual three pages to include as many East Midlands success stories as possible. Spanning across the three counties, they represent a range of industries – legal, finance,
construction, logistics, housing, technology and brewing. There’s several MBEs within this cohort, comprising entrepreneurs, chief executives and heads of key portfolios. Our big interview is with PPL PRS managing director Andrea Gray (p26-28), the Niche Magazine Businesswoman of the Year for 2021. She explains how she climbed the ladder without any higher qualifications after leaving
school at 17 – illustrating the many different routes to the top. It’s nice to get this far without mentioning what else is going on in the world at the
moment, but at least we now have a roadmap that offers a light at the end of the tunnel – the Chamber’s reaction to the Prime Minister’s plans is on p37. But in the meantime, we get a temperature check on how Brexit is affecting our region’s
exporters so far on p50-51, while there’s some insights into how Leicester city centre can grow post-Covid on p52-53. As always, the Chamber is at the centre of both these discussions and supporting businesses.
Best wishes, Dan Robinson, Editor, Business Network
ast year it was Dawn Edwards, the current incumbent is Eileen Richards MBE and, in 2022, it’ll be the turn of Lindsey Williams. Having three consecutive female presidents makes East Midlands Chamber unique among the British Chambers of Commerce
CONTENTS MARCH 2021
NEWS UPDATE 4 MEMBER NEWS Derby entrepreneur recognised for success
24 APPOINTMENTS Senior promotion at Nelsons law firm
THE BIG INTERVIEW 26 Andrea Gray, MD at PPL PRS
30 PATRONS Embracing business intelligence
32 CHAMBER NEWS Changing mindsets for people out of work
SUSTAINABLE EAST MIDLANDS 48 Electric vehicles: All you need to know
INTERNATIONAL TRADE 50 Steering through the exporting obstacles
POLITICS
52 Finding the keys to unlocking Leicester’s post- Covid potential
FEATURES
55 CREATIVE INDUSTRIES How Covid-19 sparked marketing company's most successful year
58 How authenticity and human emotion help us tell better stories
60 FOCUS FEATURE Paving the way for future generations: Profiling 10 enterprising women in the East Midlands
69 LOGISTICS, FREIGHT & TRANSPORTATION Britain’s HGV driver shortage crisis
73 Brexit and changing regulation for importers
TRAINING & EVENTS 74 Online event to celebrate International Women’s Day
Editor Dan Robinson T: 07764 431028 E:
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DIGITAL & TECHNOLOGY 76 Exploiting technology for customer engagement
BUSINESS SUPPORT 81 LEGAL Moving towards permanent homeworking
82 FINANCE Raising finance to fund growth
84 SKILLS How mentoring can help women
86 PROPERTY What will 2021 hold for the property market?
88 MOTORING Nick Jones tests the BMW M2 Competition
89 INFORMATION How to best manage redundancies
COMMENT 90 THE LAST WORD Chamber president Eileen Richards MBE comments on the latest issues
business network March 2021 3
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