Arlene to step out as keynote speaker at women’s conference

Ms Phillips is the keynote speaker at a special conference in Sheffield on March 7, 24 hours before International Women’s Day. The event, organised by businesswomen’s support group Forward Ladies and sponsored by Business Link Yorkshire, takes place in Sheffield and Manchester.

In 2009, Ms Phillips was axed from BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing to make way for the much younger Alesha Dixon amid allegations of ageism.

Anne Selwyn, Business Link Yorkshire partnership manager, said: “Women are great communicators as well as being adaptive and innovative. For example, women business owners have been leading the diversification of the rural economy for years.

“They are at their most entrepreneurial at times of economic challenge and also tend to be risk aware – most women’s businesses have no debt or well-managed debt.”

Business Link Yorkshire said it worked with over 12,000 female customers across the region in the year to April 2010.

More than 8,500 of these were running businesses with many in traditionally female dominated sectors like retail, hospitality and services, which are facing challenges due to the economic downturn, with a rising number of women callers looking for access to finance and specialist business support, it added.

Jillian Thomas, a Business Link Yorkshire customer, launched Future Life Wealth Management last year. The Sheffield firm has seen major growth and the businesswoman was won the Start Up Business of the Year prize at the Women in Business Awards in Leeds.

“Even the most confident of us have gaps in our knowledge, or areas in which we could improve performance. I’d advise women trying to forge ahead in business to build strong partnerships with business support suppliers.”

There are several women’s events across the region in early March. Today in Hull there will be a writers’ event at the art gallery at Middleton Hall at the University of Hull campus at 6.30pm.

Next Tuesday, March 8, there will be a free public lecture on the lives of Anne Lister and Doris Lessing and on the issue of sex trafficking, organised by Leeds Metropolitan University at the Rose Bowl, and also on empowering women in business, at the Campanile Hotel at Doncaster Leisure Park.

For more information go to www.forwardladies.com