businesswomen-from-the-united-kingdom

"Turn your emails off, your phone off. You are entitled to have a life."

"The charity’s purpose is to encourage critical thinking and empathy to reduce bullying in schools around gender/sexuality; they achieve this by taking role models into schools to enable open and honest conversations which break down prejudice."

"Don’t be afraid of difficult conversations. Have them, but with a smile on."

"If you are dreading going to work on a Monday morning for a long period time, change your job"

"When I first arrived here, I felt as if [Haddon Hall] were asleep. In a deep, deep sleep."

"As they’ve worked their way through the house, the discoveries have been extraordinary: … ‘even old nails and gunshots and bullets. And I think there have been a few skulls,’ adds Gabrielle."

"There’s an endless movement and evolution in the use of these homes. They defy the notions of permanence."

"Once again Haddon got shut up. The family used it for weekends, shooting parties, summer follies, picnics..."

"Prince Philip used to call Firle Place the prettiest little house he ever knew."

"I would say that it’s been a labour of love, except that it’s felt like more love than labour."

"Montserrat is the gift that keeps on giving. Whenever new team members joined and they would say ‘I didn’t finish my work.’ I would say you’re never going to finish your work"

"I’ve been a real champion of mental health and safeguarding and I know it’s a difficult conversation to have and it’s very hard for people, but I’m really proud of the work that my team, all of the ministries and the police have done together."

"I am obsessive about customer research, personalisation and in-store consultations to get customers to try something new. Oh, and not wasting time on 150-slide presentations. It’s about distillation.”"

"We don't want to push our ideas on to customers, we simply want to make what they want."

"Unfortunately there are stereotypes. If, as women, we keep it really fact-based and calm, it will lead to people reacting to us positively… You want to encourage somebody to want to be with you and on your side. Not to be accusatorial.”"

"There’s a real partnership approach and a real respect for the work that gets done here with the team in finance – how they manage the funding and the projects and programmes, and there’s a recognition for how hard it is to get those things done."

"What you make as a designer is an expression of yourself. I love music and painting and I prefer life in the country."

"There’s so much more support nowadays and the environment is much more open to starting a business, especially straight out of university."

"It is just amazing that we are at the stage to have a successful evaluation. We’ve got a bit of work to do, but for a small territory with a small number of people, the amount of work that we galvanised together and pulling in the new legislation – it was a partnership with government to get all of that in place. In terms of lasting impact for Montserrat, I think things like the CFATF make a big difference.”"

"I don't like ephemeral things; I like things that last forever."

"Unfortunately, we live in wasteful times. This means the list of materials we would like to rescue is incredibly long and represents millions of tonnes of valuable material. We know that our particular style of alchemy is a powerful solution for all kinds of materials but we have to focus. Right now, we are committed to solving the leather issue."

"Targeting and understanding what they want is what counts. Every month I go shopping with our customers, we’ll go together to different stores. I’ll watch as they feel fabrics, appreciate design… This customer listening is crucial.”"

"there’s one question I always ask the board: "If this board knocked it out of the park over the next three years, what would we have done?" It stimulates a healthy debate which helps us align around a shared vision of what great would look like over the coming years."

"What’s been really great is to see how the culture of entrepreneurship has changed so much over the years. When I first started out, it was hard to find the right support or to meet with other like-minded entrepreneurs"

"And I’m very clear: everyone around the board table needs to take personal accountability for the whole. That means leaning into conversations outside your area of expertise, never being afraid to ask the "dumb or awkward" questions, and thinking systemically. It’s up the chair to foster an environment that encourages that sort of approach."

"We’ve done lots of work working closely with government on CIPREG projects. We are about to break ground on the hospital project and with other projects there’s been some challenges in delivering them. But the way that’s progressed and the additional funding that we’ve got which is non ODA is a really positive sign.”"

"As a board member, you need to spend time in the business. It’s a blunt instrument, but how much time directors spend engaging with the business and its stakeholders is a powerful indicator."

"We need to coach women not to be emotional but calm and rational. I just said calmly, ‘I know I am not earning as much as XX. Can you help me sort it out?’ And it was addressed very quickly.”"

"We then plan our cuts carefully, ensuring that we produce as little of our own off-cuts as possible. Each component of our system is then individually cut before it is hand woven, piece by piece, into whatever it is we need."

"No matter how carefully patterns for leather goods are planned, high quality, unused, freshly tanned and dyed leather falls to the cutting room floor as seemingly unusable pieces."

"Know what you don’t know… and then find someone who does."

"The cost of public transport. It’s so much more expensive here than other European cities and it’s a real challenge for my team when you think about the cost of coming into the office. Everyone has to get up and go to work and the cost of transport shouldn’t factor in, but unfortunately it does, which is one of the many reasons why we support hybrid working."

"Charities need that single view of their donor, to understand when and how they donate, what their preferences are from a communications perspective –essentially – what will help turn them into loyal and regular donors, so increasing funds"

"It’s vital to be a role model. To me it’s important to answer questions; it’s an opportunity to be honest and that’s good for all disabled people.”"

"Charities had to get smarter and have stepped up to the challenge"

"One of the things I really enjoy is talking to young people. I give talks in schools, and to Brownie groups as well as book talks."

"Having four fingers and 13 toes never stopped me doing what I love’"

"I have two fingers coming from each shoulder and my legs are foreshortened above where the average person’s knees would be with little feet.”"

"Our job is to make them as successful as possible. After all the charity sector is an important sector for society as a whole.”"

"The role with Greater Sport particularly appealed as it operated within my local community and I felt I could really help the organisation reach some of the communities in the area that had traditionally been harder to reach. The opportunity to drive this change in my local area was one I jumped at."

"My advice to other leaders in the private sector would absolutely be to volunteer and put themselves forward for these opportunities in sport."

"I had never looked at a business newspaper like the Financial Times."

"I showed them a photograph of me when I was at my most ill and they couldn't believe I’m the person in the picture. I went on that journey of nearly dying and then going on to have a child. I had my daughter, Aliyah in 2016 even though I was told I couldn’t have children. I’ve beaten the odds, basically.”"

"When it’s your own story, you live it, you breathe it and it becomes normal to you. When I speak to people I’m very open and frank about what’s happened to me, but when I see the impact it has on others, it makes me feel emotional myself. I realise how much I can help by telling my story.”"

"I understand how important it is for people to see themselves and their communities represented at senior levels of an organisation. Since coming onto the board, I have been able to advise Greater Sport on what they can do to be more inclusive, and act as a spokesperson to previously excluded communities to ensure that Greater Sport is as accessible to all."

"Sometimes such a lateral entry is also an advantage."

"There might be all sorts of obstacles, there might be legal documents you’re not aware of. That’s why having good advisors around who’ve been through this a number of times is invaluable.”"

"This wasn’t my first rodeo; I’d had other exits.” Previously, she’d co-founded and sold PR group Mantra for several million in 2007, and went on to co-found and exit Maidthorn Partners before starting Love Home Swap in 2011."

"I started fundraising for Kidney Research UK after my transplant. It was my way of giving back because I found it really difficult emotionally and psychologically to say thank you to the donor family who had lost their loved one. I raised money at first by doing one of the charity’s Bridges Walks and then on my kidney transplant anniversary, I would do an event with family and friends at my house and raise money through that.”"

"We have reasonably regular reports of things like bits of ceilings that will develop a crack, sewage pipes that will break, CT scanners that will break down, all the normal wear and tear of a building."