Directory

Kresse Wesling, MBE, is a multi-award winning environmental entrepreneur and Young Global Leader with a background in venture capital and significant start-up experience. After first meeting with the London Fire Brigade in 2005, Kresse launched Elvis & Kresse, which turns industrial waste into innovative lifestyle products and returns 50% of profits to charities related to the waste.

Elvis & Kresse’s first line is made from decommissioned fire hose, 50% of the profits from this line are donated to the Fire Fighters Charity. The company now collects 12 different waste streams, has several charitable partnerships and is involved with collaborations across industries, from FTSE 100 companies to fashion houses, including a current, 5-year partnership with the Burberry Foundation.

Saskia graduated from the University of Cape Town with a BSc (Masters) in Finance and a sub-major in Economics. As with many South Africans, Saskia spent a year living and working in London before returning to her home town, Cape Town, to take up a job as a Tax Processing Consultant at Sable International.

With her eye on the forex department, it wasn’t long until Saskia shifted departments to become a Forex Broker in the group. Her passion and determination, coupled with an extensive knowledge of the foreign exchange market, saw her emigrating to London to head up Sable’s Forex Businesses Development team in London.

Saskia now runs the UK Sable Forex Team with their core focus on business development, customer relations and client retention. Sable Forex is an industry leading remittance specialist with over 20 years of experience. They service in excess of 40,000 clients and pride themselves in providing a bespoke, personalised foreign exchange service for all of them.

Outside of work, Saskia is a new Mom, loves experiencing new cultures, putting travel at the top of her ‘spare time list.’

 Saskia ’s Motto: ‘Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it … Autograph your work with excellence.’ – Vince Lombardi

We are living in an information overloaded world and knowing what the first thing we need to do to improve our health is, get started and then stick to it has never been harder. Through my work as a health coach I support people to find their way back to great health so they feel vibrantly alive, energetic, live in the ‘right sized’ body, better manage health conditions and can enjoy life to the full again.

I work online with people of all ages. During the sessions we create a personalised plan of small, impactful, sustainable, dietary and lifestyle changes which enables my clients achieve their goals. By the end of the programme they will have all the knowledge and skills they need to live a health filled, vibrant life.

I also run ‘health and wellbeing’ training days in the work place. Healthy happy employees lead to a healthy organization and increased productivity.

I have worked in the health profession for over 25 years and having suffered with an eating disorder and poor health myself I know what it’s like to feel ‘unwell’. Thankfully I also know what it’s like to feel radiantly well and vibrantly alive again and how to get there. I am now passionate about helping other people get there too.

We are a family owned business, now into its 3rd generation and have been insuring businesses and families for over 39 years. We can arrange insurance cover to protect homes and businesses and make sure that we have your interests properly covered.

2018 was a particularly great year for Brownhills with the announcement that our Managing Director Gillian Henderson was recognised by the Insurance Times as one of the top 27 Most Influential Women in Insurance. We also obtained the Government backed Cyber Essentials accreditation demonstrating our ongoing commitment to protecting our client’s personal information.  We were also voted the Best General Insurance Provider of 2018 by Business Enterprise of London adding to our growing list of awards including Best Business in Bromley.

We believe in exceptional customer service, in going the extra mile and providing you with your own personal account manager as a one stop shop for all your insurance needs and guarantee to get back to  you the same day.

Insurance doesn’t need to be complicated and we look forward to being of service.

The company set out to offer designs that combine timeless elegance with contemporary influences at affordable prices. Lara Heems jewellery prides itself on every day, every occasion wearability.

The pieces that are offered by Lara Heems are created to the highest quality, where each cubic zirconia is hand picked to flawlessly form the beauty of the final product.

Our quality is never compromised.
Lara Heems Jewellery is continually working to expand its reach and offer its pieces across the globe.

Now available in several countries including London ( House of Fraser and ELA london ) Saudi Arabia, Greece and many others.

Lara Heems is from Dutch Anglo origin, always wanting to be in the diamond business, and loving things that sparkle she decide to work with a stone that has that effect  ( AAA zircon ) but affordable to all !

currently in the last year she has rose to stardom with her successful pieces such as rose pearl and bella drops which have now become her signature pieces

Being noticed by many celebrities Lara heems jewellery can be seen on Mariah carey, maya jama, jorja smith, helen mirren, lucy mecklenburgh, georgia toffolo and more !

Katie Young Gerald is a London-based author, entrepreneur and speaker in the glamorous, globetrotting world of fashion and textiles. The founder of Bespoke Textiles and formally Katie Young Design Limited.  Katie’s first book is an industry-essential and No1 Amazon best seller: ‘The Textile Touch: How Five-Star Hospitality and Heritage Brands Create Their Signature Style Through Textiles’

Bespoke Textiles is an award-winning Design and supply Consultancy that design, develop and deliver unique uniforms, luxury clothing and merchandise collections for high-end hospitality and heritage brands. She has over 25 years’ experience of co-creating with luxury and middle market brands such as Soho House, The Ivy Collection, The Ace Hotel, The Honourable Society of Middle Temple and the Hospital Club to name a few.

She is passionate about creating unique and timeless designs that are bespoke to your brand style supported by a sustainable and tailored supply chain that saves waste. She draws on her 25 years of experience working with luxury heritage and fashion brands such as English Eccentrics, La Petite Salope, Billy Bragg and Britt Lintner to name a few.

Her latest venture is relaunching the Luxury Heritage Textile brand English Eccentrics designing and supplying limited editions redesigns from the archives.

Vanessa Vallely OBE | International Motivational Speaker | Managing Director of WeAreTheCity

Twitter: @watc_girl  Linkedin: Vanessa Vallely  Email: Vanessa.Vallely@wearethecity.com  Website: VanessaVallely.com

Vanessa is one of the UK’s most well-networked women and has provided keynotes on a variety of career related topics for over 500 companies world-wide. Vanessa is also one of the UK’s most prominent figures in gender equality and often provides guidance and consultancy to both government and corporate organisations who are seeking to attract, develop and retain their female talent. Vanessa was awarded her OBE in June 2018 for her services to women and the economy.
At the height of her successful 25 year career in the financial services, Vanessa launched the award winning WeAreTheCity.com in 2008 as a vehicle to help women progress in their careers. WeAreTheCity.com now has over 120,000 members and provides resources/conferences/awards/jobs to women across the UK. Vanessa is the also the -founder of UK wide diversity forum Gender Networks. Gender Networks (formerly The Network of Networks) brings together diversity leaders from 85 cross sector firms to share best practice on a quarterly basis. Vanessa is also the author of the book “Heels of Steel: Surviving and Thriving in the Corporate World” which tracks her career and shares 13 chapters of tips to succeed in the workplace.
Over the past ten years ,she has been named Women in Banking & Finance’s Champion for Women, Financial News Top 100RisingStar,The International Alliance for Women Top 100Women globally & Brummells Top 30LondonEntrepreneurs. In 2015Vanessa was in GQ UK’s Top 100 Connected Women and the Evening Standard’s 1000 Most Influential Londoners. Vanessa is a regular guest on TV and radio and also sits on the Government Digital Services advisory board.
Vanessa is also the Pearly Queen of The City of London, a tradition that has been in her family for over 100 years. She is an avid charity worker and sits on the board for Cancer Research UK as one of its Women of Influence. Vanessa also sits on the Cententary Action Group founded by Dr Helen Pankhurst.
Keynotes and workshops include The Power of Profile, The Power of Mentoring, Speed Networking, Speed Mentoring, plus her Excel your Career workshop. Vanessa is also available as a panellist, facilitator and leadership development programme host. All talks can be tailored towards specific audiences.
Keynote Fees: £2,000 (Breakfast/Lunchtime/Early PM), £2,500 (Evening) + VAT. Travel within London is included; travel outside of London/international will incur additional expenses.

Lis van Lynden from Haslemere Travel:

I create bespoke itineraries for discerning travellers.  Haslemere Travel is an independent and multi award-winning travel agency, established in 1988. I work with them as an independent consultant and with the top tour operators in the UK.

We are a TravellerMade member which can only be achieved by invitation.  Working mainly with AITO (Association of independent tour operators), I’m able to research the best itineraries that suit your budget as well as the time that you have available, and with no additional charge.  Time is saved by coming to me which in itself is precious. Being part of the Belmond Bellini Club means also that we are able to get exclusive benefits, which are not available anywhere else.  This is done by invitation and there are only a handful of agencies in the UK that have been picked.

The beauty about using my services is that I am available in the day and evenings during the week as well as the weekends. I communicate in whatever way and time that is best for you. Whilst the phone is a great option and probably the quickest in understanding your travel needs, you can easily communicate with me via social media.  I am also able to meet you at your office or home. I make copious amounts of notes whilst doing this and then research your holiday requirements. I love nothing else but chatting about travel and so I discuss ideas with tour operators and come back to you with a few options.

So… Dream… Discover… Explore… Where will you go this year?

Femnesty is a new social platform uniting women, women’s groups and women’s organisations all around the world. We connect women locally and globally by offering a space to talk, share, confide and debate in a secure and supportive environment.

Femnesty founder Farah Brown has worked in the technology industry for more than fifteen years. As a mother of two girls under four years old, Farah is acutely aware of the way women’s lives change when they become mothers, and of the emotional challenges we face when we try to be both a perfect parent and an A-star employee. She is passionate about promoting the positive role of women in society through Femnesty and empowering them to take control of their lives by seeking personal development, financial independence and professional success.

Sandi Goddard

Strategic Brand & Business Consultant

Business Coach, Mentor, Speaker

The Room Upstairs Business Women’s Network

 Entrepreneur and strategic brand specialist for over 35 years, I use my Blue Chip client experience to take clients from good to great – from growth to exit!

Consulting:

I am results-driven. aiming for strategic alignment and congruence between the business objectives and ethos, delivering significant growth and £multi-million returns:

• Developing brand strategies
• Promoting enterprises and individuals to the widest possible audiences
• Building brand value
• Clarifying key objectives
• Building cohesive teams
• Aligning key messages
• Increasing sales; profitability & business value
• Succession planning
• Attracting investment
• delivering positive bottom-line impact and increased market share.

Advice for early stage and start-ups

• leadership and business management
• brand image
• routes to market
• growth strategies
• managing people

Business & Leadership Coaching

Leaders drive strategy, but it can be lonely. I am a sounding board and assist with the challenges manifest by change from MBO, IPO or sale to growth or personal issues

• managing difficult people or situations
• confidence issues
• personal profile
• presentations
• managing & building teams.

Workshops & Speaking

Drawing on my experiences including interviewing high-profile business leaders; 15 years running monthly networking events for women in business and the professions, I cover:

From Corporate to Entrepreneur: Setting up In Business

Get Noticed – Stand Out

Why It’s Marketing – Not Networking!

Positioning and PR: Five Steps to Great Visibility

Authenticity – How can it help you?

The Six Key Traits of Successful Women Leaders

Su Openshaw

I currently operate out of my home near Geneva where I run my own consulting business. My consultancy is based on offering clients improved business results by working with them to get the very best out of their people and themselves. This involves me in consulting, training, team development and executive coaching for businesses in every sector and country. I am able to quickly work with and understand global organisations in both the Public and Private sectors and have worked around the world to help others develop their ability to influence and lead in complex and challenging business environments.

My other role is as owner and operator of Ferme du Ciel, a luxury ski chalet in the French Alps. I sought out this gem and converted it from a shell to a luxury chalet with my husband 13 years ago. We are open all year round and offer everything from the catered ski chalet experience in winter, to self-catered or B+B breaks, to Yoga Retreats to Weddings. We are only 1 hour from Geneva, so it’s easy to combine the two roles and lives!

I love my work-life balance, and have an amazing quality of life in the French Alps. I recommend it!

Mireille B Ltd was created from a gap I could see on the market.

I was a PA for 25 years and for 12 of those years worked for Pfizer, at the time, it was the first pharmaceutical company worldwide. Senior Executives would randomly mention having a property in France.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago, it was time to start something new and Mireille B Ltd was created. We provide a range of services to small businesses.

The first service we offered was managing properties in France on behalf of their British owners. Other services followed.
Today, we manage your calendar, we update your client database, we take care of your property in France and in London. We also offer bookkeeping and translation services.

Our business model is one client per Virtual PA and one Virtual PA per client. It gives both the client and the Virtual Assistant a chance to develop their relationship. Having that one on one relationship makes a difference in developing trust.

We have partnerships: with writers for blogs, web content. To train the client or their Virtual PA in doing social media efficiently using the tools appropriate to the client’s industry.

The requirement for a Virtual PA is defined by the workload rather than the industry. Our typical prospect has gone through the process of doing everything themselves and are ready to delegate certain tasks.

Our aim? making the life of the business owner successful.

Amoretti Weddings is a London based specialist in the provision of event planning services in England and Italy and supplier of fine wedding invitations. We have extensive experience in designing and coordinating events on behalf of our clients.

At Bottled and Boxed we hold years of experience in gift delivery, and stock everything you could possibly need to deliver a gift to a friend or loved one.

Isabelle Manevy Executive Coach

Isabelle Manevy is an Executive Coach: she assists CEOs and Top Performers to overcome their challenges by harnessing the untapped resources of their brain to activate the best version of themselves.

Services include one-to-one coaching and bespoke visualisation workshops, often designed to empower women within financial (and other male-dominated) institutions to overcome unconscious bias and break the glass ceiling.

Methodology and proprietary visualisation techniques

Through 20 years of practice, Isabelle has developed proprietary visualisation techniques that use the creative part of the brain, bypassing the logical side and allowing instant change from negative to positive. She draws on Richard Bandler’s NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) teachings along with Professor Paul Brown’s and Amy Brann’s insights on Neuroscience, particularly the recent discoveries of the brain’s plasticity.

When visualising something positive the mind produces serotonin and dopamine, the “happy” and “reward” brain chemical enabling us to access the best version of ourselves: your Super-Self knows what to do, when to do it and how to do it at all times.

Isabelle’s Coaching services are results-driven, implementing change with actions and behavioural strategies’ awareness solely by accessing resources within the brain.

It is about reconnecting with skills that we already have but mostly use on an unconscious level. With visualisation techniques clients discover how to retrieve, develop and take these skills to the next level –  consciously on purpose and with purpose.

That is what makes Isabelle’s Coaching technique different and unique.

Because every author and every book that is written is unique, so is the service that we provide.  Please contact us at any stage of your writing process and we will put together a package that suits you and your book perfectly.

We will support and guide you through all the stages of your book from initial concept through to publishing both in print and as an ebook.  Our marketing team can then get to work telling the world why they should read your book!

For Non Fiction authors, book sales are important but so is using your book as a platform for public speaking, interviews and media interest.  We help you to make the most of your expertise.

Your book will probably represent many months of late nights, frustration and countless re-writes.  Even the most experienced authors will be unsure about their finished manuscript, which is why the back up of a professional editing/publishing team is so important to give you the proper perspective and encouragement that will give your book the best possible chance of success.

FCM Publishing is the perfect balance when publishing your work.  You remain in creative control, whilst being supported by a publishing house.  We have access to distributors for both print and ebooks, we can also provide a POD service as well as marketing & PR.

During the 1930s, the basement of 16b Jermyn Street – close to Piccadilly in the heart of London’s West End  – was home to the glamorous Monseigneur Restaurant and Club. The space was converted into a theatre by Howard Jameson and Penny Horner in the early 1990s and Jermyn Street Theatre staged its first production in August 1994. The theatre director Neil Marcus became the first Artistic Director in 1995 and secured Lottery funding for the venue; the producer Chris Grady also made a major contribution to the theatre’s development. In the late 1990s, the Artistic Director was David Babani, later the founder and Artistic Director of the Menier Chocolate Factory. In 1995, HRH Princess Michael of Kent became the theatre’s Patron.

Over the last twenty years the theatre has established itself as one of London’s leading Off-West End studio theatres, with hit productions including Barefoot in the Park with Alan Cox and Rachel Pickup, directed by Sally Hughes, and Helping Harry with Adrian Lukis and Simon Dutton, directed by Nickolas Grace. Gene David Kirk, accompanied by Associate Director Anthony Biggs, became Artistic Director in the late 2000s and reshaped the theatre’s creative output with revivals of rarely performed plays including Charles Morgan’s postwar classic The River Line, the UK premiere of Ibsen’s first performed play St John’s Night, and another Ibsen: Little Eyolf starring Imogen Stubbs and Doreen Mantle. Tom Littler staged two acclaimed Stephen Sondheim revivals: Anyone Can Whistle, starring Issy van Randwyck and Rosalie Craig, and Saturday Night, which transferred to the Arts Theatre.