Farida Gibbs, Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE and Shazia Saleem

Over 80 aspiring and successful businesswomen attended a special Mosaic Women’s Entrepreneur and Business Network event last night, hosted by Ernst & Young, London.

The event’s keynote speakers included three inspirational and highly successful businesswomen including Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE, Chief Executive of the Mitie Group plc and the first Asian woman to be appointed to the position of Chief Executive in the FTSE 250. She was joined by Farida Gibbs, CEO of GibbsS3, a globally certified woman-owned business enterprise; and Shazia Saleem, founder of ieatfoods, the first British ready meals brand to offer halal dishes such as pasta, pies and pizza prepared in accordance with Islamic law.

The event formed part of Mosaic’s celebrations around International Women’s Day (IWD) which was held globally on Sunday 8 March, for which the 2015 theme was #MakeItHappen.

The audience, composed of professional women and young people from a wide variety of business sectors all at different stages in their careers, were treated to valuable insights from the speakers who each presented personal insight into how individuals can ‘make it happen’ in business or their chosen career paths.

The event, which offered a Q&A session as well as networking, also saw the three speakers reflecting on what practical advice they would have given themselves 10-20 years ago.

Farida Gibbs, a Mosaic Board Member, who welcomed guests for the evening as well as speaking about her own achievements, said: “It was wonderful to see such a healthy turnout for this event and to try to encourage women, many of whom are just embarking on their business journey, to take all the opportunities open to them and make it happen. There were some great questions from the audience and it’s clear that there is a wealth of business talent out there. By arranging events like this, Mosaic seeks to bring together exceptional women in our target communities who have achieved significant success by creating their own business or achieved business success in key leadership and decision-making roles.”

Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE, also a Mosaic Ambassador, commented: “This was a first class event and I enjoyed having the opportunity to share the many aspects of my journey as a woman in business, relaying how I overcame the challenges and achieved my goals. The event also comes hot on the heels of International Women’s Day and to amplify this through the work of Mosaic is hugely positive. It is imperative to boost the aspirations, confidence, ability and long-term employability of women across the UK and I’m happy to play a part in helping to meet these objectives.”

Shazia Saleem said: “It was a great privilege to be part of such a high profile, inspiring event. I hope that, by simply sharing some of my experiences as a woman in business, I’ve been able to mirror the work that Mosaic does with its target communities and provide useful guidance to those women who were in the audience who are perhaps still starting out and those who are considering going into business.”