Speakers under the four pillars of Networking, Information, Money and Self-belief  also revealed for the event, which will take place on Wednesday 2nd April 2025 at Blackburne House.

Carpenters Group, a leading provider of insurance and legal services in the UK, with sites in Liverpool, Birkenhead, Leeds, Haywards Heath, Manchester and Glasgow, is supporting the first ever “Do Business Better Conference” as headline sponsor.

The “Do Business Better Conference 2025” is a new venture presented by Ellen Kerr, founding director of the Merseyside Women of the Year Awards. The conference aims to provide practical guidance with substance, value and purpose, on how anyone can do life and business better by addressing four essential pillars for success:

NETWORK, INFORMATION, MONEY AND SELF-BELIEF

The conference will take place on Wednesday 2nd April 2025
at Blackburne House, starting at 9:30am,
with registration, networking and a chance to browse marketplace stalls, including organisations such as The Venus Centre, River Capital, LCR Finance, Honey & Morgan, The Girls’ Network and LCR Growth Platform.

The morning session will open with an introduction from Ellen, covering the four pillars for success and how they make a difference for business, followed by a discussion on online and offline NETWORKING, between Ellen and LinkedIn expert, Helen Tudor.

This will be followed by a panel discussion, “Why better leadership improves business growth”, chaired by Dr Eliza Morgan, from conference partners, Honey & Morgan. The panel will feature Donna Scully, joint owner/director at Carpenters Group, David Wafer, from the Institute of Directors & McIver Scott Recruitment, Elaine Bowker, Principal & Chief Executive at The City of Liverpool College and Emily McCrystal, Youth Power Co-ordinator at Restless Development.

The ‘INFORMATION’ pillar of the conference, sponsored by The City of Liverpool College, will cover marketing and communications, business development and AI for business growth, with a session on “boosting your business with AI” delivered by Alex Keyter, from Generative Minds.

The afternoon will comprise a session focused on the ‘MONEY’ pillar, sponsored by FPC, which will explore personal finance, business finance and finance for good, looking at the specific challenges and opportunities in financing charitable and community organisations.

Speakers will include Moira O’Shaughnessy, managing partner from FPC, Sue Chambers from River Capital, Angie Staunton from Vanguard Asset Management Ltd, and Sue Potts, CEO of The Venus Centre.

The final pillar of the day will be ‘SELF BELIEF’, with an exciting lineup of presentations including Debbie Edwards, who will deliver “The Audacity to be YOU: The Power of Inner Language & How the Words You Speak Shape Your Life”; there will be a talk on Self-care for Business from Claire Morton and Shirleyann Haig will deliver a session on “Money Mindset & Passive Income: Unlocking Your Wealth Potential”.

The event will close with Dr Eliza Morgan bringing delegates, sponsors and speakers together to reflect on the day and identify key take-homes and actionable steps, before Ellen shares her final thoughts on Doing Business Better in the Liverpool City Region.

Speaking of Carpenters Group’s headline sponsorship of the event, joint owner/director Donna Scully said: “Carpenters Group is delighted to support this worthwhile event. It was a great honour to be named Merseyside Woman of the Year, and it fills the entire Carpenters Group team with pride to support what promises to be a fantastic event from Ellen Kerr and the MWOTY team.”

Ellen added: “When it comes to success in business, your network is your net worth, and the four pillars reflect my observations over years of working with hundreds of business owners. When one of the four foundation pillars is missing it reflects both in their business and themselves and can hold them back from taking their next bold move.

“Our fantastic speakers are drawn directly from our great city region’s business network, showcasing expertise and longevity, as well as innovation and next generation leaders.

“It is also wonderful to have the support of Carpenters Group as our headline sponsor, whose firm’s joint owner and director, Donna Scully, is a force to be reckoned with, and advocate for economic mobility and an inspiration for people at all stages of their professional journeys, whether they are just starting out or more established.

Our pillar sponsors, FPC and The City of Liverpool College, and event partners Honey & Morgan, also bring a wealth of connections and mastery that I know will bring so much experience and value to the event for delegates.”

Lunch, refreshments, lots of opportunities for networking and chances to browse the conference marketplace will also be available throughout the day.

For full event schedule, with some speaker announcements still to come,
visit: https://merseysidewomenoftheyear.co.uk/do-business-better/

Tickets are £75 inc. VAT (plus booking fee) and numbers are limited.
To purchase yours today click here or to enquire about sponsorship opportunities, contact Ellie Kerr on [email protected]

 

Insurance Business UK conducted a far-reaching analysis of the insurance industry and is proud to recognize Donna Scully as one of the standout performers and celebrate their exemplary professional abilities and expertise.

Chris Sweeney, Managing Editor for Special Reports at Insurance Business UK shared his insights on the selection process, stating, “Our experienced judging panel did an excellent job selecting the list of worthy winners. Donna Scully was recognised for her ability to deliver for clients and for her proactive mindset. She also stood out for making a positive impact across the industry as a whole.”

Insurance Business UK’s 30+ strong Intelligence Unit compiled the final winners list after the completion of a rigorous process, canvassing the opinions of objective industry experts and collating leading-edge research. In addition, further insight was provided by IBUK’s esteemed judging panel. The prestigious list of honourees was then matched with the Elite Women’s precise criteria.

Donna Scully receives this honor with pleasure and is ‘delighted and humbled’ to be included among the insurance industry’s top performers.

This award is testament to the professionalism and commitment Donna Scully brings to the industry and additionally showcases their desire to maintain their first-rate standards.

For further information, please contact:

Lynda Thwaite, Comms Director
Carpenters Group
07833 169468

[email protected]

Carpenters Group | Carpenters Group

 

About Donna Scully:

Donna Scully is a Joint Owner/Director at Carpenters Group, a leading UK provider of insurance and legal services.

A global leader in the insurance world, based in Liverpool for over 25 years with a proud Irish heritage, Donna is a lawyer, experienced public speaker and podcaster who also works closely with the Ministry of Justice in relation to motor claims and civil justice reform.

Carpenters’ employ 1500 people across seven UK locations and work in partnership with insurers, brokers & MGAs to deliver a variety of outsourced claims.

Donna is renowned for her thought leadership on insurance industry fraud, reform and other matters that impact the insurance and legal market.

Donna received the Outstanding Achievement award at the 2014 Personal Injury Awards for her work in setting up AskCUEPI & in September 2018, she jointly won the Insurance Post Magazine’s Social Media Influencer Award.

Donna was awarded the Outstanding Achievement of the Year Award 2023 at the Modern Claims Awards and was named on the Insurance Business UK’s ‘Elite Women’ List 2024.

Beyond her work in the insurance and legal sector, Donna is passionate about social impact and dedicates her time and resources to helping a plethora of causes. A huge advocate and supporter for those in society that need extra care, Donna runs a homeless breakfast club every Sunday which she personally attends and provides food for. She is an Ambassador for Fans Supporting Foodbanks and mentors for the Girls Network and the Insurance Breakfast Club. She sponsors many grassroots organisations that support social mobility, homelessness and mental health.

Awarded the ‘Outstanding Charity Support’ Award 2021 at the Liverpool Echo Regional Business Awards for her charity work during the pandemic. Carpenters Group won the ‘Outstanding CSR Award’ at the YM Liverpool Property & Business Awards in 2022. Donna also won the ‘Metro Choice Award for Social Impact’ at the Employer’s Excellence Awards 2024.

Most recently, Donna received the Merseyside Woman of the Year 2024 and Business Leader awards for her outstanding work.

Donna is on the editorial Board of Modern Insurance Magazine & Chairs the Insurance Times Fraud Charter Group. She has twin men and lives in Merseyside.

About 2025 IBUK Elite Women:

Insurance Business UK invited insurance professionals from across the region to nominate exceptional female leaders for the seventh Elite Women list. Nominators were asked to provide details of their nominee’s achievements and initiatives over the past 12 months, including specific examples of their professional accomplishments and contributions to the industry.

To select the winners, the IBUK team relied on the help of an independent and esteemed panel of judges that included:

Amanda Scott, Willis Towers Watson

Leon Walker, Aon

Nicola Maguire, British Insurance Brokers’ Association

Paolo Cuomo, Insurance Women’s Inclusivity Network

Karen Ko, Marsh

The judges and the IBUK team reviewed all nominations, examining how each individual had made a meaningful contribution to the industry, to whittle down the list to the final 75 Elite Women. To avoid conflicts of interest, self-voting and voting for relatives were prohibited.

West Kirby-based business finance specialist, Bathgate Business Finance, has secured a £500k deal to support the growth of St Helens based start-up, Simply Recruitment Group Ltd.

Bathgate was introduced to the firm by its bank to help source a critical working capital facility to fund the firm’s significant growth to a projected £5 million turnover in its first 12 months.

Simply Recruitment Group Ltd was established by sole director, Paul Oakes, who operates a group of existing businesses, including an electrical engineering solutions company. Paul identified an opportunity to establish a recruitment company alongside other parties experienced in this sector and others, including hospitality, engineering and construction.

Bathgate Business Finance BDM, Paul Trickett, said: “When we were introduced to the client he was self-funding initial sales running at £40k per week, so speed was of the essence to meet the working capital requirements that were critical to growth.”

After reviewing the business and gaining an understanding of Simply Recruitment Group Ltd’s future plans, Bathgate introduced the firm to a number of potential funders.

Zodeq, a specialist in the recruitment sector, was selected and the £500k facility with credit protection was approved and paid out within six days of the initial introduction.

As part of the deal, the funder also agreed to increase the overall limit to accommodate the increase in sales forecast in the next 12 months, providing flexibility to the client as the business grows.

Paul Cooney, Managing Director at Zodeq, said: “We are delighted to be working with Paul and the wider team at Simply Recruitment as a local Agency located in the North West. As a Specialist Recruitment Sector Invoice Finance business the opportunity to support Simply was right in our sweet spot and we are delighted to commence our Facility with the initial limit to support the business which has since been increased to provide strong headroom for them in the future.

“Our thanks go to Paul Trickett and the Bathgate team for their usual high knowledge of ensuring their clients are matched with the right funding partner which is the case here. We look forward to a long relationship with this fantastic group of businesses.”

Paul Oakes, Director at Simply Recruitment Group Ltd, said: “At the point we started looking for funding, speed and an understanding of the potential of our business was vital. Bathgate Business Finance and Zodeq grasped this quickly and worked closely with us to find a solution that could meet our time constraints and support our projected growth. We now have a facility that will support our current working capital needs and grow with the business.”

The deal is a further demonstration of Bathgate’s award-winning support for SMEs and its commitment to service excellence. In September 2023, it was named winner in two categories at the prestigious NACFB Commercial Broker Awards 2023 – the SME Champion and Service Excellence award – and in October 2023 won Professional Services Business of the Year at the Merseyside Independent Business Awards (MIBS).

For more information about Bathgate Business Finance or to find out more about its asset finance and own-book lending visit:
bathgatebf.co.uk,
call Paul Trickett on 07469 140 180 or
email [email protected]

 

L-r: Paul Cooney (Zodeq) Laura Grace (Simply Recruitment) and Paul Tickett (Bathgate BF)
Photograph by: Andrew AB Photography

bathgatebf.co.ukor call 0151 625 732

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