Inspiring women take centre stage at LBF 2021 launch event

On Monday 8 November, the Leicester Business Festival will get underway at Ninja Warrior Leicester. As well as hearing about the Festival and all the amazing events that are coming up over Festival Fortnight, attendees will get to hear from three incredibly inspirational women from the world of business and beyond.

Kate Walker is the founder of ExpHand Prosthetics which makes life-changing 3D printed prosthetics for children, that grow with them. A product design engineer by trade, she started her company during her time at university and has since gone on to receive multiple awards and international praise for her developments in the field of prosthetics.

Kate was inspired to make a positive impact on children’s lives after seeing the lack of suitable prosthetics for children in the UK. She set out to design a new child-oriented product that was suitable for the global market using 3D printing technology.

Laura Sugar is a gold medal winning British Paralympian. After beginning her sporting career in hockey, she transitioned to athletics, and in 2016 she won her first elite-level medals at the IPC European Championships in Grosseto.

In 2019 she switched sports again, taking up paracanoe. It is on the water that she has achieved her biggest successes, winning gold at the Tokyo Paralympics and another gold at this year’s World Championships in Copenhagen.

Penny Coates is Independent Chair of the East Midlands Freeport Board. The Freeport, created in 2020, is one of only eight in the UK and the only one that is based inland. Centred around East Midlands Airport, the Freeport is set to create tens of thousands of jobs in the East Midlands and beyond. Taking advantage of Leicestershire’s unique position at the heart of the UK, the Freeport is ideally located to help grow our local economy exponentially.

Penny won the Leicestershire Live Women in Business Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021. She truly is a trailblazer, and has a wealth of both local and national business expertise. Her talk at the LBF 2021 launch event will focus on the amazing opportunities for businesses that the new Freeport will create, and how you can get involved.

Helen Donnellan is Director of Enterprise and Business Services for De Montfort University. She is a senior leader with over 20 years' extensive UK and EMEA experience across the public and private sectors. A true leader, Helen has a wealth expertise in building brands, marketing strategy and stakeholder engagement

Also in attendance, will be Leicester's City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, who will speak on the incredible impact the Festival has had and continues to have on our local economy.

Limited tickets are still available for the LBF 2021 launch event. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to hear from Kate, Laura and Penny, whose incredible journeys and knowledge are sure to inspire you and your business. Book now!