SheChain Live AGENDA

Thursday 1 October 2026 | Winter Gardens, Blackpool

What’s On

No two businesses are the same. Explore the agenda and choose the sessions that matter most to you.

Whether you’re looking to secure your next customer, understand procurement, raise your profile or hear from women and our allies who’ve built global brands, you’ll leave with practical ideas you can put into action.

What challenge are you trying to solve?

One Day or Two? The Choice is Yours.

Day one – SheChain Live

Thursday 1 October | 9:30am to 5:30pm | Winter Gardens Blackpool

Join us for a full day of inspiring speakers, practical workshops, Meet the Buyer sessions, ITV Confidence on Camera, exhibitors and networking.

Perfect for founders, entrepreneurs, business leaders, procurement professionals and anyone looking to grow their business.

Day Two – The EVAS

Friday 2 October | 6pm to late | Winter Gardens Blackpool

Why stop after one day? Your Enterprise Vision Awards ticket includes complimentary access to SheChain Live, giving you two days of opportunity and celebration.

Day One – Learn. Connect. Grow.

Day Two – Celebrate alongside the UK’s most inspiring women in business at the EVAS.

EARLY BIRD Tickets £50 – Book Before 31 July

Fireside Chat with Karen Millen OBE

From £100 to a Global Fashion Brand

How do you build one of Britain’s most recognised fashion brands?

Karen Millen OBE shares the lessons behind building an iconic business, navigating setbacks, reinventing herself and staying relevant in a constantly changing world.

Room: Discovery Stage | Time: 3:15 pm

Featured Sessions

ITV Confidence on Camera

Become the Face of Your Business

Room: TBC | Time: TBC – Various sessions

Visibility changes everything. At SheChain Live, we’re bringing ITV into the room to help you step forward as an expert voice; with confidence, clarity and authority.

Led by Lucy West, Head of ITV News Granada Reports and double BAFTA winner, this will give you real, on-camera experience with one of the UK’s most respected broadcasters.

The media is actively looking for credible experts. Too often, women aren’t the ones being seen or heard. This is your opportunity to change that.

If you have expertise to share and want to raise your profile, this is your space. Build confidence on camera, speak with authority, move from behind the business… to being recognised as the voice of it.

This isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about showing up as you; clearly, confidently and with purpose. Because your voice doesn’t need permission. It needs a platform.

How To Get Over Yourself & Get More Clients

If you’re tired of being the internet’s best kept secret, this session is for you.

Room: TBC | Time: TBC

Algorithms change. AI is everywhere. Yet one thing never goes out of style – people buying from people they know, like and trust.

Elisabeth Carley-Leonard combines straight-talking advice, founder psychology and practical strategy to help you stop hiding behind your business and become the visible, influential founder your brand needs.

You’ll discover:

  • Why other businesses seem to get noticed more than yours
  • How to stand out in an AI-driven world
  • The simple content strategy that builds trust and attracts clients
  • The confidence to stop waiting for the perfect moment and just start

Elisabeth Carley-Leonard is an award-winning founder, bestselling author, and visibility strategist. As the creator of Vibes & Visibility, she helps purpose-led entrepreneurs grow their follower counts and their bank accounts through founder marketing – a strategy that’s 3x more trusted and 22x more memorable. Recognised with the Outrageously Authentic Award and featured in the bestselling book Beyond The Mirror, Elisabeth is known for showing up with unapologetic authenticity and teaching founders how to do the same.

Inside the Buyer’s Mind

Ever wondered why your business wasn’t shortlisted?

Room: Discovery Stage | Time: 10:15 am

This fast-paced Procurement Hotseat puts buyers centre stage.

Hear directly from procurement professionals as they answer the questions every supplier wants to ask but rarely gets the opportunity to.

No jargon.

No corporate script.

Just honest conversations about what buyers really want.

You’ll discover:

  • What makes suppliers stand out
  • Why great businesses still lose opportunities
  • Common mistakes buyers see time and again
  • What helps businesses build long-term supplier relationships

Jaxx Nelson is UK & Ireland Country Manager at WEConnect International, helping women-owned businesses connect with corporate buyers and access global supply chains. With more than 15 years’ experience in business development, partnerships and supplier engagement, she understands what buyers are looking for and how businesses can become procurement-ready. Passionate about creating opportunities for women founders, Jaxx champions practical pathways to contracts, growth and long-term commercial success.

The Buyer Decision Blueprint

Stop selling what you do. Start showing buyers why you’re the right choice.

Room: TBC | Time: TBC

Procurement isn’t just a process. It’s psychology.

Discover how buyers assess risk, evaluate suppliers and make decisions, then learn how to position your business to become the obvious choice.

You’ll discover:

  • The psychology behind buyer decisions

  • Why capability alone isn’t enough

  • How to build trust before price becomes the conversation

  • A practical framework you can apply immediately

Mick Ramsden MCIPS is Founder of The Pro Club and Managing Director of Essential Sourcing. A Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, he has spent his career leading procurement functions across complex supply chains, helping organisations make better buying decisions and reduce commercial risk. Passionate about opening procurement to a wider supplier base, Mick works with businesses to understand how buyers think, strengthen supplier positioning and create more opportunities for innovative SMEs.

Gateway to Growth: Winning Public Sector Contracts

Think public sector contracts are only for big businesses? Think again.

Room: TBC | Time: TBC

Winning government work doesn’t have to be complicated. In this practical session, Kathryn Pearson demystifies public sector procurement, showing you how to build relationships before tenders are published, write stronger bids and compete with confidence.

You’ll discover:

  • Why most contracts are won before the tender is released

  • How to engage buyers early and build credibility

  • Practical bid writing tips that improve your chances of success

  • How SMEs are winning contracts worth millions

Kathryn Pearson is Managing Director of JGP Consultancy, helping SMEs find and win public sector contracts. Through JGP’s hands-on Tender Guide service, she and her team have supported businesses across sectors including healthcare, construction, rail and logistics to secure billions of pounds in public sector contract value. Kathryn is passionate about making procurement accessible and helping smaller businesses compete with confidence.

Supplier Risk & Cyber Resilience

Building Trust, Confidence and Stronger Business Relationships

Room: TBC | Time: TBC

Cyber security is no longer just an IT issue – it’s a business issue.

Every organisation relies on suppliers, partners and third parties to deliver products and services. As supply chains become increasingly connected, understanding supplier chain risk has become an essential part of protecting your business, your reputation and your customers.

  • Would you know if one of your key suppliers was your biggest cyber risk?
  • How do you know who to trust?
  • What are larger organisations now asking of their suppliers?
  • And how can smaller businesses demonstrate they’re a safe and trusted partner?

In this practical, business-focused session, Sue will explore how businesses can better understand and manage supplier chain risk, helping them build stronger relationships, protect their reputation and give customers confidence.

You’ll leave with practical insights and simple actions that can help strengthen your supply chain, support business growth and build trust with customers and partners.

You’ll discover:

  • Why supplier cyber resilience has become a business and commercial advantage
  • What customers and procurement teams are increasingly looking for from their suppliers
  • The key questions every organisation should ask when assessing supplier risk
  • Practical ways to reduce supplier risk without unnecessary complexity
  • How good cyber practices build trust, resilience and stronger business relationships

Susan Johnson is the CEO of Intersect and has over 30 years’ experience in the IT Industry and is helping organisations of all sizes to strengthen their cyber resilience, improve supplier assurance and help leaders make informed decisions that support growth, resilience and trust.

What Problem Are You Really Solving?

People Don’t Build Great Businesses. Great Businesses Build Great People.

Room: TBC | Time: TBC

Struggling to recruit? High staff turnover? Teams under pressure?

Laura Davies challenges business leaders to look beyond the vacancy and uncover the real issue. From leadership and culture to onboarding and capability, she’ll explore why the most successful businesses don’t just attract great people – they create businesses where great people want to stay.

You’ll discover:

  • Why hiring isn’t always the answer
  • What drives people to stay, grow and perform
  • What successful businesses do differently
  • Practical ways to build a business where people thrive

Laura Davies is the Founder and Managing Director of Marshall Harmony, a recruitment business supporting manufacturing and engineering companies to solve problems through people. With 26 years’ experience in recruitment, Laura is known for her honest, people first approach and for challenging the traditional perception of the industry.

She founded Marshall Harmony with her “why” at the heart of the business, naming it after the middle names of her two children. Laura is also the host of the Hire Me… Maybe? podcast, an #SBS Small Business Sunday winner, a best selling author, and a passionate supporter of Women with Metal and Acorns Children’s Hospice.

Panel Talks

From Product to Profit

More customers. More markets. Smarter growth.

Hosted by Maxine Laceby, Co-Founder of Absolute Collagen

Room: Discovery Stage | Time: TBC

Panel announcement coming soon.

You’ve created a fantastic product. But where does the next stage of growth come from?

Whether you’re selling through your own website, at markets and events, on social media or already supplying retailers, every product business reaches a point where it needs to think differently.

How do you reach new customers? Enter new markets? Reduce your reliance on one platform? Scale without losing control?

Join founders who’ve taken very different routes to growth as they share the breakthroughs, setbacks and lessons that shaped their journeys. From retail and wholesale to Amazon, exports and marketplaces, this is an honest conversation about growing a product business in the real world.

Coming Soon

Show Me The Money

Find the right funding. Avoid expensive mistakes.

Hosted by Heather Waters

Room: Discovery Stage | Time: TBC

Panel announcement coming soon.

Not every business needs investment.
Not every investor is right.
Not every loan is a good idea.
 
Learn how successful founders financed growth, managed cash flow and made the decisions that shaped their businesses.
Whether you’re bootstrapping, scaling, raising investment or simply planning your next move, understanding your finance options could save you years of frustration and thousands of pounds.
 
Hear honest stories from founders who’ve crowdfunded, secured investment, self-funded growth and navigated the highs and lows of financing a business.

You’ll discover:

  • Which funding options suit different stages of growth
  • What investors, lenders and funders are really looking for
  • The mistakes founders wish they’d avoided
  • How to prepare before you need funding
  • When saying “no” to investment might be the right decision

Coming Soon

The Exchange

One Conversation Could Change Everything.

The Exchange gives you the opportunity to book one-to-one conversations with experienced business leaders, specialists and industry experts throughout the day.

Our experts will be announced soon, with advance booking opening before the event.

Whether you’re looking for fresh ideas, honest advice or practical solutions to a specific challenge, these focused sessions are designed to help you move your business forward.

You might want to talk about:

Business growth

Procurement and supply chains

Funding and investment

Marketing and visibility

Recruitment and leadership

Cyber security

Retail and routes to market

PR and media

Strategy and scaling

Doors Open 9:30am

Welcome to a room full of opportunity. Collect your badge, grab a coffee and start the conversations that could lead to your next customer, collaboration or breakthrough.

Close 4pm

The Best Conversations Often Happen After the Final Session

At 4pm we’ll wrap up the day’s learning.

VIP Reception 4:30pm

Our VIP guests, speakers, partners and buyers will stay on for relaxed networking over drinks.

No presentations. No microphones. Just conversations that continue long after the final session.

Who Should Attend?

SheChain Live is designed for ambitious businesses at every stage.

Whether you’re just starting out or leading a multi-million-pound company, there is something here for you.

You’ll be joining:

  • Female founders
  • Business owners
  • Procurement professionals
  • Buyers
  • Retailers
  • Investors
  • Industry experts
  • Professional advisers
  • Corporate partners
  • Male allies

What You’ll Leave With

✓ New ideas ✓ Better contacts ✓ Buyer insight ✓ Confidence ✓ Funding advice ✓ Growth strategies ✓ Practical actions

Ready to Join Us?

Attend SheChain Live

A full day of learning, connections and opportunity.

Attend The Full EVAS Experience

Two incredible days. One unforgettable experience.

Stay for the Celebration

On Friday evening we come together for the Enterprise Vision Awards, celebrating the women changing industries, challenging stereotypes and driving business forward across the UK.

If you’re attending the EVAS, remember your ticket already includes complimentary access to SheChain Live.

Because success deserves to be celebrated and opportunity shouldn’t end when the applause starts.

For Buyers, Partners and Corporates

If you’re serious about supplier diversity, innovation and growth: This is where you find it.

We are bringing together a pipeline of credible, ambitious women-led businesses across sectors, ready to engage, pitch and deliver.

Not databases. Not directories.

Real businesses. In the room. Ready to talk.

Who Should Attend?

Wherever You Are…

Starting | Growing | Scaling | Buying

If you’re serious about driving business to women, this is where that commitment becomes action.

Not ready yet? Come anyway

Nobody ever feels completely ready. Come anyway. You’ll leave with

  • What buyers are actually looking for
  • How procurement works
  • What “ready” really means
  • How to position your business for opportunity

Clarity first. Then contracts.

Where To Stay

Many of our attendees will be joining us the next day for the 2026 Enterprise Vision Awards ceremony on Friday 2 October at the Empress Ballroom in the Winter Gardens. If you are looking to stay over, visit our Accommodation Partners and secure the preferential rates.