Shoosmiths partners address businesswomen at inaugural FoundHER festival in Manchester

Two partners from the Manchester office of law firm Shoosmiths joined other female professionals and entrepreneurs this week at the inaugural FoundHER festival.

Taking place across Manchester and London, FoundHER featured a number of prominent women from the world of business, including retail mogul Cath Kidston MBE, Lastminute.com’s Martha Lane Fox and businesswoman Samantha Cameron.

During the event’s Manchester session Laura Harper, head of Shoosmiths’ intellectual property and creative industries team, and Karen Procter, head of the firm’s Manchester-based corporate team, discussed legal essentials for startups before an audience of over 50 female entrepreneurs.

Topics covered included choosing the right business structure, key considerations when obtaining initial external investment, commercial contracts, employment law and intellectual property protection.

The duo were joined in the panel discussion, held at Manchester Town Hall, by Amy Chandler and Chloe Pugh of law firm Pannone Corporate and entrepreneur Jane Hallam, who drew on her experiences setting up lingerie business Esteem.

FoundHER launched in London in June and is the brainchild of AllBright, a funding and support platform for businesses led by women.

AllBright said that Lou Cordwell, chief exec of Manchester agency Magnetic North, was instrumental in bringing FoundHER to the city.

Lou was appointed as AllBright’s director of the North earlier this year.

Shoosmiths’ Laura Harper commented: “As women working in senior positions for a diverse and inclusive law firm, we are keen to support innovative initiatives like FoundHER which promote female entrepreneurship in the North West region and beyond.

“Having access to the right legal information is key to setting up a business, protecting your Intellectual Property and raising finance when the time is right, and it has been great to use our expertise in this area at this event to guide and support female-led businesses.”

She added: “We are proud to be part of innovative new events like this, which seek to empower women and give them the information that they need to grow and develop their businesses.”

Shoosmiths’ Karen Procter said: “We are keen to cut through the legal jargon and help innovative and ambitious women obtain access to clear and relevant legal advice and information that will enable them to get their businesses off the ground or to springboard to the next level.

“We hope that by supporting AllBright and in particular the AllBright Academy we can help achieve this in Manchester.”

AllBright was co-founded in October last year by Debbie Wosskow OBE, CEO and founder of holiday company Love Home Swap, and Anna Jones, former CEO of media firm Hearst UK.