A number of influential women from across the business joined the first Meat Business Women in person event in Coventry since the pandemic today (7 October).

The event started with a networking lunch followed by an interactive networking – helping make new connections and re-connect with existing networks.

Rachel Baldwin, VP HR, attended with a number of Pilgrim’s UK colleagues and said: “It has been a long time since we have been to a Meat Business Women in person event and we are thrilled to be once again be talking to colleagues from across the sector. Events like this is our chance to once again reconnect and meet new figures. Meat Business Women make it possible for us to share, grow and learn from one another. It is also an opportunity to hear from leading figures from the industry as they spread their knowledge.”

Chris Kirke, President of Moy Park, spoke at the event about his plans for the future. With more than 26 years of experience in the food industry, Chris gave an insight into the work he is leading on at Moy Park. The day finished with a working session looking at how we can all attract, develop and retain more female talent to the industry.

Delegates were also put into the hot seat and discussed the future strategy of Meat Business Women. Meat Business Women chair, Laura Ryan, added: “We know our members are ready to get back in the room and re-connect. We developed a programme which gave delegates all the skills they need to re-fresh their networking skills, hear from our key-note speaker, Chris Kirke, and help to shape the future strategy of Meat Business Women.”

Meat Business Women works in partnership with meat businesses to remove the barriers that stop women from reaching their full professional potential. It does this by focusing on five key areas: changing perceptions of the sector; moving inclusion up the agenda; tackling the broken career ladder; strengthening networks and creating visible role models; and gender-proofing working practices and patterns.

To learn more about our work with the Meat Business Women Networking and get involved, contact Rachel Baldwin. To learn more about Meat Business Women, visit their website.