This week marks the anniversary of The Women’s Organisation moving into our building at 54 St James Street. So we’ve put together a blog post to celebrate four years of incredible women and businesses at 54 St James Street

The First Training

The first group of women who came to our new premises attended a talk on Marketing and Communication which was delivered by an Enterprise Enabler.

The first client to ever walk through the door of our new building was Steph Kilshaw of The Pink Plasterer, she said;

‘In this economic client I am amazed and think The Women’s Organisation have done so well to have this building. I have found since working with The Women’s Organisation that their events and training have been invaluable for making business contacts and finding clients.’

And Sally Garner of One 2 One Counselling and Life Coaching said;

‘I think the new building is really lovely. Coming to visit right at the beginning you feel like you are part of it which is great. It’s so nice, light, airy and accessible, and seeing the success of this really inspires you that you can be successful in your business too.’

The Longest Running Tenant

54 St James Street is full of fantastic women led businesses and has been for 4 years. Our longest running tenant is Jo Copoc from Boomerang Business Solutions, who has been with us since April 2011, and is still with us now. She is currently in the process of expanding and will be moving into a larger office inside the building in March this year.

Boomerang was born from an idea whilst relaxing on holiday, and her previous sales and management experience gave her an insight into the gap within the market place, training, talent source and telemarketing based on business returns.

Jo was featured as our ‘Tenant of the Week’ back in May 2013 and gave her advice to aspiring business women;

‘The secret of a successful business is in the people, recruiting the right staff then supporting, training and coaching them to get the business results, whilst encouraging individual people growth, means everyone achieves more.’

‘Motivating and inspiring others to achieve their goals means businesses can and will grow. Don’t quit. There is no telling how far you have to go, run while chasing your dreams.’

The Women Behind It All

There are so many women who have been instrumental in building The Women’s Organisation into what it is today and campaigned tirelessly to see the building project of 45 St James Street (then known as WICED) come about.

One of them is Rita Bebbington, who was a board member here at The Women’s Organisation before she sadly passed away in 2010.

Rita played an instrumental role, not only as a board member but also by dedicating a great deal of time, energy and passion on a voluntary basis. She devoted much of her working career to women’s economic and social inclusion and was an active campaigner on equal pay for women and low pay issues, forging a distinguished career within the Transport and General Workers Union.

Rita was very proud of the many achievements made by The Women’s Organisation in raising the profile of women entrepreneurs and in changing the lives of the many thousands of women that the organisation has supported, encouraged and inspired. Her memory lives on in all of us as we strive to live up to her goal to change and improve the economic position of women.

As well as Rita, we currently and have had years, a fantastic team of men and women who are dedicated to achieving our mission of reaching out to all women, and for all women, to enhance their role in their own lives, in their local communities, in business and in the wider world.

THE FUTURE

The Women’s Organisation is thrilled to have a physical presence within Liverpool City Centre that can be an inspiration to women and a reminder of what women can achieve if they put their minds to it.

The future is looking exciting for The Women’s Organisation and 54 St James Street, with the Baltic Triangle community constantly growing larger and more diverse. We are dedicated to being a part of that community and have opportunities for business, male or female led through the services that we offer here at 54 St James Street.

Check out our website for full details on all our services and support or email us on venue@thewo.org.uk