The Cloud Hotel, Meerut Road, Brockenhurst, Hampshire, SO42 7TD

T:(01590) 622165 F:(01590) 622818

Recommended reading: The new book by Avril Owton

Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World newsletter

Avril Owton founded the Wessex Womens Network in 2002 for women in the New Forest area to get together, share ideas, network and to have fun. Attendees vary from business owners to women looking for ideas to start businesses, with no real criteria for membership. Avril herself has become a regular fixture on the speaker circuit, having given presentations to a wide audience, and in 2005 was flown to Iceland to give a talk on her experiences with business. The event was a huge success and was covered by the Icelandic news.

The meetings are held monthly alternating between lunch time and evenings. There is no membership fee and the events are priced individually depending on location and other factors.

Occasionally speakers will attend, presenting their personal thoughts and experiences to the Wessex Womens Network. Past speakers include Corinne Bible (handwriting analysis), Rikki Arundel (FPSA, FIPS, MCIM, ALAM), Louisa Nunn (Purveyor of Passion), Ros Taylor (MA, MPhil, CPsychol), Sally Taylor (TV presenter) and Bob Champion MBE(1981 Grand National Winner), however, the most successful evenings have been with the members themselves presenting their businesses and networking.

Please click here for more details on our past speakers

Past Speakers

CORINNE BIBLE, Handwriting Analysis

Corinne Bible of CB Handwriting Analysis in Chandlers Ford is a member of the Expert Witness Institute and has trained as a Single Joint Expert and has worked over a number of years for numerous solicitors, corporate and private clients from all over the country to solve disputed handwriting and signature cases.

Find out more about Corinne Bible

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LOUISA NUNN, Purveyor of Passion

Louisa Nunn was keynote speaker at one of the Wessex Women's Network events held at The Cloud Hotel. Whether looking for love or seeking customers, Louisa spoke about how to attract the right people and make them want to talk back, whether for business or pleasure.

I was born on October 14th 1960 to a single parent family in Nunhead south east London. I left school at 16 to work in Peckham social security office, studied for A levels part-time, then left my job to read psychology at undergraduate level. Later I completed an MBA in Marketing and Diploma in Market Research at Cass Business School London, after which I set up my first business. In the last 20 years I have successfully launched businesses, products, and services for some of the worlds’ largest (and smallest) organisations. I have also started and sold a very diverse range of enterprises, all of which are still trading. I have lectured in corporate strategy and marketing at many universities and am also a practitioner in neurolinguistic programming. I act as a consultant to SME's, blue chip organisations and government departments. In my spare time I am completing a doctorate (DBA) in passion. - Louisa Nunn in her own words taken from her profile on ecademy.

To find out more about Louisa Nunn, please follow this link

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BOB CHAMPION MBE, Grand National Winner 1981

Bob's racing career took him to America where he rode several winners. In 1979 he was diagnosed to have cancer and was given six months to live. After several months of chemotherapy he returned to race riding, coming back with several winners both in America and England.

In 1981 Bob won the Grand National on Aldaniti, trained by Josh Gifford. He finally retired from racing in 1983 have won some 500 races. Other major races that Bob won during his career were The Tote Eider Chase, The Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup, The Black & White Hurdle, The SGB Hurdle, and The Whitbread Trial Chase.

In 1983 he received an MBE and also formed the Bob Champion Cancer Trust which to date has raised ten million pounds towards cancer research.

In 1986 Bob undertook "Ride For Life" which was a ride on several horses from Hollyrood Palace in Edinburgh to Buckingham Palace, London where he was greated by Her Majesty The Queen. This was to raise a million pounds towards a new research unit at The Royal Marsden Hospital. This sum has now been achieved, and The Institute of Cancer have also donated a further million pounds towards this project. The new Research Unit opened in September 2000.

The Cancer Trust also raises money in various other ways, with a bi-annual Ball at The Dorchester in London, an annual Christmas Fair, Christmas Cards, Sponsered Rides, and individuals throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland arrange many other events.

Bob retired from training racehorses in 1999, having achieved many winners, and continues to live in Newmarket, Suffolk. In April 2000 Bob commenced a pilot scheme with the Northern Racing College to encourage school leavers to have a career as stable staff and apprentice jockeys.

To visit the Bob Champion Cancer Trust website, please click here.

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RIKKI ARUNDEL FSPA, FIPS, MCIM, ALAM - Transgender

Helping women and men to understand each other

Rikki Arundel is a truly unique International Keynote Speaker; she is openly and proudly transgender. An expert in sales and marketing communications with an impressive record as a successful businessman, Rikki stunned the speaking industry in 2002 by changing gender. Little did anyone realise the incredibly positive impact this would have on herself, her fellow professional speakers around the world and her clients.

"Here was a woman who used to be a man speaking to me about courage and change. Her message was powerful and her delivery was polished, professional and pertinent. Rikki is an experienced speaker. She is both funny and dramatic without being melodramatic. Her message about change is wonderful and her performance that day touched me and inspired me." - Doug Stevenson - Speaker, Trainer, Author and Coach.

"When I 'met' Rikki I was blown away. It wasn't so much the dramatic change from Richard to Rikki... I was amazed at how she simply sparkled as a human being." - Nancy Vogl, Universal Speakers Bureau.

We talk glibly about a man's world and a woman's world, but to actually experience the difference is truly inspiring. Changing gender has given Rikki an insight into communications that could not possibly be gained from living just as one gender, and allowing herself to be truly open and vulnerable has enabled her to connect with audiences in a way she could never achieve in the past.

With more and more women as consumers, buyers, marketeers, sales people and managers, a new approach to business is emerging. As a result of this huge global Gendershift everyone needs to more clearly understand gender differences in communications and adapt their sales marketing and management strategies to suit.

Find out more about Rikki Arundel

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ROS TAYLOR MA, MPhil, CPsychol - leading UK psychologist

Ros Taylor is a leading UK Psychologist, a successful businesswoman and an accomplished author, TV and radio presenter. She travels the world developing the potential of senior executives through the Transformation Programme which she helped to create.

A creative academic, she is a clinical psychologist and managing director of Eoros Development Consultants, a firm which works with blue chip companies to help managers become more motivational when dealing with their staff. She is also in demand on the conference circuit and has recently presented in the USA, China and Japan.

Business experience has included development work with Mobil North Sea, Solectron, Natwest Bank, Mckinsey and SCI Europe. She broadcasts regularly on Radio and has presented a Social Science research programme "Between Ourselves" for BBC Radio Scotland for two years. She was a presenter for five years on a nightly television news programme and was one of the three key therepists in "Confidence Lab" for BBC Two, a six part documentary which was broadcast in January 2001.

It was Plus Consulting's Transformation Programme which provided the basis for Confidence Lab and her book Transform Yourself! The book of the programme is called Confidence in Just Seven Days (Vermillion 2001) and topped Amazon's bestseller list. Fast Track to the Top, a book about success and how to achieve it, was published by Kogan Page in November 2001. She also took part in BBC1 series All the Rage which reviewed theories of anger and gave her an angry person to change in a day.

Find out more about Ros Taylor

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SALLY TAYLOR - TV presenter

Sally works closely with the Hampshire Learning and Skills Council and Business Link in promoting local businesses across the South.

She was nominated for Best Regional Presenter at the National Radio and Television Awards, and most recently has been nominated for the BBC Ruby Awards.

More about Sally Taylor

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"Delighting your Customers" written by Avril Owton

In 2006 Avril was commissioned to write a book entitled "Delighting your customers". By delving into her vast experience as a successful hotelier, Avril had a wealth of information to tap into and earlier this year handed over the final version which has now gone to print.

Delighting your Customers is now available to buy via the Publisher's website, Amazon and Waterstones. Please click on your favoured supplier underlined.

"Your relationship with your customers is probably one of the most important you'll ever have. No business can survive without them, but reaching customers in the first place is a big challenge for small companies. This book offers invaluable advice on: Understanding your customers; Asking for feedback… and learning from it; Creating a customer service strategy; Hiring the right people; Setting up and implementing complaint processes; Adding a personal touch; Being creative…But making sure you can deliver; Learning from your competitors."

'a great little package' The Bookseller  ---   paragraph from acblack.com website

Please contact Wessex Women via The Cloud Hotel. Telephone (01590) 622165, email: enquiries@cloudhotel.co.uk