Leadership series

Throughout 2022, our university is set to host a series of interactive interviews with prominent figures from within the Leicester community. This programme of events, hosted by senior members of the university’s management team, will explore how strong institutions are built through effective leadership. From the Covid-19 vaccine rollout to the shutdown and reopening of the arts, the university will shine a light on the matters facing Leicester and the wider country today.

This new series for 2022 will feature speakers spread over the year. As the only higher education institution in Britain to be a global hub for the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals initiative, we are committed to further developing our city through wider engagement in public debates.

This page will be routinely updated with the latest updates on speakers, plus the broadcasts of previous events.

Leading a business in a pandemic with Eileen Richards MBE

Location: tbc
Date: tbc
Time: tbc

Covid-19 has made the past two years particularly testing for many business owners across the country. Lockdowns, combined with post-Brexit legislation changes, supply chain issues, staff shortages and the government’s furlough scheme have presented new challenges for industries to overcome.

Eileen Richards MBE DL is one such entrepreneur who, perhaps more than most, understands the challenges that Leicester businesses have faced during the pandemic. Her award-winning recruitment company, E R Recruitment Ltd, has established partnerships with some of the region’s largest employers and this puts Eileen in a position of understanding the needs of businesses and employees during a turbulent time.

As a business owner, Eileen has had to ensure her company is running as efficiently as possible from home. Client expectations, her staff’s physical and mental well-being and business essentials have all had to be managed amidst a backdrop of recessions and economic uncertainty.

The series is part of our commitment to further engage with the city through wider public debates. As the only higher education institution in Britain to be named as a global hub for the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals initiative, we feel it is imperative to host meaningful conversations that will benefit the community as a whole.

Professor Heather McLaughlin Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research and Academic Staff Development and Dean of Business and Law, will host the evening with Eileen Richards and explore the qualities needed to successfully lead a business through a pandemic.

This event will be open to the general public and delivered in front of an audience, as well as live-streamed on the university’s YouTube page.

There will be an opportunity for the audience members attending, both physically and virtually, to ask Eileen questions after her initial conversation with Professor McLaughlin.

Proposed schedule:

Chair to deliver a short introduction
30 minutes of conversation between the chair and the speaker
25 minutes audience questions
Post-event drinks reception at the in-person events

Eileen Richards MBE

With more than 25-years of experience in the recruitment industry, and having worked across multiple disciplines in the city, Eileen Richards is a household name with local businesses in Leicester.

She is the founder and director of the award-winning Eileen Richards Recruitment LTD, and co-creator of the East Midlands Chamber’s Enterprising Women network, which marks its 25^th anniversary in 2022. Her commitment to championing local industry and retaining talent within Leicester saw Eileen inducted as the new president of the East Midlands Business Chamber for 2020-21.

Eileen is no stranger to 黑料网 and is a passionate supporter of our Leicester Future Leaders and BrightER Future initiatives. She became a Pro-Chancellor here at 黑料网 in 2021 and works with our Careers Team, to create new work experience opportunities for our students in Leicester.

In 2019, Eileen received her MBE for services to female entrepreneurship. She has also won the Niche Business Woman of the year award and the Leicester Mercury Business Woman of the Year.

Away from the world of recruitment, Eileen is a Trustee for Leicestershire & Rutland charity Hope Against Cancer and is a Committee Member for Wooden Spoon, which funds life-changing projects to support children and young people with disabilities or living in disadvantaged households.

Leading as Shadow Secretary of State for Health in a pandemic with Jonathan Ashworth

Location: tbc
Date: tbc
Time: tbc

Continuing our series, Vice-Chancellor Professor Katie Normington sits down with the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester South, Jonathan Ashworth, to discuss the challenges both he and his constituency have faced during Covid-19. For a large majority of the pandemic Jonathan Ashworth served as the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, advising the Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer on national data and holding the Government to account.

Leicester was the first city in the UK to have an enforced regional lockdown and Jonathan Ashworth’s entire Constituency fell within the affected area. Working with the City Council and local agencies he had to ask for additional support for the City and its businesses and represent the views and concerns of his constituents during an unprecedented time.

In this 60-minute interactive conversation, our Vice-Chancellor will explore what qualities are required to juggle the needs of the nation alongside the needs of your constituents. It will also delve into some of the pressures and successes Jonathan Ashworth has enjoyed while serving the people of Leicester South for more than a decade.

As the only higher education institution in Britain to be a global hub for the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals initiative, we are committed to further developing our city through wider engagement in public debates.

This event will be open to the general public and delivered in front