Wales in London Relaunches with Focus on Female Founders

The Wales in London Society has relaunched with an event focused on female founders.

The society describes itself as ‘a space for the Welsh diaspora in London to come together, network, celebrate, and thrive in an environment that feels like home’. London has the largest Welsh community outside of Wales itself, with an estimated 300,000 Welsh people living in the city.

Now the society has relaunched with an event held in the Shard. The event was made possible with support from M-SParc, Wales’ first dedicated science park, which is supporting the running of the network, and the Foresight Group, a global leading investment management group who have offices in the Shard.

The society is also being supported by funding via ARFOR, a Welsh Government programme which supports a number of strategic interventions across four local authorities – Gwynedd, Ynys Môn, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire – including a focus on opportunities for young people and families to enable them to stay in or return to their home communities.

Speakers at the launch event included:

• Catrin Owen – Co-Founder of Tropic Studio
• Nan Williams- CEO of Four Communications Agency
• Rachel Ashley – Director of Women Angels of Wales
• Carol Hall – Investment Manager at Angels Invest Wales
• Baroness Carmen Smith of Llanfaes

Catrin Owen, who was responsible for the rebranding of Wales in London, said:

“It has been an exciting time working with Wales in London on their re-brand and the new website. Being able to showcase this to the Welsh diaspora in London was brilliant, receiving nothing but positive feedback from attendees. It was also great to be speaker at the event, discussing the challenges and successes I’ve faced being a female founder. Comparing experiences with others and learning statistics about female founders was both interesting and shocking, and so I hope we can help inspire the next generation of women in business, giving them a brighter future.”

Wales in London chair Peter Evans said:

“I am so pleased that, with the support of ARFOR funding and a partnership with M-SParc, we have been able to relaunch the network and our new website. I’m particularly pleased that we focused on female founders, as we heard that out of hundreds who applied for a £5 million investment pot from the Foresight group in 2024 only around five were female.”

Panellists discussed the challenges and strengths women face in the business world, focusing on topics such as imposter syndrome, prejudice due to gender, and how to move forward to ensure women are supported as business owners.

A special video presentation by Baroness Carmen Smith of Llanfaes – the youngest woman to ever receive life peerage – concluded the evening. In it she discussed how she brings attention to issues that affect a younger and more diverse demographic, such as discussing period poverty in Parliament.

Find out more about Wales in London’s upcoming events by visiting walesinlondon.org