Jamilla paul headlines blue orchid business support conference

Blue Orchid business support recently recruited hairdresser Jamilla Paul to deliver a keynote speech at a conference held to mark International Women's Day. The Rochdale-based award-winning salon owner headlined the conference for 120 businesswomen in the region, organised by Blue Orchid to mark the achievements of local women and inspire others. Jamilla, who found fame as the boss on MTV's hit show Beauty School Cop-Outs and is a previous winner of Rochdale Businesswoman of the Year, said: "I have no problem getting up in front of other hairdressers as I know we speak the same language and I love to educate, but this was tough – much more scary. I had to talk about my business and how I built it up with no capital but a small loan from my Dad. That meant opening up the closet to let them see my skeletons so they could learn from my mistakes. I was well out of my comfort zone." Local councillor Peter Williams, cabinet member for economic development at Rochdale Council, welcomed the event. He said: "Our local economy needs successful entrepreneurs and events like today provide the networks which are so vital to business growth." In 2013, 43% of businesses that came through Blue Orchid’s business start-up programmes, including many salons, were founded by women. According to government statistics, an estimated 18% of small and medium enterprises are solely or majority led by females, which equates to around 860,000 SMEs in the UK.