TUESD
AY
,
JUNE
24
,
2008
LEICES
TER
MER
CUR
Y
3
S
P
03
WO
MEN
IN
BUSINES
S
61
6
wo
rd
s
THE
CUL
TURE
of
social
re
spons
-
ibility
is
making
an
impact
within
Leicester8217
sb
usiness
com
-
munity
8211a
nd
Alison
Ru
dkin
is
one
of
a
ne
w
ge
nera
tion
of
man
-
age
rs
leading
the
wa
y.
Alison
is
confer
ence
centr
e
mana
ge
ra
t
the
Highpoint
Con
-
fer
ence
Centr
e,
as
ubsidiary
of
Th
e
TREES
Gr
oup
,
the
larg
est
social
enter
prise
in
the
East
M
i
d
l
a
n
d
s.
Highpoint
is
as
ta
te-of-the-ar
t
re
sidential
confer
ence
centr
e
in
Glenfield
Ro
ad,
Leicester
.
It
was
originall
y
St
Ca
therine8217
s
Cha
pel
and
Con
ve
nt
and
was
con
ve
rt
ed
in
six
ye
ars
ag
o
at
a
cost
of
1635
million.
Alison
has
been
ther
es
ince
since
2002,
ha
ving
joined
a
month
bef
or
ei
t
opened
and
she
is
re
sponsib
le
fo
r
a
team
of
23.
8220I
look
after
the
da
y-to-da
y
ru
n-
ning
of
the
centr
e,
as
we
ll
as
wo
rk
ing
on
bu
siness
plans
,
bu
dg
ets
and
futur
e
gr
ow
th
and
de
ve
lopment.
Highpoint
is
a
unique
ve
nu
e
set
within
inspir
-
ing
sur
ro
undings
,c
lose
to
Leicester
city
centr
e
and
onl
y
min
utes
aw
ay
fr
om
the
Mid
-
lands
motorwa
y
netw
or
k.
8220F
or
me
,i
t8217
s
ag
re
at
ac
hie
ve
-
ment
to
be
par
to
f
an
eco-str
uc
-
tur
e
wh
ic
hr
ein
ve
sts
in
its
people
and
the
community
We
8217r
e
not
just
ac
onfer
ence
centr
e
8211w
e
ar
e
also
par
t
of
Leicester8217
s
re
ge
nera
tion.8221
TREES
(T
raining,
Re
ge
nera
-
tion,
Educa
tion,
Emplo
yment,
Sustaina
bility
Services
Ltd)
was
fo
unded
in
1995
to
help
de
-
pri
ve
dc
ommunities
with
va
ri
-
oius
initia
ti
ve
sa
cr
oss
the
Mid
-
l
a
n
d
s.
Social
enter
prises
ar
e
a
thir
d
tier
of
bu
siness
,d
if
fer
ent
to
both
the
pri
vat
e
and
the
pub
lic
sector
.P
ro
fits
go
bac
k
into
the
pr
oject
or
the
community
,
ra
ther
than
being
distrib
uted
as
di
vidends
to
shar
eholders
.
Alison
is
Leicester
bor
n
and
br
ed
and
she
at
tended
Ne
w
Pa
rk
s
Community
Colle
ge
.
8220I
had
no
idea
wh
at
I
wanted
to
do
as
a
car
eer
,b
ut
I
thought
I
might
join
the
police
.T
hen
my
first
Sa
tur
da
y
job
was
as
a
ban
-
quetting
waitr
ess
at
the
Bel
-
mont
Hotel
in
Leicester
.
8220I
re
all
y
enjo
ye
d
it
and
I
felt
it
was
something
Ic
ould
do
we
ll.
After
I
left
sc
hool,
Ic
ontin
ued
wo
rk
ing
ther
e,
ge
tting
experi
-
ence
of
va
rious
ro
les
within
the
hotel
industry
.8221
TR
AV
ELLING
When
she
was
25,
Alison
took
time
out
and
spent
eight
months
tra
ve
lling
ar
ound
Fiji
and
Ne
w
Zealand.
8220I
was
a
la
te
bac
k
pac
ke
r
at
tha
t
age
.D
uring
the
trip
I
wo
rk
ed
at
the
St
Ja
mes
Th
ea
tr
ei
nW
el
-
lington
and
in
a
hotel
in
Queen
-
s
t
ow
n
.
8221
Re
tur
ning
to
Leicester
,A
lison
became
fo
od
and
be
ve
ra
ge
man
-
age
ra
t
Th
eL
eicester
Fo
otball
Club
,l
ooking
after
12
bars
and
ca
tering
fo
r
ma
tc
hd
ay
s,
we
d-
dings
and
confer
ences
.
Her
next
post
was
ca
tering
mana
ge
ra
t
the
Wo
od
Gr
een
An
-
imal
Shelter
,
near
Cambridg
e.
Th
is
larg
e
animal
re
scue
centr
e
holds
pub
lic
ev
ents
suc
h
as
equestrian
competitions
and
do
g
sho
ws
.
8220T
hen
Ic
ame
to
Highpoint
wh
ic
h
is
onl
y
fi
ve
min
utes
fr
om
wh
er
e
my
par
ents
li
ve
.
It
seems
tha
t
I
ha
ve
n8217
t
come
ve
ry
fa
ri
n
one
sense
bu
t
car
eerwise
I
ha
ve
.
8220I
lo
ve
my
job
ab
solutel
y.
Eac
h
da
y
is
a
ne
w
ch
alleng
e
bu
t
it
d
o
e
s
n8217
t
feel
lik
eg
oing
to
wo
rk
.
It8217
s
ne
ve
r
a
ch
or
e.
8221
Highpoint
accommoda
tes
a
va
riety
of
ev
ents
.F
or
example
,
it
has
just
hosted
a
pr
esenta
tion
fo
r
the
Spar
kI
gnition
sc
heme
wh
er
e
15
finalists
ru
nning
so
-
cial
enter
prises
competed
fo
ra
shar
eo
f
163500,000
cash
and
hun
-
dr
eds
of
thousands
of
pounds
of
in-kind
suppor
t
fo
r
their
pr
o-
j
e
c
t
s.
8220A
pplicants
came
fr
om
all
ov
er
the
country
and
it
was
par
ticu
-
lar
ly
ap
pr
opria
te
fo
rs
uc
h
an
ev
ent
to
be
held
her
e,
8221s
ay
s
Alis
-
on.
Highpoint
itself
re
centl
yf
in
-
ished
thir
d
in
a
na
tional
com
-
petition
8211b
ehind
tw
o
top
Lon
-
don
hotels
8211i
n
the
2007
Best
Dis
-
abl
ed
Fa
cilities
Aw
ar
ds
,
gi
ve
n
by
the
Meetings
&
Incenti
ve
Tr
av
el
Industry
Aw
ar
ds
.
Alison
sa
ys
she
has
been
in
-
spir
ed
by
meeting
man
y
suc
-
cessful
bu
siness
wo
men.
Her
ad
-
vice
fo
ro
thers
wanting
to
suc
-
ceed
is
to
mak
e
use
of
the
man
y
sour
ces
of
help
av
aila
bl
e.
8220T
her
e
ar
e
al
ot
of
org
anisa
-
tions
and
people
with
specialist
kno
wledg
e
out
ther
e.
Asking
fo
r
help
is
not
a
sign
of
we
akness
as
we
can
8217t
all
be
expected
to
kno
w
ev
e
r
y
t
h
i
n
g
.
8221
In
her
spar
et
ime
,
Alison
en
-
jo
ys
ke
ep
ing
fit
in
the
gy
m,
tra
v-
elling
and
ga
rd
ening.
She
sa
ys
it8217
s
also
impor
tant
to
spend
time
with
friends
and
fa
mil
y.
Inspiration
by
location
is
Highpoint
business
mantra
for
Alison!
UNIQUE
VENUE:
Alison
Ru
dkin
is
confer
ence
centr
e
manager
at
the
Highpoint
Confer
ence
Centre
IN
DIRE
TIME
of
cr
edit
cr
unc
h
and
economic
uncer
tainty
,
the
human
touc
h
in
bu
siness
can
be
a
rar
e
commodity
.
Ly
nn
Wi
lliams
,
Human
Re
-
sour
ces
Consultant
at
high
pr
o-
file
bu
siness
ad
visers
Cooper
Pa
rr
y,
feels
tha
tg
en
uine
under
-
standing
of
both
the
bu
siness
and
the
emplo
ye
e
needs
is
es
-
sential
to
smoothing
the
wa
yf
or
wo
rk
ing
re
la
tionships
tha
tc
an
cr
ea
te
win-win
situa
tions
fo
r
emplo
ye
rs
and
emplo
ye
es
alik
e.
Wi
th
30
ye
ars
experience
ga
ined
in
human
re
sour
ces
8211o
r
person
-
nel
as
it
used
to
be
called
8211L
y
n
n
brings
va
st
experience
of
ch
allen
-
ging
emplo
ye
er
ela
tions
issues
to
her
ro
le
at
Cooper
Pa
rr
y,
the
larg
est
inde
pendent
fir
mo
f
bu
si
-
ness
ad
visers
in
the
Midlands
.
Cooper
Pa
rr
y
was
the
first
compan
y
to
re
loca
te
to
the
gleaming
ne
w
Colton
Squar
e
of
-
fices
,
the
de
ve
lopment
tha
ti
s
cr
ea
ting
a
fr
esh
ne
wb
usiness
quar
ter
within
the
re
ge
nera
t-
ing
city
centr
e.
Th
ef
ir
m
has
ear
ned
as
ound
re
puta
tion
fo
r
str
ong
cor
pora
te
re
sponsibility
,
good
en
vir
on
-
mental
practice
and,
being
an
ex
cellent
emplo
ye
r,
was
re
-
centl
yr
at
ed
21st
in
the
Sunda
y
Times
100
Best
Companies
to
Wo
rk
Fo
r
list
2008
and
also
ga
ined
In
ve
stor
in
Pe
ople
Champion
sta
tus
in
2007.
Ha
ving
star
ted
out
as
a
secr
et
-
ary
to
the
personnel
dir
ector
of
Ja
guar
Cars
,
based
in
Co
ve
ntry
,
Ly
nn
soon
decided
she
wanted
to
sit
on
the
other
side
of
the
ta
bl
ea
nd
we
nt
bac
kt
o
colle
ge
to
re
train
in
personnel
and
bu
si
-
ness
studies
,
wo
rk
ing
her
wa
y
up
thr
ough
the
ranks
to
senior
mana
g
ement.
8220I
got
my
first
br
eak
in
the
ear
ly
1980s
and
spent
14
ye
ars
with
Ja
guar
.
Iw
as
fr
ont
fa
cing
both
with
staf
f
and
man
ual
trade
unions
during
a
ve
ry
tur
-
bu
lent
time
of
strik
es
,
stoppa
ge
s
and
industrial
unr
est
and
I
lear
ned
a
hug
e
amount
ab
out
re
alistic
compr
omise
,r
econcili
-
at
ion
and
ho
w
to
ef
fecti
ve
ly
in
-
vo
lv
e
emplo
ye
es
in
pr
ofit
line
i
m
p
ro
ve
m
e
n
t
.
8221
Ly
nn
mo
ve
do
n
to
wo
rk
fo
ra
n-
other
major
man
uf
acturing
compan
y
wh
ic
hi
nv
olv
ed
re
lo
-
ca
tion
to
a
ne
wg
re
enfield
site
in
Mansfield.
Among
her
man
y
tasks
was
the
re
cr
uitment
of
fo
rm
er
miners
,
unemplo
ye
d
fo
l-
lo
wing
mass
pit
cl
osur
es
,
to
join
as
se
wing
mac
hinists
to
pr
o-
duce
car
sea
t
co
ve
rs
.
8220It
was
ve
ry
dif
fer
ent
wo
rk
to
wh
at
they
did
pr
ev
iousl
y
to
-
ge
ther
with
a
major
cultural
ch
ang
e.
It
was
a
ch
allenging
time
fo
r
all,
with
a
high
nu
mber
of
lea
ve
rs
wh
os
tr
ug
gled
to
ad
-
ap
td
uring
the
first
ye
ar
.
Ho
wev
er
,
If
eel
pr
oud
tha
t
my
le
ve
l
of
encoura
ge
ment
and
sup
-
por
t,
to
ge
ther
with
the
commit
-
ment
sho
wn
by
the
re
st
of
the
mana
ge
ment
team,
con
vinced
others
to
sta
y
and
pla
yasigni
-
ficant
par
t
in
the
de
ve
lopment
of
the
compan
y.
8221
Ly
nn
was
subsequentl
y
headhunted
to
join
Dunlop
BTR
in
Leicester
as
their
human
re
-
sour
ces
dir
ector
.
After
eight
ye
ars
,w
or
king
long
hours
tha
t
also
in
vo
lv
ed
ov
erseas
tra
ve
l-
ling
and
as
as
ingle
mum
with
a
gr
ow
ing
daughter
,
Ly
nn
fo
und
tha
tw
or
k
was
taking
its
toll
on
fa
mil
y
life
and
made
the
dif
fi
-
cult
decision
to
find
a
mor
ef
am
-
il
y-friendl
y
oppor
tunity
.
8220Cooper
Pa
rr
yi
s
open
to
fl
ex
-
ib
le
and
par
t
time
wo
rk
ing
and
re
co
gnised
tha
ti
n
re
tur
nt
hey
ga
ined
ah
igh
le
ve
lo
fk
no
wledg
e
tha
tt
hey
otherwise
wo
uld
ha
ve
lost
else
wh
er
e.
I
needed
to
esta
b-
lish
a
wo
rk
/life
balance
and
no
wm
yj
ob
is
ha
ppil
yo
ne
tha
t
allo
ws
me
to
ac
hie
ve
this
per
-
fectl
y
8211awin-win
all
ro
und.8221
As
par
t
of
a
team
headed
by
dir
-
ector
Clar
e
Jo
hnson,
Ly
nn
8217s
cur
re
nt
re
mit
in
vo
lv
es
consult
-
ing
with
local
bu
sinesses
8211
man
yo
f
wh
ic
ha
re
pri
vat
el
y
ow
ned
enter
prises
8211h
elping
them
to
mana
ge
their
human
re
sour
ces
to
best
ad
va
nta
ge
fo
r
both
the
bu
siness
and
the
em
-
plo
ye
e.
Th
et
eam
is
committed
to
expanding
Cooper
Pa
rr
y8217
s
por
tf
olio
of
cl
ients
seeking
ad
-
vice
on
wo
rk
fo
rc
e
issues
.
8220Most
people
associa
te
Cooper
Pa
rr
yw
ith
financial
ad
vice
bu
t
tha
t
is
onl
y
par
to
f
wh
at
the
fir
m
can
of
fer
fo
r
all
ro
und
bu
siness
enhancement.
Pri
vat
el
y-o
wned
bu
sinesses
don
8217t
al
wa
ys
need
human
re
sour
ces
input
on
af
ull
time
basis
bu
t
they
can
call
on
our
exper
tise
at
the
times
wh
en
they
do
,8221
said
Ly
nn.
8220My
ro
le
is
to
ad
vise
and
sup
-
por
tc
lients
in
all
sectors
on
an
y
human
re
sour
ces
aspect
or
is
-
sue
at
both
as
tra
te
gic
and
oper
-
at
ional
le
ve
l,
inc
luding
emplo
y-
ee
re
la
tions
,r
ecr
uitment
and
selection,
re
str
ucturing
and
re
-
org
anistion,
re
dundanc
ya
nd
emplo
yment
trib
unal
cl
aims
.
8220T
hese
ar
e
often
dif
ficult
is
-
sues
tha
tc
ompanies
ha
ve
to
fa
ce
and
we
can
help
them
to
look
at
wa
ys
to
impr
ov
et
heir
bu
siness
by
mor
ee
ff
ecti
ve
people
mana
ge
ment.
Ap
ro
act
-
iv
e
human
re
sour
ces
stra
te
gy
can
re
all
y
mak
e
the
dif
fer
ence
to
the
bottom
line
.
8220In
dif
ficult
economic
times
re
dundanc
y
is
not
necessaril
y
the
right
ans
we
r
and
we
can
look
objecti
ve
ly
at
alter
na
ti
ve
solutions
to
find
the
best
wa
y
fo
rwar
d
and
still
re
tain
skills
.8221
Fo
r
fur
ther
inf
or
ma
tion,
call
Cooper
Pa
rr
yo
n
0116
262
9922,
or
visit
the
we
bsite
at
:
w
w
w.
c
o
o
p
e
r
p
a
r
r
y.
c
o
m
Human
touch
at
Cooper
Parry
AD
VICE:
Ly
nn
Wi
lliams,
Human
Re
sour
ces
Consultant
at
busines
s
adviser
s
Cooper
Pa
rr
y
ADVER
TISING
FEA
TURE
ADVER
TISING
FEA
TURE
1C
olton
Square
8226L
eicester
LE1
1QH
Te
l82260
116
262
9922
Emai
l8226a
dvi
ce@c
oope
rpar
ry
.com
coop
erpa
rr
y.
com
169NM165
Glen64257eld
Road,
Leicester
,L
E3
6DJ.
T:
0116
258
0000
F:
0116
258
0011
E:
eventsales@highpoint.org.uk
W:
www
.highpoint.org.uk
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