Women in Business Lunch: Female Entrepreneurs

Description

Join us for a lunchtime discussion with dynamic local female entrepreneurs around the opportunities and challenges of creating and running a business welcoming interactive engagement from the audience with our panellists. 

WHAT TO EXPECT...
🥗 Lunch Provided
🫂 Build your network - exchange ideas, share experiences & create new partnerships.
🌟 Inspiring conversation from  industry leaders.
🎗️Support & raise awareness of a local charity
👗Smart/casual business dress code
🏢 Experience a new local venue

THE CONVERSATION
Female entrepreneurs are individual women or groups who run, initiate, organise or operate a business enterprise across various industries. Despite the UK being the start-up capital of Europe according to Companies House (2025) only 19.1% of businesses are currently owned by women and this figure continues to drop. This conversation will cover the opportunities, challenges, barriers faced by our panellists and female entrepreneurs along with the support available and how we can better support our female peers to make that initial start up move. 

HOST

• Paula Thomas, Director & Head of Community at Today Publications Ltd

THE PANELLISTS

Pam Webb, Owner of Truffle Lodge

 Pam founded Truffle Lodge Spa in 2015 with no prior business experience—just a vision, determination, and a willingness to learn. Ten years on, the spa is a thriving business, with profits and turnover increasing year after year. The early days were filled with challenges and sleepless nights, but the journey has brought her immense pride. She believes the best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is to back yourself—but to do so with research, realistic planning, and a clear understanding of risk. One of the biggest early hurdles was securing finance, and presenting a strong, confident business plan proved essential.

As a parent of two grown-up children, she understands the difficulty of gaining experience in today’s job market. At Truffle Lodge, they’ve built a strong, loyal team that has grown with the business—proving that success comes not just from leadership, but from valuing and developing the right people.

Zerin Kent, Operations Director at Urban Burgers Group Limited

Zerin Kent is Co-Owner of URBAN Fresh Burgers & Fries, where she oversees human resources, finance, and technology systems. Since co-founding the business with her husband Mehmet in 2017, she has been instrumental in developing the internal infrastructure that supports URBAN’s multi-site operations and recent entry into franchising. Zerin ensures that each location runs efficiently and in line with the brand’s standards. She also collaborates closely with Mehmet on operations strategy, contributing to the consistent quality and performance of all stores. Zerin holds a Law with Spanish degree from The University of Sheffield. Her approach emphasizes structure, people development, and long-term sustainability, supporting URBAN’s growth across Yorkshire and beyond.
 

Further panellists tbc

 

OUR CHARITY:
Doncaster Chamber are delighted to have Changing Lives as a Charity Partner for our Women in Business events. At Changing Lives Doncaster Women’s Centre and Community Hub they run a full timetable throughout the week to support women with English as an additional language in Doncaster. The Team work to address health inequalities within primary healthcare services, raising awareness and addressing women’s physical and mental wellbeing. We do this through education and a bespoke package of support inc group work, one to one support and community collaboration. In addition, they also facilitate a trauma informed early years programme supporting families from conception to nursery transition and beyond with our Special education needs advocacy.
 
To support this charity we are inviting you to support by donating any of the following products to one of our donation points at our Women in Business events:

•  Nappies & pull ups
• Baby wipes, barrier cream
• Baby Wash/Shampoo
• Shower Gel/Shampoo/Conditioner
• Facewash/Facecloth
• Sponges/Mits
• Deodorant/Body Spray
• Razors
• Haircare/Products
• Toothpaste & toothbrush
• Nailcare
• Perfume
• Giftsets
• Sanitary Pads
• Laundry Detergent
• Washing Up Liquid
• Sponges/Cloths
• Household Cleaning
• Toilet Roll
• Tissues

• 2 tickets to attend
• 5 minutes to address the room
• Opportunity to bring 2 banners and run a business card draw raffle
• Inclusion on all social media posts around event
• Inclusion on website
• Full page A6 advert in event booklet
• Logo on all marketing relating to event