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A 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) alumnus has been part of a national celebration of the country’s most inspiring female entrepreneurs.

Jo Porter, who founded dance events business and tour companies and Running Escapes,  was invited to the House of Lords with more than 100 other female business owners championed by Small Business Britain’s ƒ:Entrepreneur #ialso100 campaign.

The campaign aims to highlight the phenomenal contribution to society, economy and communities that many female founders are making across the country.

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Jo, who studied dance and French at 51Âþ»­, was named an ƒ:Entrepreneur #ialso100 in 2021, in recognition of her inspiring entrepreneurial journey, which has involved running her businesses alongside a roster of other responsibilities including dance-related community and charity work as well as family life.

The event included networking with peers and hearing from Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, who paid tribute to the power of female entrepreneurship.

Jo said: “This really was a truly special event meeting so many inspirational business women working in a variety of fields, some similar to my own. I am very grateful to the f:Entrepreneur team for such an amazing opportunity, this event really was a highlight of my year so far.”

Delivered by Small Business Britain – the leading champion of small businesses in the UK -  f:Entrepreneur campaign was launched in 2017 to highlight the stories of amazing female business owners and help provide inspiration and role models across the wider small business community. Now in its fifth year, the campaign offers a host of events, training and networking opportunities to boost skills, capability and confidence.

This comes on the back of new research carried out by the campaign this month which found that following the pandemic, nearly a fifth (17%) of women are considering entrepreneurship, with 44% of them citing pursuing a passion as a key motivator, alongside 46% wanting greater flexibility.

"Being in room full of such impressive female founders such as Jo Porter was really uplifting, especially after a tough couple of years for entrepreneurs", said Michelle Ovens CBE, Founder of Small Business Britain and the ƒ:Entrepreneur campaign.

"To hear all the incredible things that these women do and the impact they are making, not just in their businesses but in their wider communities, is truly inspiring, and underlines that we must do everything we can to support them.  This profound desire among women to create opportunity out of their passions, to build businesses with mission and purpose at their hearts, and to drive forward success, despite everything thrown at them during this pandemic, is amazingly powerful. We must nurture female entrepreneurship so it continues to flourish in the UK and plays a key role in recovery."

Here is the full featured in this year’s f:entrepreneur #ialso100 campaign