logo
CEO turned away from London tech event because 'she had her baby with her'

CEO turned away from London tech event because 'she had her baby with her'

Metro12-06-2025
A CEO has called for business events to be more inclusive after being turned away for having her baby with her.
Davina Schonle, founder of AI company Humanvantage, was hoping to attend London Tech Week with her young daughter, who was in a pram.
But after a three-hour drive to attend the event, she was disappointed to be refused entry because she had her daughter with her.
Davina said she limits how long she is apart from her baby, and believes she should be able to 'build my company with her by my side'.
Her post about the experience on LinkedIn sparked a discussion about inclusion in the tech industry.
A 2023 McKinsey report showed women made up around 35% of entry-level tech roles but only 14% of senior leadership positions, demonstrating a clear gender imbalance.
Meanwhile research by Prospects in 2024 found 29% of IT professionals in the UK are female or non-binary.
Davina said: 'As someone passionate about innovation, tech and the future of work, I was excited to attend, connect, have meetings and contribute.
'In today's age shouldn't we be more inclusive?
'This moment was more than inconvenient. It was a clear reminder that as a tech industry, we still have work to do when it comes to inclusion beyond buzzwords.
'Parents are part of this ecosystem. Caregivers are innovators, founders, investors, and leaders.
'If major events like London Tech Week can't make space for us, what message does that send about who belongs in tech?
'I don't necessarily mean make it a kid inclusive event in general, or do I? Doesn't our future belong to the kids?'
Davina's post on LinkedIn has received more than 3,800 reactions and 1,000 comments in two days.
Commenters suggested boycotting London Tech Week unless they change their rules over allowing parents with children to attend.
Others thanked Davina for advocating for parents in the tech industry
London Tech Week told The Independent: 'We're aware that one of our attendees wasn't allowed to enter with their child yesterday.
'As a business event, the environment hasn't been designed to incorporate the particular needs, facilities and safeguards that under-16s require.
'We want everyone in the tech community to feel welcome at London Tech Week.
'We've reached out directly to the person involved to discuss what happened and use this experience to inform how we approach this at LTW in the future.'
Metro has approached Davina Schonle for more information
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Nursery worker accused of hurting babies 'got fed up if she couldn't vape'
MORE: This is how much more single people pay to live alone in London
MORE: Bridgerton star fights off prolific phone thief as crowds watch on
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Jim's Mowing founder shocks with throwback photos - as he makes an unexpected confession about his rebellious teen years
Jim's Mowing founder shocks with throwback photos - as he makes an unexpected confession about his rebellious teen years

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

Jim's Mowing founder shocks with throwback photos - as he makes an unexpected confession about his rebellious teen years

The founder of Jim's Mowing has stunned Aussies by sharing a series of pictures taken decades earlier. Jim Penman, who founded the iconic franchise business, has been busily posting a series of LinkedIn posts this past week sharing advice and reflections with fellow entrepreneurs. The Aussie millionaire has recently been touching on everything from early life lessons to brand values and leadership strategies. One post even included the surprising admission that the Jim's Group CEO was once 'suspended' from school 'for being a bad influence'. But perhaps what has resonated the most is the series of retro photographs that Jim has shared alongside his inspirational messages. Viewers of the posts were stunned to see the striking likeness between the Jim's Mowing illustrated logo and the real-life Jim in his younger years. Sharing pictures of himself as a younger man wearing his brand's dark green shirt and sporting a full moustache and beard, Aussies were astonished at just how accurately the businessman is depicted in the instantly recognisable company logo. A post shared to the 'Jim's Group' page made the same observation after posting an old picture of Jim taken during the late 1980s era. 'The logo does look like its origin,' read one stunned reply. Another person remarked that the current logo should be updated to more accurately reflect Jim's present-day appearance. 'When does the current logo get a shave, considering Jim hasn't had a beard in 10+ years,' they wrote. Jim himself has previously acknowledged in a social media video that the business logo was designed based off an old 'picture' of himself. 'The artist just made a rendition from that particular photo. So it was me,' he confirmed. The latest series of LinkedIn post offered interesting insights into the businessman's life story and lessons learnt while founding his successful namesake company. 'They called me a bad influence. Now, I run one of the most influential businesses in the country,' Jim's first post in the series commenced. The CEO and businessman shared examples of outspoken behaviour during his younger years, including them time he was 'suspended' from school. Jim went on to detail how these very same qualities would one day give him the 'nerve' to make decisions that contributed to his business success story. The next post shared a few days later on August 8 saw Jim reflecting on his business' leadership style. Jim demonstrated his point by reflecting on a recent interaction with a Jim's Mowing franchisee. 'Leadership isn't just about solving problems. It's about noticing before they become problems,' he concluded. The latest post offered an explanation for why Jim had never felt compelled to 'sell Jim's Group' - despite being offered several 'life-changing offers'. The CEO went on to explain the reason he'd 'turned down' every single offer. 'I've seen what happens when a founder sells out,' he wrote. 'The culture changes. The focus shifts from service to squeezing every last dollar. And the people who built the business, our franchisees, get left behind.' 'That will never happen here,' he resolutely added. The recent series of posts have attracted hundreds of likes along with comments from CEOs and CFOs praising his willingness to share his hard-learnt business advice. Jim's Group specialises in practical trades such as plumbing, mowing, fencing, roofing, and cleaning. The company was launched in 1982 and has since expanded into a franchise operation in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada.

UK fintech investment hits $7.2 billion in H1
UK fintech investment hits $7.2 billion in H1

Finextra

time2 hours ago

  • Finextra

UK fintech investment hits $7.2 billion in H1

Total UK fintech investment hit $7.2 billion in the first half of 2025, down five per cent from $7.6 billion in the same period in 2024, according to KPMG's latest Pulse of Fintech report. 0 In total, there were 216 UK M&A, PE and VC fintech deals completed in H1 2025, up slightly from 198 in H1 2024. There was also significant variance between Q1 and Q2, with the former accounting for $5.2 billion of investment across 125 deals compared with $2 billion in Q2 2025 across 91 deals. The first half of the year saw several big money deals, including the $3.1 billion buyout of private markets data group Preqin by Blackrock, a $500 million VC round by cross border payments platform Rapyd Financial Network, and a $500 million raise by the wealth and asset management technology platform FNZ. The UK remains the centre of European fintech investment, with British firms attracting more funding than their counterparts in the rest of Emea combined. However, the numbers are still down on the highs of 2021, with geopolitical uncertainty, market volatility and global concern around macroeconomic growth rates all contributing to the more subdued environment, says KPMG. Hannah Dobson, partner and UK head of fintech, KPMG UK, says: "Although UK fintech investment experienced a slight decline in the first half of the year compared to 2024, it is encouraging to observe the continued resilience of the UK fintech sector despite the challenging macroeconomic environment. 'Key initiatives to keep an eye on in the UK's fintech scene in the next few months include the FCA's partnership with Nvidia. The new sandbox will allow banks to tinker with computing and AI enterprise software, primarily for testing and research prior to deployment.'

Payroll costs bite as firms hire at lowest rate since pandemic
Payroll costs bite as firms hire at lowest rate since pandemic

Times

time3 hours ago

  • Times

Payroll costs bite as firms hire at lowest rate since pandemic

Companies are planning to hire new staff at their lowest ever rate outside of the pandemic after Rachel Reeves's raid on employer national insurance ­contributions, research has found. Only 57 per cent of private sector employers plan to recruit staff in the next three months, down from 65 per cent in autumn 2024, the survey of more than 2,000 businesses showed. Nearly one in three employers said the increases in national insurance contributions and increases in the ­minimum wage had increased their costs to a significant extent. This rose to 50 per cent of employers in the care and hospitality industries. • Can Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves escape the economic doom loop? When asked which cost increases had the biggest financial impact on their organisation in the past year, 36 per cent of employers said it was the rise in national insurance contributions, 15 per cent said energy and 12 per cent cited minimum wage increases. The Labour Market Outlook survey was conducted by CIPD, the professional body for human resources staff. The finding came as a separate report on the jobs market from the accountancy firm KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation found that hiring fell further last month, while growth in starting salaries slowed to its lowest level for more than four years. The report showed a reading of 40 for permanent placements in the UK. Any figure below 50 represents a decline in the job market. Jon Holt, the UK senior partner at KPMG, said economic uncertainty, the complexities of AI adoption and global headwinds were 'all weighing on ­business planning'. He added that weak confidence in the economy and 'increases in payroll costs' were other factors behind the drop in hiring. James Cockett, senior labour market economist at CIPD, said that business confidence was faltering under rising employment costs, with further risks from Angela Rayner's Employment Rights Bill 'adding to the cost of ­employing people'. 'This is why it's crucial that planned measures, such as the introduction of a new statutory probationary period and process for dismissing new staff, are carefully consulted on to ensure they can work in practice,' he said. 'If new employment laws increase the risk and complexity of recruiting and managing new staff, employers are less likely to take a chance on young workers with limited experience and more development needs.' CIPD found that confidence was also lower in the public sector. More ­employers expected to reduce rather than increase their workforce in the next three months. Recruitment pressures were ­particularly evident in care, social work and other healthcare services. Cockett said it was crucial that ­employers were not forced to scale back on their recruitment and investment in apprenticeships and other forms of training for young people as costs rise. He added: 'Providing employment opportunities and developing the skills of young people is key to building ­sustainable talent and meeting future skills needs that support long-term business growth.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store