A Worcester entrepreneur was invited to a special International Women’s Day reception at the House of Lords on Monday, March 7.

This recognised her strong contribution to entrepreneurship and success as a female business owner. 

Sarah Watmore, founder of Miss Milly jewellery, was extremely excited to be included in such a prestigious event.

She said: "I feel so privileged to have been included in the f:entrepreneur listing of the top 100 female entrepreneurs for 2020.

"Finding out a year ago was a shining light in the midst of a pandemic that wreaked havoc on my business, Miss Milly.

"At the time we couldn't celebrate this fantastic recognition of the hard work put in by me and women like me but it was such a positive boost in a gloomy period.

"I've been looking forward to the event at the House of Lords ever since so it was fabulous to actually get there on Monday, meet everybody and enjoy the warmth and company of so many wonderfully inspiring ladies."

Ms Watmore is not originally from Worcestershire but currently lives in Hallow.

She opened her first shop in 2005 and has been growing the business ever since, selling colourful products across the county.

Ms Watmore explained that the event itself was a lunch reception with some speakers and time to mingle with other entrepreneurs. 

She said: "There was a very excited buzz in the queue waiting to get through security as we all started introducing ourselves and finding out about the wide range of businesses that were there, from toy shops and adaptive clothing to human rights and photo ethics consultants.

"Once inside, we were greeted by the organisers from Small Business Britain, glasses of Prosecco and a photographer on the sunny balcony.

"The speeches from Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, GP and Shadow Cabinet Minister for Mental Health, and Rhian Parry, founder of Workspace Worksafe, were funny and inspirational.

"And the couple of hours went by far too fast but a group of us met up again later for drinks, dinner and more chat."