Celebrating the B4 community on International Women’s Day

Ruth Hawkins, Emily Boardman and Irena Osborne from Boardman Hawkins & Osborne LLP formed family law firm BH&O just over 6 years, and during that time, the firm has gone from strength to strength. They now run the largest specialist family law team in Oxfordshire, and their reputation for excellence, and commitment to the community is well deserved. The lawyers and mediators at BH&O act with compassion, sensitivity, and focus on finding solutions. 

For IWD25 we focus on Accelerate action for gender action and BH&O is a great example of a successful business run by inspirational women. 

Nicholsons Managing Director, Liz Nicholson, has highlighted two colleagues, HR Manager, Rachel Verdon and Charlotte Harris, Associate Director: Personnel, Marketing Communications and Events.

“Rachel has looked after the amazing Green Army at Nicholsons, supporting people through job changes, promotions and challenges in their private lives. A constant professional, Rachel has been a fabulous colleague and friend for over a decade. Supporting the company to achieve Investors in People Gold, Rachel doesn’t stand still and is constantly striving to improve what we do.

“Charlotte joined Nicholsons as an Executive Assistant to me as Managing Director. Coming from a teaching background, Charlotte knows how to handle every situation and whips the company into shape on regular meeting times and perfect communication. With an enviable attention to detail, Charlotte supports all colleagues with wisdom and sheer hard work. Now an Associate Director, Charlotte is a key board member.”

Liz also deserves recognition for the amazing work she does as highlighted by B4’s CEO, Richard Rosser. “The support Liz provides everyone at Nicholsons is immeasurable if what she contributes to the B4 is anything to go by. With at least 12 hours more in her day than the average human being, Liz is unique in many ways. She is clearly super engaged in the environmental sector but many won’t know about the work Liz does beyond Nicholsons including tree production in the Mara in Kenya which benefits women in the Maasai community. As Director of the Forest Canopy Foundation, Liz’s work places woodland as a solution to the climate crisis and as an RHS senior judge, Liz supports the horticulture industry to design for the environment by developing the Green Design Audit. It really is our privilege to have Nicholsons and Liz in the B4 community and we look forward to hearing from Liz at OBS2025 in May at Blenheim.”

Farah Nazir-Chapman is Senior Customer Relationship Manager at Loqex and has spent over 25 years in the telecoms sector, attaining industry specific engineering & technical accreditations. In addition to assisting local, national, and global organisations with all aspects of voice and data connectivity, Farah actively raises awareness of the gender bias in her sector, working with local schools, through mentoring and keynote speaking.

Megan Carter is People Director at Blenheim Palace and wanted to recognise her team at Blenheim. “It is so important for me to recognise my People team and the amazing work women do across our business. Our strength is supporting the organisation to deliver our goals with a human led mindset – it is all about the people! and the way we create a culture of being the best we can be for ourselves and each other. Together we are stronger, and our growth mindsets helps us all learn from each other every day. I am humbled by not only the women I work with, but the men who also support and share our values and behaviours which is what makes our workplace so special and unique.”

Milissa is the owner of Tutu Chocolates. “At 25, I’m proud to own Tutu Chocolates. A journey that began with handcrafting chocolates at age 16, to now, almost a decade later, owning my business for two years. A company known for quality and creativity, recently winning an international chocolate award. I take pride in handcrafting chocolates that bring joy with every bite.” 

Jenny Harvey of Jenny Harvey Immigration is proud to have established her own law firm in Oxford eight years ago. She is often inspired by the lives of her clients, many of whom are women with interesting stories to tell.

Being her own boss gives Jenny the flexibility to undertake some pro bono work, most recently for the CAB in Oxford, and to choose which local charities to support. This year she is again donating for a tree to be planted each time a client is successful in their application for British Citizenship.

Having arrived in Oxford as a nervous eighteen year old, Jenny frequently has to squeeze herself to believe how time has flown.

Keep an eye out for more inspirational women from the B4 community who will feature over the next couple of days.