The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire November 2014 | Page 11

WILTSHIRE WOMEN MEAN BUSINESS

Wiltshire’s business women give insight into their
highly interesting and varied careers and share with
us a few words of wisdom to inspire others.
Val Huxley
CEO of registered charities
People against Poverty &
Business against Poverty

Gina Akers
TV Presenter and TV Beauty
and Image Expert

Emma Seddon
Deputy Head of Office
Lockton Insurance

Major Olivia Madders
Officer Commanding 36
Squadron
Royal Army Medical Corps

Eleanor Collins
Senior Account Manager
VOX PR

Val’s biggest achievement
“My biggest achievement was
to introduce a child sponsorship
programme to the charity back in 2005.
We started with just 9 children, all from
Romania and we now support 250
children through the programme in 6
countries worldwide – Romania, Nepal,
Haiti, Tanzania, Malawi and India.
These children are very special to us and
we are proud to be able to put back a
little hope in their lives.”

Swindon resident Gina Akers is one
of the UK’s most qualified and best
known beauty experts who has recently
presented beauty features on ITV’s This
Morning and ITV’s Alan Titchmarsh
Show. Gina is also the image expert
for the BBC One/Two show Fake
Britain. She originally found fame from
featuring in Channel 4’s The Salon.
Gina says one of her biggest
achievements is being an ambassador
for the Government ‘Hair and Beauty
Industry Authority’ (Habia) and
figurehead for their Professional
Registers for beauty, nails and spa,
recognising those with professional
qualifications and raising industry
standards.
Gina will soon be launching a new
website and blog so follow her
@ginaakers on Twitter to find out
when it goes live at:
www.ginaakers.com

Emma’s most celebrated
achievement:
After joining Lockton in 2012 I was
promoted quickly to Vice President,
Deputy Head of Office. I was heavily
involved in the restructure of the
office to improve efficiencies, deliver
growth by revising the strategies and
empowering associates to achieve
their potential. The new structure has
worked well, evidenced by 11% growth
last year.

Olivia’s greatest achievement
“I have been in the Army for 13 years
now, serving in the Royal Army Medical
Corps and have done a number of
overseas exercises an