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International Women's Day guest speaker, Brandie Deignan, in the fight for women's rights.

On Friday 8th March, PHSG students celebrated International Women's Day with the highlight of guest speaker, Brandie Deignan addressing our Year 9 and Year 10 students. 

We were delighted to welcome Brandie into our PHSG community to engage with our students on the progress made in the fight for women’s rights, and also the challenges that still lie ahead.

A true trailblazer, Brandie was the first female Managing Director (MD) to hold her MD role at Marco Pierre White Restaurants and has recently joined primary care within the NHS in general practice and Chief Executive Officer. Brandie was the first black female MD within branded restaurant groups in the UK, and she was recently named as one of the top 15 BAME high fliers in the travel and tourism industry.

Brandie was also a finalist at the Black British Business Awards, Senior Leader, Consumer and Luxury in 2020, and she was recently voted No 41 in the top 50 listening leaders.

Verity, Head Student said:

I found Brandie so mesmerising to listen to and actually learnt a lot! She was really inspiring, and I had a great time watching her talk.

Kitty, Deputy Head Student said:

It was an amazing talk – so inspiring and really engaging, it was great food for thought.

Brandie spoke about our students being our future leaders, innovators, and change-makers of society and encouraged them to focus on the important women in their lives and what changes we can make to support women in our day-to-day lives. There were some hard hitting facts about the progress of women's rights, and it was clear to see that Brandies words were both inspiring and thought provoking for our students.

We would like to thank Brandie for taking time to speak with our students. Her insights and advice will make a significant difference to our students' futures.

Brandie said:

This school is as diverse as our city. I have today met bright, capable, dedicated students in Year's 9, 10 & 12 who have embraced our talk today. Thank you- let's keep the focus on keeping all important days like IWD real on the ground.