Date: 30th January 2004
Conran & Carling ‘in conversation’ at Norwood Business Breakfast
Over 250 leaders of industry and key players in the business world who enjoy a philanthropic association with Norwood, joined the organisation for its annual Business Breakfast on Friday 30th January 2004 to see Julia Carling ‘in conversation’ with Sir Terence Conran.
During the Breakfast, Julia Carling was charged with the challenge of determining the secrets to Conran’s entrepreneurial success and chart the highs and lows of his illustrious career which spans over thirty years. Carling’s probing questions encouraged Sir Terence to share his knowledge of the business world with guests, leaving them with a better understanding as to what drives him to continue redefining the laws of business as well as an insight into Conran, the man behind the headlines.
Conran, who once famously described himself to Tom Ford as ‘Ambitious, mean, kind, greedy, frustrated, emotional, tiresome, intolerant and shy’, shared his vision for a successful business with the audience. He said: “My belief is simply that if reasonable and intelligent people are offered something that is well made, well designed, of a decent quality and at a price that they can afford, then they will like and buy it. This is the abiding principle to which I hold, whether as a designer, retailer or restaurateur.”
He went on to take the opportunity to praise Norwood’s work at the Breakfast. He said: “I was delighted to be speaking at the Norwood Business Breakfast – I got to talk about myself for half an hour or so, in the company of the charming Julia Carling. Seriously, Norwood does a tremendous amount for children and their families and if a conversation with me over a nice breakfast helped them to raise much needed funding to continue their excellent work, then I am honoured to have played my part.”
The Norwood Business Breakfast is one of the organisation’s most popular networking events attracting support throughout the business and professional community. Traditionally, the Breakfast has become synonymous with top politicians, and leading industry and media personalities and this year was certainly no exception.
Simon Sterling, Chairman of the Business Breakfast, was delighted with success of the event. He said: “We are thrilled to have been joined this morning by one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Britain, Sir Terence Conran, who has moulded our thoughts on our lifestyle be it contemporary living, fashion, what we eat or where we eat it. I am so grateful to him for sharing his insight with us into just how to achieve success in the cut and thrust of today’s business world and to Julia Carling, who has taken the world of journalism by storm, both as a television personality and newspaper columnist, for doing such a sterling job as his interviewer! Thank you both for taking time out of your incredibly busy schedules to be here with us this morning.”
The Norwood Business Breakfast was sponsored by Investec Private Bank and raised over £40,000 for Anglo-Jewry’s leading children and family services charity.
Press enquiries should be directed to Ronit Shebson, Public Relations Manager at Norwood on 020 8420 6900 or email ronit.shebson@norwood.org.uk
