As a partner and supporter of Silicon Valley Comes to the UK (SVC2UK), leading UK law firm Shoosmiths hosted a breakfast event with tech industry speakers at its London office on 16 November as part of SVC2UK’s 2021 Summit.
Held in celebration of female leadership, the event was opened by Janet Coyle, managing director business growth, London & Partners. The breakfast brought together female founders from SVC2UK’s Beyond HERizons 2021 cohort on a year-long education, networking and support programme, alumni of the virtual visit missions to Silicon Valley scaling their businesses across the UK and to the US and members of SpHERe, the Shoosmiths’ network for female founders and leaders.
Jodie Soussan, managing director EU, Allbirds was in conversation with Shoosmiths’ principal associate Helen Burnell about how the brand’s journey evolved from a sustainable footwear disruptor to a global brand, with its purpose being comfort, design and sustainability. The business continually listens to its customers to tweak its products such as a suggestion by some British customers to add a waterproof layer appreciated by customers in other rainy places. Allbirds elevates individual platforms and communities through its Allgood Collective community that in turn supports the brand. Every product is labelled with its carbon footprint and the 100% carbon neutral brand can calculate the total impact of all products. Perhaps in a few years products from more brands will be labelled in the same way to help people purchasing fashion.
“Business is about creating value. And putting its people first. Listen, learn, and be authentic.
Janet Coyle hosted a fireside chat with Jenny Gove, head of UX and strategy, Google, on winning hearts and minds with customer-centric development. Jenny moved into the payments sector consciously because it’s dynamic, innovative and relevant to everyone. It has a human side too, with inclusive finance being an important focus. Understanding the user from the outset is key and there is lots of work in the payments area that could be done but it is important to prioritise what can be done.
“Build a ‘day in the life’ of users to help understand their journey.
SVC2UK’s 2021 Summit comprised four consecutive days of in-person and virtual events across London, Manchester and Cambridge. The aim of the annual summit is to bring together the tech community, leading entrepreneurs, investors, and global thought leaders from the USA, the UK and beyond. For the CEO Summit, up to 50 of the fastest-growing companies in the UK gathered at Mansion House in London to meet experts including from Shoosmiths Alistair Peet, head of venture capital and partner, and James Klein, head of technology sector and partner.
James Klein said: “This year we were especially proud to have hosted a female founders breakfast as part of the Good Growth Summit which featured founders, businesses, investors and thought leaders who have purpose and social impact at the heart of their business. The CEO Summit was impressive as always and we have already managed to land some new instructions from it. Being able to help companies with their scaling-up journey is what sets Shoosmiths apart from other firms.
“The quality combination of talent, experience and entrepreneurship that SVC2UK brings together for each annual summit is always exceptional. Last week we saw the return to holding many of the summit events in-person whilst also catering for a virtual audience and the appetite to meet up was strong. The opportunity for founders to share their stories with other dynamic and like-minded individuals whilst having access to an investor audience is invaluable and Shoosmiths takes huge pleasure in being able to support this community.”
Find out more about SVC2UK here.
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This information is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It is recommended that specific professional advice is sought before acting on any of the information given. Please contact us for specific advice on your circumstances. © Shoosmiths LLP 2025.