Our highly popular ‘An Audience With…’ events will re-commence with a new series this July.

These events offer a chance for guests to hear first-hand in a live audience setting, real-life accounts of family businesses and the lives and careers of individuals.  2019 saw our founder, Sue Howorth interview a number of fascinating guests in front of capacity audiences.  These included Shepherdess, Alison O’Neill and Peter Hensman of Lake District Estates.

This year, the new series will commence on Thursday 16 July with an exclusive interview hosted by our co-directors, Sue and Dave with guests, Joe Oughtred and Sonya Eastaugh who are sixth generation family business successors for the William Jackson Food Group. The event will be taking place online, rather than in front of a live audience as originally planned due to covid-19 restrictions.

Joe Oughtred and Sonya Eastaugh will reveal how their individual journeys and career paths have influenced their roles within this long-established family business. They will also share their thoughts on family council and governance as well as succession planning.

Sonya Eastaugh said: “We’re really excited to be supporting The Family Business Network with this event as we’ve certainly benefited over the years from the supportive network that exists around family businesses. As custodians of a sixth-generation family business we’re happy to talk about our experiences and challenges, with particular emphasis on the importance of culture and strong governance.”

Never before has a story such as this been told about the people behind this intriguing business. The William Jackson Food Group was established in 1851 with a grocers shop in Hull and has since built up a portfolio of successful and well-known food brands, including Able & Cole, Wellocks, Belazu and Jacksons Bread. Now with 6th Generation family members at the reins alongside the experienced leadership team, there are exciting plans for its future.

This event will take place online on Thursday 16 July 2020 at 10:00am, lasting approximately one hour.

You will need to book a ticket to attend this online event via Zoom. Tickets are currently available at a cost of £10 each. To book, please click here 

You will receive a booking confirmation following your purchase and a separate email containing the access details to the event.

We hope that later in the year or perhaps next year, our ‘An Audience with’ events will once again take place in a face-to-face format, with our mobile ‘parky-style’ red sofa interview set.