United Molasses Group took an active part in marking this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD).
Five members of the UM team came together with colleagues from the wider W&R Barnett Group to take part in two days of activities in Belfast.
The five were Sarah Cripps, Chartering & Logistics, Agnieszka Sriskanthan-Reksa, Financial Controller, Jo Winning, Compliance Manager, Vicki Brough, Group HR Manager and Dean Jackson, Trading Director.
The inclusion of Dean along with three other male colleagues from W&R Barnett was a deliberate effort to include them in the conversation around some of the ongoing issues and challenges facing females in the workplace.
The IWD hashtag for this year was ‘Inspire Inclusion’ while the theme for the Institute of Directors’ Women’s Leaders Conference, which took place on March 8 at the AC Marriott in Belfast, was US businesswoman Sheryl Sandberg’s famous quote “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders”.
The first of two days of activities kicked off on March 7 with an internal afternoon for W&R Barnett colleagues with a focus on looking at the team’s perceptions of their environment based on the five senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell.
This started with lunch at a Japanese restaurant called Zen and continued with a sensorium experience across three floors at The National with interactive sensory experiments and cocktails (alcoholic and non-alcoholic).
Sarah said: “This was a great icebreaker, allowing colleagues to get to know each other. It was fascinating to see how different people’s sense of smell was.”
From there, the group moved on to a tour of Belfast’s vibrant and flourishing street art scene, a visual test of the everyday art that is around people living and working in the city.
The tour guide helped bring to life many of the pieces of art in the city, highlighting what happens when you open your eyes and look beyond the everyday norm.
The first day concluded with a wonderful private dining experience at acclaimed restaurant Deanes with ‘The Irish Magician’ Rodd Hogg bamboozling colleagues with his dazzling array of tricks.