Willow HR named as Family Friendly Business of the Year

HR specialist Laura Callahan and her team at Willow HR have won the national award of Family Friendly Business of The Year 2020.

Laura started her own business, based in Shrivenham on the Wiltshire/Oxfordshire border, four years ago as a single parent. She has since encountered the challenges of bringing up children alone, reliant on a single household income, as well as building her own business.

Her story captured the judges of the awards organised by the Single Mums in Business Network. 

Laura said: “We’re all thrilled to be named the winner of this award. We take great pride in running a professional practice in HR and senior leadership development (whatever you want to say) while also being mindful of our families. “I personally make it a priority to work with professional people who seek flexible employment, for any reason. We find ways to support each other whilst demonstrating excellent time management, loyalty and flexibility.”  

Laura (37) joined the Single Mums Business Network to support other women who are trying to run businesses and care for children on their own. Even though she now has a partner, she knows how tough it can be to grow a business while trying to raise children alone. 

SMBN founder Julie Hawkins said: “Laura and her team were the stand-out winners in the category for her commitment to operating her business in a family-friendly manner. Indeed for Laura, it came across strongly that she sees this as a positive choice in business both in the people she recruits and also in the way in which her business operates. 

“Whilst awards were won by men and women, friends and members of the SMBN, it is all about the members. They fight day in day out, against stigma, misconceptions, fighting to find a way to work around childcare restrictions and fighting not to be dependent on contributions, they work SO hard whilst being called names across the globe, that is the reality.  

“Those who work in sync with childcare, skillset and salary that recognises the ability of women to organise, troubleshoot, problem solve, empathise and manage is SO hard to come by.”

The 2021 Awards open for nominations on November 29 2020 with an award ceremony being held at the 2nd National Conference for Single Mums Business in October next year. 

The 2020 judges were:

• Bridget Daley – founder of the Parents In Biz platform and editor of Parents in Business magazine.
• Alison Holmes, vice-president of the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce and MD of the Peritia Group Ltd. 
• Mike Lewis, Gloucestershire SRG Co-ordinator of Purple Shoots Business Lending Ltd. 

Laura is known for her caring yet straight-talking approach to HR and supporting clients to deal with the challenges they face. Currently she’s supporting clients in the education, manufacturing, FMCG market research and retail sectors. Her clients include Cranfield University, Alvan Blanch and Freixenet Copestick. To find out more about Laura and her team visit: https://www.willowhr.com/

* image of Laura Callahan of Willow HR with her team’s award after being named the UK’s Family Friendly Employer of the Year 2020.