The woman who brought sex to the high street will bring inspiration to Destination Growth 07

The woman who brought sex to the high street will top off the celebrity speaker bill at the East of England's largest business conference, Destination Growth 07, next month.

An inspiration to thousands of women, Jacqueline Gold, chief executive of Ann Summers and Knickerbox will be sharing the secrets of her success with leaders of the region's fastest growing businesses.

Hailed as one of Britain's most influential and powerful women by the national media, Jacqueline Gold saw the potential of selling sexy lingerie and sex toys to women in the privacy of their own homes 25 years ago and today Ann Summers parties are just as popular as they were then.  Now she oversees a business empire with an annual turnover of £155 million and will be giving a key note speech at Destination Growth 07 called 'Good Vibrations'.

Jacqueline is particularly keen to share her experiences with fellow businesswomen and female entrepreneurs and says with enough courage and determination women can be just as successful in business as men. She said: "I think women bosses are actually better bosses because we listen. My management style is all about listening and I think that is a quality that women bring to business. Women can feel intimidated by men and that is a big challenge for female entrepreneurs. All too often they try to emulate men in the workplace but they need to be themselves and not let others put them off."

She added: "By attending events such as Destination Growth 07 women can get great advice through networking, listening to speakers and asking them questions. When I started in business there were no such events so it was much harder to seek out that advice." 

Hosted by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), Destination Growth 07 aims to equip leaders of the region's small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with the skills, knowledge and tools to help them grow their businesses.

Altogether there will be 22 top international business experts sharing advice and ideas with the region's businesses at the conference. These include:

Gerald Ratner - jewellery retailer
Jerry Greenfield - co-founder of Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream
Dr Edward de Bono - world renowned creative thinker
James Averdieck - founder of GU chocolate puds
Al Gosling - founder of the Extreme Sports Channel
Will King - founder of the King of Shaves
Mike Southon - the Beermat entrepreneur
Doug Richard - former BBC2 Dragon's Den star and founder of Library House
Professor Malcolm McDonald - leading expert at Cranfield University
Nigel Risner - award-winning motivational speaker.

Destination Growth 07 is the East of England's biennial flagship business event and will be held on Tuesday 6 November. It is exclusively for SMEs in the region and will be held at Duxford Airspace in Cambridgeshire.

It will begin with registrations from 8.30am and will culminate in the final of EEDA's investment competition 'running the gauntlet', which offers entrepreneurs in the region the chance to win a share of £2 million of equity funding.

For the full speaker line-up and more information, or to register for the event visit www.eeda.org.uk/destinationgrowth.
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Notes to Editors

For photographs or biogs of Jacqueline Gold or any of the other speakers at Destination Growth 07, press passes to the event or further information please contact:
Lisa Davidson in EEDA's press office, tel: 01223 200871, email: lisadavidson@eeda.org.uk

About Destination Growth
Destination Growth 07 is the region's flagship business event, hosted by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA). It is a biennial conference for leaders of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the East of England. The first Destination Growth was held in 2005 was a runaway success with more than 500 delegates attending to get advice, ideas and tips from a range of business experts including Edward de Bono, Evan Davies and John Timpson.

This year's event is set to attract up to 700 senior decision makers from the region's fastest growing SMEs. The programme will feature three lively keynote speeches - one of which will be led by Jerry Greenfield. These will be supported by a packed programme of educational master classes and topical debates led by 19 other high profile speakers, including Edward De Bono, Nigel Risner and Sir Robin Young - more will be announced over the coming months. These sessions will focus on accelerating business growth and will have four themes:

. sales and marketing
. innovation
. accessing finance
. leadership

Destination growth will also showcase regional arts and have a lively networking and exhibition area for up to 50 business support organisations, offering opportunities to network with likeminded business leaders.

For more information or to register visit www.eeda.org.uk/destinationgrowth.

Businesses can also chat online on the business blog at: www.eeda.org.ouk/destinationgrowth/blog

About EEDA
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is the driving force behind sustainable economic regeneration in the East of England: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The vision for the East of England is to create a leading economy, founded on a world class knowledge base, creativity and enterprise to improve the quality of life for all who live and work here.  For further information visit www.eeda.org.uk

About Jacqueline Gold
Jacqueline Gold, chief executive of Ann Summers and Knickerbox has been voted the second most powerful woman by in retail by Retail Week and one of Britain's most inspirational businesswoman in the UK by many publications including Cosmopolitan, Woman and Good Housingkeeping magazines. 

At the age of 19, after joining Ann Summers for work experience, Jacqueline saw the potential of selling sexy lingerie and sex toys to women in the privacy of their own homes. Working her way through the ranks Jacqueline was made chief executive in 1987 and quickly transformed Ann Summers into a multi-million pound concern. Ann Summers now boasts a sales force of 7,500 women as part organisers, has 134 high street stores and an annual turnover of £155 million.

Jacqueline has been the subject of several documentaries including 'Back to the Floor' (BBC2 2001), 'Ann Summers Uncovered' (ITV 2003), 'So what do you do all day' (BBC2, 2004) and was one of the panellists on the 'Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway' (ITV, 2007). Her first autobiography 'Good Vibrations' was published in 1995 with a second book 'A Woman's Courage' published in April 2007. She is also a columnist for Retail Week, New Business and Kent Business.       

At Destination Growth 07 Jacqueline Gold will lead a session called 'Good Vibrations'.