Women in Art Fair, London
Jaqueline Harvey
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Women in Art Fair is a yearly event dedicated to redressing the gender imbalance in the art industry. The founder, Jaqueline Harvey, originally planned the debut event for 2020 but the global pandemic left her facing considerable uncertainty. 
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Jaqueline used the enforced pause in operations to reflect strategically, and in 2022 she approached the British Library for advice on whether a business structure based around face-to-face events would ever be viable moving forward. It was at this point that she was introduced to Get Ready for Business Growth. 
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At a time of uncertainty and anxiety Jaqueline, who had previous experience of British Library support, was attracted to the idea of business advice with high integrity, from a known and trusted source. 
“It is hard to get independent advice even if you pay for it; that’s what I like about the support provided by the British Library, it is very professional and extremely independent.” 
Jaqueline found the Get Ready for Business Growth workshops and one-to-one sessions valuable for a variety of reasons. Where workshops were good at providing general information, one-to-ones took that learning, built on it, and tailored it to her situation. The Finance stream was particularly valuable, introducing Jaqueline to grants, different accounting systems, specialist accountants, and a range of quick fixes and tweaks which could be implemented with minimal effort for maximum impact. Jaqueline also derived significant value from the customer segmentation element of the Product and Service Innovation stream, and the British Library’s own Business Research session was able to provide her with data on potential funding channels and access to the GrantFinder database. 
One of the unexpected benefits of the programme was the community it fostered. Jaqueline enjoyed being surrounded by other creatives who were asking a variety of relevant questions that might not have otherwise occurred to her. This peer-to-peer element also enabled the sharing of inspiring experiences and approaches between people in similar situations, with similar businesses and mindsets.  
“If the experts didn’t know the answer to your question, they were experienced enough to point you in the direction of someone who would.”
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The effects of Get Ready for Business Growth were personally and professionally profound for Jaqueline. The support gave her certainty and reassurance, and accelerated the launch of her first event by at least 12 months. Jaqueline left the programme with the confidence to better articulate her business offer, and the knowledge that Women in Art Fair most certainly had a place in the UK market.