Bolton School welcomes back Caroline Plumb OBE for talk

Old girl Caroline Plumb OBE, a high-achieving serial entrepreneur inspired the next generation of young businesswomen.

Caroline has created and sold a number of successful companies, she has a regular column in The Times covering small businesses and entrepreneurship and is previously one of Prime Minister David Cameron’s business ambassadors.

Caroline recalled her days at Bolton School from 1987-1996 with great fondness.

She also spoke of happy memories of her days at Oxford University, where she achieved a First-Class degree in engineering, economics, and management.

Caroline recalled how, upon graduation in 2000, she and a friend scraped together £250 each to start their own company and how she built their first computer from scratch.

The company, Caroline said, was called Fresh Minds, which was a consulting and recruiting firm, and was all about connecting smart young people with businesses. 

She said the enterprise grew rapidly and eventually employed 100 staff.

Today, she is Group CEO of Gravita, a tech-enabled accountancy firm.

She told girls: “You don’t need to worry if you do not yet know what you want to do when you grow up.

READ MORE: Bolton School in list of best schools for The Sunday Times

READ MORE: Fool Me Once's Bolton School is a huge hit with TV crews

READ MORE: Bolton's hardest schools to get into based on applications

Quoting Gloria from the film Barbie, she said: “You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean.

“You have to lead but you can’t squash other people’s ideas.

“Good leadership today, is not about demonstrations of power but about being a strong communicator, painting a picture of the future with empathy, creativity, and passion – characteristics that women have in spades. “

Caroline left the audience with a quote from Hermione Granger who said: “It’s sort of exciting isn’t it, breaking the rules?”