THE woman who turned Ann Summers into a £100 million business visited a Hampshire School to meet the next generation of enterprising women.

Jacqueline Gold CBE visited Bridgemary School in Gosport at the invitation of the town’s MP, Caroline Dinenage.

The Enterprising Women event was designed to encourage Year 9 school girls from Bridgemary and Brune Park schools to explore all career opportunities available to them.

The girls heard from seven inspirational mentors about their journeys to become successful business and career women.

Then guest of honour, Jacqueline, chief executive of Ann Summers, gave a motivational speech in which she encouraged the girls to "think about your passion and what you’re really interested in" and "help drive that change" to see more women in business.

During the event, the girls were challenged design a business plan for a vacant commercial property in Gosport.

The girls were then given a chance to pitch their own ideas to the visiting experts in a ‘Dragons Den meets The Apprentice’ format.

One team planned to launch a careers advisory business called ‘Opening Doors’ to help local people build the confidence to enter work, another came up with the idea of a Performing Arts Academy.

The winning idea was SeaFix, a boat repair and engineering company that planned to employ semi-retired marine engineers from Gosport, as well as new apprentices, so the experienced staff could train up the youngsters on the job.

Caroline Dineage said: “The girls’ projects were really inventive and they all clearly identified businesses that Gosport needs. I hope today was an opportunity for them to gain some experience in the business world and be inspired by our fabulous team of businesswomen.”

Jacqueline said: “I could see so much talent in the room today. It’s about time that girls started realising how fantastic they really are and what they have to offer.”

When Jacqueline Gold joined Ann Summers, the company's annual turnover was £83,000, but it now stands at £140 million: a clear testament to her brilliant business acumen.

The mentors who joined her were: Freya Derrick, owner of Hopscotch Nurseries, which employs over 160 local staff; Melanie Lawson, founder of the Brighton-based Omega3 specialist company, Bare Biology; Lulu Whitmore, founder of Southsea’s premier events management company, Love Southsea; Dee Farwell from accountants, Business Bar; Commander Sophie Shaughnessy, Executive Officer at HMS Sultan and the most senior female engineer in the Royal Navy to date; Christine Biddle, operations manager at Maritime Services International; and Abby Thomson, director and co-founder of Gosport Marine Scene.