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This January, I had the pleasure of attending the Women in Costs Conference 2026, which left me not just inspired, but also optimistic about the future of the costs profession. The conference felt like a sense of community, being surrounding by so many talented, ambitious and driven women, all working in different areas of costs and at different stages of their careers.
All of the speakers were exceptional, and spoke with real honesty about their career journeys, leadership, challenges and growth. Nicola Rushton KC gave an overview of her career path and provided insights into her leadership style, this being transformational leadership, and how this had assisted not only her development, but also assisted with other people’s development.
Helen Burness provided a session on ‘Visibility that counts’ which surrounded showing up on LinkedIn and why this matters. Helen provided tips on how to optimise your profile, the importance of posting regularly and tips on the content you can lead with on your LinkedIn posts. This provided valuable insight into the importance of being visible on this platform and how this could help with our own development.
Following on from this, Vikki Weinrich-Cooke provided an overview of the mentoring programme and the success of the same. Vikki advised that the Women in Costs mentoring community had grown to 49 members, and they had added brand new training sessions to keep the programme fresh and relevant to those issues facing women in the workplace.
An introduction was then given to Lauren Evans, who won the 2026 Rising Star award. Lauren was only six months into her current role, which is truly inspiring. Lauren provided an insight into her career and an in depth talk on ‘Empowerment through technology’, within this Lauren advised on how technology can be used as a tool to assist us in further developing our skillset and careers. Lauren provided top tips on owning the digital shift, and the use of excel.
Deborah Burke and Erica Bedford lastly engaged in a conversation regarding Deborah’s career, past experiences, successes, and challenges faced and how this helped to shape and progress her career in costs.
Erica then announced the Woman of Impact award, which was in honour of the late Gemma McGundle. This was awarded to Ashliegh Beaver, Partner of Horwich Farrelly, who was said to have been an inspiration to her team.
The Women in Costs Conference created space for voices to be heard, experiences to be shared and inspiration given to each and every one of us who attended. I am already looking forward to the next.
