The Launch of The Lilac Review

The Lilac Review officially launched at a special event hosted at Lloyds Bank’s headquarters in London in February 2024.

We welcomed over 100 guests, including policy makers, business leaders, changemakers and many Disabled entrepreneurs, for a morning of discussion and networking, exploring the mission of The Lilac Review and the opportunity it aims to unlock.

Shezad Nawab, who is profoundly Deaf from birth, runs a consultancy business which empowers and educates entrepreneurs in pitching to investors confidently to scale their businesses. Hayley Kellard, who has a rare eye condition, sells personalised braille greetings cards, as well as leaflets and labels, and supports fellow Disabled entrepreneurs on her online social platforms.

They join a host of impressive Disabled founders on the Lilac Review’s Steering Board, including Joseph Williams, co-founder and CEO of worker-tech company platform Clu; Dr Mark Esho MBE, author and founder of Easy Internet Solutions and Ability Connect CIC, as well as FSB Disability Policy Champion; Martyn Sibley, founder of Purple Goat Agency, Accomable (which was sold to Airbnb) and Disability Horizons magazine; and Sarah Berthon, founder of Excel Against The Odds, which supports people with chronic illnesses in the workplace.

We are also delighted to have fantastic representatives from the wider business community and UK Government on the Lilac Review Steering Group including Small Business Britain, Lloyds Bank, eBay, BT, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), The Entrepreneurs Network, Business Disability Forum, and academics from ARU Peterborough University.

In the months since launch, we are pleased to report some significant progress. So far, eighteen focus groups have taken place with Disabled entrepreneurs to understand challenges and opportunities in depth – including one run exclusively in British Sign Language.

This forms part of a broader consultation phase and call for evidence phase that is running until the end of June 2024. The Lilac Review is now gearing up to share interim research this May, with a final report and recommendations set for the end of 2025.