Thursday 23rd April
9.00 - 9.45 - Keynote Speaker: Victoria Humphries
Anything is Possible
The VMG is delighted to welcome Victoria Humphries as its keynote speaker for VMG Congress 2025.
Victoria Humphries is a polar adventurer, three times Guinness World Record holder, mountain climber, marathon runner, author, Bath based businesswoman and a ‘normal’ person. She prides herself on being just your average woman who happens to believe that Anything is Possible if you put your mind to it. Life is full of challenges, and we always have a choice – step forward or run away, be overcome by the enormity of it or be brave and step into it. What’s the worst that can happen? Just give it a go!
In 1997 Victoria, along with her mother Sue, became part of the first all-female expedition to the North Pole. Along the way they experienced temperatures of -40oC, constantly shifting ice and at one point they both fell into the Arctic Ocean finding themselves in a life or death situation. The expedition tested their resilience, their ability to cope with a constantly changing environment and most of all, their courage. Victoria is unusual in that she combines stories from her various adventures and challenges with her extensive commercial experience to create talks and workshops that are both inspirational and relatable to the challenges of the modern day workplace.
She is known for avoiding corporate jargon and simply using her real life experiences to inspire and motivate. For many years Victoria worked in education and was Managing Director of Teachit. She is now CEO of the Royal Photographic Society and continues to give keynote speeches around the world. Victoria is Chair of Governors of a school in Gibraltar and on the Board of Trustees of a UK based group of schools.
9.45 - 10.15 - ShareSPACE Live Introduction
11.15 - 12.15 - ShareSPACE - Agenda Creation
13.00 - 15.30 ShareSPACE LIVE
The agenda is created, the scene is set. Choose which group you want to join, even if you haven’t been part of the agenda creation session you are welcome to join sessions created by delegates for delegates!
Contribute and learn with a group of peers around a topic YOU care about. Cut through complex topics with diverse voices and points of view. If you are not getting what you need from the experience, join another group or workshop. No more sitting at the back of a lecture hall wishing you were somewhere else – be in charge of your own learning experience.
16.00 - 17.00 (ballroom) ShareSPACE reflections
After a day of doing things differently reflections will be an important round off to the ShareSPACE session. What have we learned? What have we contributed to the community? What do we want to take forward for the future?
Friday 24th April
9.00 - 10.00 - Affinity Futures
Cards against inclusivity
Session details coming soon
10.15 - 16.00 - Ballroom Community
The ballroom will be turned over to the community in this all-day session.
Ever thought about studying with us? Come and meet our tutors
Want to find out what it’s like to be a VMG director? Have a chat with one of them
Wish you could have a chat with a really engaging speaker? We’ve got you.
Exhibitors are here to help solve some of your problems. Tell them what you need.
We will have a range of popular contributors throughout the day who will be happy to talk to you about your experiences and share their own. Join their table, join the discussion.
Harewood
10.15 - 11.30 - Bethan Gray
Pivoting your career and how VMG can help
Session details coming soon
11.30 - 12.30 - Brooke Paul
Local Love: How to become the most recognised vet in your community
Building a strong reputation doesn’t start with marketing, it starts with people, systems, and consistency. In this talk, Brooke shares her real-world experience of helping James Street Veterinary Centre become one of the most recognised practices in its community, including being awarded Best Vets in County 2025 and successfully launching a new branch with just four weeks’ notice.
Drawing on VMG tools and practical marketing principles, this session explores how reputation is built from the inside out. Delegates will learn why a strong team is your most powerful marketing asset, how loyal clients amplify your brand through word of mouth, and how clear foundations make marketing feel simpler and more genuine.
This reflective but actionable session is aimed at anyone looking to grow or protect their practice’s reputation, and for those considering the VMG Certificate. It offers a tangible example of how leadership learning can be applied meaningfully in practice.
13.15 - 14.45 - Tracey Morley Jewkes
Session details coming soon
15.00 - 16.00 - Helen Silver-MacMahon
The Power of Connection
In this session we will explore the power of connection as a core pillar of resilience and consider how strong relationships support our performance and wellbeing. Research into high performing teams, including Google’s work on team effectiveness, shows that psychological safety is the key factor that separates higher and lower performers. Psychological safety enables people to speak up, ask for help, and share concerns without fear of judgment or embarrassment.
We will examine how to create this safety in our own teams. We will also look at the role of vulnerability in building trust and how learning to ask for support strengthens both individuals and teams. Finally, we will discuss practical steps to fast-track new professional relationships so that people can integrate quickly and confidently into new environments.