Sometimes, very rarely, we get the opportunity to stand up for our values, be true to ourselves and own our own story without complication, grey area or second guessing. I had one such opportunity last week. Owning my own story is a key value of mine, and it’s something I encourage all of my clients to do. In the spirit of that, and in the spirit of not putting up with bullsh*t, I decided to tell this story here on my blog, for the clarity of all. Clarity being another of my favourite things.

A couple of years ago I joined the Enterprising You scheme, that is part of The Growth Company, commissioned by the GMCA and funded by the Department for Education. It is a great scheme, supporting self-employed people in Greater Manchester. It is free, you get coaching and training and networking opportunities. I learned a lot and I was so glad that I had done it. Many women in my network have.

Last year I was asked to speak at a networking event that Enterprising You hosted in Manchester, and I was well paid to take part. I really enjoyed delivering the keynote presentation and a subsequent workshop, and I met some lovely people. So when I was asked to do the same again in March of this year, plus to be involved in an even bigger event later on in the same month, and to be well paid again, I naturally jumped at the chance.

However, that all changed on 11 February when it came to my attention that Enterprising You employs a convicted sex offender as a coach. This man’s past is well known to his superiors and he has recently been promoted to a position of authority over women in his team.

At this point I should make clear that nothing I say in this post about Phil Starr is a secret. The facts are publicly available.

In 1995, in his mid 20s, he got three convictions of indecent assault on girls under 16 and one conviction for indecent exposure. He was given probation.

In 2004, he was convicted again for approaching 5 teenagers including a 13 year old and asking them to participate in porn shoots. As a result of a new sex offender sentencing law, instead of prison, he was given a 5 year sexual offenses prevention order, not to approach or communicate with any female under 16, or lone female unfamiliar to him in public. Violating this would have sent him to prison.

Sources: https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/5222454.sex-pest-who-preyed-on-girls-banned-from-contact-with-women/ and https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/local-news/perverts-five-year-girl-ban-2930074

To be clear, this man:

• Is a coach on the EY scheme so will have had numerous 1:1 meetings with women
• As a coach on the EY scheme, has access to the personal details of every woman on the scheme
• Was chosen to lead a team that includes female coaches

In the light of this information I sent the following email to my contacts at Enterprising You:

This email was copied to four other women in my network who have also been invited to speak at these events. It was also blind copied to Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, who was to be involved with the bigger event later on in March.

We received the following response:

We then heard nothing from the Growth Company until one of the women I had copied into the email sent a request for an update. At which point I received this:

To which I responded:

I do not anticipate any further communication from Enterprising You or The Growth Company. If they are dealing with things internally I would guess that no one involved will be able to speak about it outside of the company. I cannot imagine what “dealing with this matter internally” could look like though, as they already knew about this man’s background. In which case they clearly see nothing wrong in his employment situation. My guess is that there will be a lot of gaslighting of staff who object and hiding behind legalities. That’s how these things usually go right?

Personally I don’t care what the legalities are or what the regulations say. If on my left I have a known sex offender who was once banned from approaching women unfamiliar to him, and on my right I have a woman, do I give him her personal details? Allow him 1:1 unrecorded access to her? Encourage her to take his advice? Suggest he should be her boss? No. Obviously not. Obviously not.

All the hand wringing and questions of “how could this happen?” that we see every time a big scandal comes to light? This is how it happens. Companies making stupid decisions, everyone assuming everyone else knows what they’re doing, cowardice and turning a blind eye.

What you do now that you have this information is entirely up to you. I have no interest in leading any kind of campaign. I have removed myself from any association with the company and have publicly stated my thoughts, so I am done. All I will say is that come 8 March I will struggle to keep my cool if I see any posts about International Women’s Day from people or brands who have this information but have not spoken out. Memes, hashtags, awareness days and supportive captions are pointless if you are not prepared to tackle corporate misogyny when the opportunity arises.

In the words of the fabulous Florence Wilcock, with whom I worked on the #MatExp campaign a few years ago: “Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it. Right is right even if no one is doing it.”

Helen Calvert
The No Bullsh*t Coach
February 2023