Business Chicks makes redundancies in bid to “keep the brand alive”

Business Chicks founder Emma Isaacs has announced Business Chicks is scaling down in a bid to “keep the brand alive”, with a number of team members made redundant.

Making the announcement publicly via social media on Friday, as well as through an email to subscribers today, Isaacs said the move has been made “with a heavy heart”, and comes after a number of challenging years during the pandemic.

“We made it through the pandemic due to the determination of our team and the loyalty of our members and partners. But the situation was unsustainable, and we now find ourselves in a position of financial crisis,” she wrote this morning.

Later on Friday, via a now-deleted post that appeared across the Business Chicks Instagram account, a different version of Isaacs’ post was shared presumably — claiming that all 13 remaining staff had been made redundant, and were informed after hosting an event for the company’s coworking space. The post shared concerns about how staff will find work this side of Christmas, and noted particular concern for two staff members who are pregnant

Business Chicks only recently appointed a new CEO, with Gemma O’Neill taking the role in late July 2022 and Isaacs then announcing that despite the “rocky” period of the past few years, “we’re now well positioned to take the business to the next level”.

Isaacs wrote this morning that after exploring different pathways, “contracting the workforce” became the only clear option for keeping the business alive and ensuring employees could receive redundancy entitlements.

Isaacs says she is retaining a “small team” to support existing members and partners, and they will be looking to rebuild “gently and sustainably”. She told Nine papers that nine staff had been redundant, and not the full 13 that had been mentioned in the deleted Instagram post.

“I remain 100% committed to ensuring the survival of Business Chicks as there is still so much important work to be done for women,” Isaacs said in the email this morning.

After acquiring the Business Chicks brand and business 17 years ago, Isaacs’ has grown it into an event and membership platform featuring events with high-profile women and men ranging from celebrities to politicians and authors.  Isaacs went on to lead Business Chicks’ global ventures in early 2016.

This article was first published by Women’s Agenda.