‘I was turned away from a major work event because I had my baby with me’

A female entrepreneur was left feeling “absolutely humiliated” after she was refused entry to London Tech Week because she was with her 18-month-old daughter.

Davina Schonle had travelled for three hours to get to the event at Olympia, where she planned to meet potential suppliers for her new start-up AI company.

But on arrival on Monday, she said officials prevented her from entering with her daughter, Isabella, who was in a pram.

The incident at the event, which was addressed by Sir Keir Starmer on the same day, has been widely condemned at a time when the tech industry tries to shake off its male-dominated tag.

A recent report by Tech Nation showed that just 26 per cent of people in the UK tech industry were women, with more technical roles seeing an even wider gender gap.

Writing on LinkedIn, Ms Schonle, aged 40, said: “I hate that I’m having to write this, but today I was refused entry at London Tech Week… because I had my baby with me.

“It’s a three-hour drive one way for me to come to London. At this stage, I limit how many hours I am away from my baby girl. This is about new environments for her as much as it is about me. I should be able to build my company with her by my side.

“As someone passionate about innovation, tech and the future of work, I was excited to attend, connect, have meetings and contribute. In today’s age, shouldn’t we be more inclusive?

“This moment was more than inconvenient. It was a clear reminder that, as a tech industry, we still have work to do when it comes to inclusion beyond buzzwords.

“Parents are part of this ecosystem. Caregivers are innovators, founders, investors, and leaders. If major events like London Tech Week can’t make space for, what message does that send about who belongs in tech? I don’t necessarily mean make it kid-inclusive event in general, or do I? Doesn’t our future belong to the kids?”

Ms Schonle later told The Times she had been left feeling “absolutely humiliated” and “angry” by the incident.

As founder and chief executive of Humanvantage AI, which is developing a conversational role-play corporate training platform using AI technology, she had reportedly arranged three meetings with exhibitors.

In response to her LinkedIn post, Rebecca Taylor, an expert in cyber threats and human intelligence who gave a TED talk last year, said she was “so sorry”, and signalled her support for the mother.

She wrote: “I honestly don’t know what to say. The ‘juggle’ is real, and if you’re doing your best to make life happen and be part of the conversation, other individuals and communities should be empowering you to do that. Here if you ever want to talk.”

Janthea Brigden, ambassador for Children at Events, wrote: “It feels so humiliating, doesn’t? Like you are a ‘non person’!”

London Tech Week is expected to attract more than 45,000 people from across the world.

On Monday, in an address at the event, Sir Keir vowed to persuade a “sceptical” public that AI can improve millions of lives and transform the way business works.

In a statement about the incident, London Tech Week said: “We’re aware that one of our attendees wasn’t allowed to enter with their child yesterday. As a business event, the environment hasn’t been designed to incorporate the particular needs, facilities and safeguards that under-16s require.

“We want everyone in the tech community to feel welcome at London Tech Week. We’ve reached out directly to the person involved to discuss what happened and use this experience to inform how we approach this at LTW in the future.”