Profile: Laura Shapiro

Laura Shapiro can often be found displaying a classic Porsche at the weekend, but it’s during the week that she’s truly driven.

Laura is a portfolio director with international events and exhibition company CloserStill Media, working out of the Coventry office located at the Coventry University Technology Park

She was the company’s 21st employee when she joined 13 years ago as a sales manager. Six promotions later and Laura is one of several female leaders within the Coventry office, which is now home to 70 staff. The wider company has grown through acquisition and now employs more than 700 people.

It’s been an incredible journey for a business that was started in a Warwickshire pig shed, and Laura’s own rise has been similarly meteoric after she ‘fell into the industry’ after being made redundant by a Midlands publishing company.

“The company was closing the title I worked on,” she said. “It was the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and we were the media partner for the Pharmacy Show which was run by CloserStill.

“Matthew Butler, who is still my boss now, asked if I’d like to join the company because I had all of the contacts and all of the knowledge. I’d never worked in exhibitions before and I had to learn all of that when I got here but I had the inside knowledge of the industry and the little black book.

“That was over 13 years ago and the rest is history.”

Laura had studied Chemistry at Glasgow University. Both her parents were medics and she says she has ‘lived and breathed’ the sector all of her life.

Her journey to the Midlands after graduating took in detours to Southampton, London and Cambridge before she settled in Leicestershire with her car enthusiast husband-to-be and, hence, the move to the Birmingham publisher which was just about commutable.

But it was at CloserStill Media that Laura found her calling. It led to regular promotions which means she now oversees 12 exhibitions in the medical sector looking after 16 staff who do everything from selling the space at the events to delivering the shows.

“In my portfolio, we’ve launched three new events in the past year – Women’s Health Professional Care; Best Practice; and the Clinical Pharmacy Congress, which we launched in Manchester,” she said.

“The Best Practice event won ‘best brand expansion’ at the recent Exhibition News awards. We certainly celebrated the win afterwards!

The growth of Laura’s own portfolio – mirrored by the wider company’s expansion which has moved it to being in the top 10 in its field in the world – means she is nearly always looking to recruit. The challenge is finding people who match her passion and drive.

“If we are being honest, we want people who want to come in and make money for the business and also to make money for themselves,” Laura admits.

“That’s what will happen if you are good at your job.

“I wouldn’t be here 13 years later if I didn’t enjoy what I do and if I didn’t have a passion for the business.