Today is the second instalment of our five-week series of Friday Fifteen features, launched to mark International Women’s Day, highlighting some of Liverpool city region’s most remarkable women in business. Jennie Lewis reports
For the second week of our five-week Friday Fifteen series we focus on three women who for the last few days have been on the French Riviera helping to sell Liverpool city region to the world.
First launched in 2025 to mark International Women’s Day (IWD), Friday Fifteen aims to celebrate the success of Liverpool city region women on more than just one day.
IWD is a celebration of the progress women have made, but also raises the issue that there is much work still to be done to achieve gender parity – particularly in the workplace.
This week’s trio have been working hard behind the curtain in Cannes this week to promote Liverpool at the MIPIM international property expo. City region Mayor Steve Rotheram led a major business delegation to the event hoping to tempt investors with £11bn of projects.
Our latest three are Rhiannon Newman, organiser of the Liverpool pavilion at MIPIM, Lucy Cashman, strategic relations lead (placemaking) at Liverpool City Council, and Casey Scott, event manager at networking and lobbying group Downtown in Business.
Keep a lookout on LBN every Friday for the next few weeks to see who else makes the Friday Fifteen list. Click here to see the week one trio…
Liverpool, and latterly Liverpool city region, has been sending delegations to MIPIM for more than a quarter of a century. It is a fast-moving mission with multiple parts and Rhiannon Newman is a key part of the team that makes it all run smoothly.
Rhiannon offers extensive experience in the organisation of major events. Her impressive roster over the course of more than a decade includes Sound City, Outlook Festival, All About Good Music and Liverpool’s International Business Festival.
Between 2015 and 2017 she worked as a hospitality manager for the AO Arena in Manchester. In 2019 Rhiannon joined Culture Liverpool as a project manager and producer.
Her time in the role saw her make major contributions to Accelerator City 2025, The Taylor Town Trail, Eurovision, World Gymnastics Championships, Good Business Festival, North West event at COP26 and the UK Government Event Research Programme during COVID in 2021.
In September 2025 Rhiannon joined Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and this week has been front and centre at MIPIM where she coordinated all the programming for the mission.
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With the city region focusing on inward investment at MIPIM, Lucy Cashman has played a critical role. As strategic relations lead (placemaking) at Liverpool City Council she is responsible for helping to craft the city’s message to global investors.
Lucy has been an active member of the city region’s business and civic community for a number of years. She came to prominence with her work at The Women’s Organisation where she first joined as a volunteer in 2015.
By the time she left in December 2020 she had become a senior marketing executive of the pioneering organisation – the largest developer and deliverer of training and support for women in the UK.
In 2019, aged just 25, Lucy was recognised on the Liverpool Echo’s 30 Under 30 list, alongside actress Jodie Comer, athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson and business leader and last weeks Friday Fifteen entrant Georgia Morgan.
Lucy went onto work for the then elected Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson as strategic engagement manager, and did a stint as stakeholder manager for Liverpool’s hugely successful delivery of Eurovision in 2023 before moving to her current role.
Speaking of her third trip to MIPIM, Lucy said: “I was part of the city delegation selling the opportunities of the city alongside Nuala Gallagher, director of city development, and Cllr Liam Robinson, leader of Liverpool City Council.
“My role is investor relations – focused on improving the economic profile of the city and communicating what makes the city so special, unique and investable.”
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Casey Scott is regarded as an emerging talent on the Liverpool business scene. As an event manager for networking and lobbying group Downtown in Business, she engages with city stakeholders and key figures from the region’s business community on a daily basis.
Casey graduated with a degree in events management from Liverpool John Moores University in July 2024 and wasted no time in securing a role with Downtown, which operates across Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Birmingham, Leeds and London.
Downtown makes its presence felt at MIPIM, organising a packed programme of events across the three days. This year, housing was firmly at the centre of the agenda, with director of Homes England, Catherine Holmes, appearing as one of a number of key speakers.
Casey was personally responsible for the coordination of three events, including a lunch for 50 attendees and local authority leaders from Liverpool, Blackpool, Salford, Newcastle, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dublin and Belfast on Tuesday.
This was followed by a lunch on a yacht in association with MIPIM sponsors Avison Young, and finally a lunch focused on the future of highstreet businesses in partnership with the Liverpool Business Improvement District.
Reflecting on her experience, Casey says: “Working at Downtown can be busy, there’s no question, but it has presented opportunities for me that I couldn’t have imagined only a couple of years ago.
“I am so proud to have represented Downtown in Business and our city region.”