Unsung Female Heroes In Britain – Women In Business
Britain is full of inspirational women doing amazing things in the world of business. There are more female entrepreneurs in Britain than ever before. In fact, in 2022, over 150,000 new companies were established in the UK by female entrepreneurs, twice as many as in 2018.
The achievements of women in business are often overlooked – we want to change that. Here, we shine the spotlight on just a few of the unsung female heroes who inspire and motivate us.
June Angelides
June Angelides is a banker, female entrepreneur and tech investor. She is the principal of London-based Samos Investments. She also founded a child-friendly coding school called Mums in Tech, which taught over 250 women to code in three years.
If that isn’t impressive enough, June is committed to sharing her expertise with others. She sits on the advisory board of mentoring app Cajigo, acts as a mentor at Oxford University and runs mentoring circles.
Her contribution to inspiring women in business was recognised in 2020 when she was awarded an MBE for services to women in technology.
Hayley Smith
Like many women in business, Hayley turned a setback into an opportunity. When she was made redundant from her role at a PR agency in 2013, Hayley took the plunge and set up her own PR firm, Boxed Out PR, based in Essex.
Passionate about business development strategies and corporate citizenship, Hayley offers tailored PR and marketing strategies that help other businesses achieve these.
In addition, Hayley founded FlowAid in 2015, which campaigns to ensure homeless women can access sanitary products for free.
Nisha Katona
Nisha launched her first restaurant, Mowgli, in Liverpool in 2014, following a 20-year career as a child protection barrister. Mowgli went from strength to strength, and Nisha went in to open a further 18 sites across the UK, including London, Manchester, Cardiff and Sheffield.
As well as running her culinary empire, Nisha works as a business and food expert for ITV, BBC, Radio 4 and Channel 4. She also founded the Mowgli Trust that donates thousands of pounds to charities every year.
She was recognised in the 2019 New Year Honours List for services in the food industry and was awarded an MBE.
Sophie Milliken
Sophie Milliken is the founder of marketing and advertising consultancy firm Moja Group, based in Newcastle. Prior to this she was the managing director of graduate recruitment and employability consultancy SRS, also based in Newcastle.
Keen to continue supporting the North East region, Sophie is the chair of the charity Smart Works in Newcastle, which supports unemployed women return to work.
In 2013, Sophie became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts in 2019.
Kanya King
Determined to provide a platform for celebrating music inspired and influenced by black artists, Kanya founded the MOBO Awards in 1996, remortgaging her house to do so.
Since then, the MOBOs have grown into an international brand, celebrating the achievements of artists from hip hop, R&B, reggae, soul and African music.
Over the years, the MOBOs have introduced up-and-coming British artists who went on to become massive household names, like Stormzy, Emile Sandé and Dizzee Rascal.
Kanya has received multiple awards for her achievements, including the Media Pioneer award at the Music Week Women In Music Awards.
Lucy Chamberlain
Lucy was keen to reinvent the support staff recruitment industry, and C&C Search was her answer. Using her decades of experience with some of the industry’s leading recruitment companies, Lucy co-founded C&C Search to switch up the recruitment experience for both clients and the candidates.
Like many unsung female heroes in business, Lucy juggles work and home life as a single mum. She is passionate about the holistic approach to business, recognising that a happy and engaged workforce is key to the success of any organisation.
Keen to support the next generation of female entrepreneurs, Lucy and the C&C Search team work alongside the Young Women’s Trust, helping young women on low or no income find employment and turn their lives around.
