Search has started for the year's most enterprising women

15th October 2018

The annual quest to find the region’s most successful and inspirational businesswomen has begun.

The hunt for nominations for the 2019 East Midlands Chamber Enterprising Women Awards started at a lunch at Nottingham’s De Vere Orchard Hotel, on Friday (12 October), with guest speaker Carolyn Radford, Chief Executive Officer at Mansfield Town Football Club.

Carolyn is one of only two female CEOs in professional football. She accepted the post when she was 29, becoming the youngest football CEO in the country.

Passionate about defending equality and fairness in the game, she often talks about the business of football as well as the challenge of women succeeding in male-dominated industries.

Carolyn graduated with a Politics degree from the University of Durham and recently completed a master’s degree in Professional Legal Practice.

Along with her position at Mansfield Town Football Club, Carolyn is also a director of One Call Insurance, a lawyer at OCL Solicitors, owner of salon 'Beauty at Doncaster' and the founder of the Radford Foundation, a charity specialising in helping create a safer, stronger community for the people of Mansfield and the surrounding areas.

The Co-Chairs of Enterprising Women - Jean Mountain, a Past President at East Midlands Chamber, and Eileen Richards, of ER Recruitment, who currently sits on the Chamber’s Board of Directors - hosted the lunch.

Eileen said: “The awards are all about finding and recognising women who make a serious contribution to the regional economy, often successfully balancing work, keeping home and motherhood, but not always being acknowledged for what they achieve.”

There are seven awards to be won this year: Business Woman of the Year (sponsored by Pick Everard), Social Commitment (Hastings), Apprentice of the Year (Derby College), Female Employee of the Year (Smallman and Sons), Female Entrepreneur of the Year (Leicester Racecourse), Team of the Year (Leicester Tigers) and Small Business of the Year (The Belmont Hotel).

Entries have to be in by Friday 4 January 2019. Entry is by nomination, but can be self-nominated. The winners will be announced at a glittering, ‘little black dress’ dinner on International Women’s Day on Friday 8 March.

Jean said: “By highlighting their contribution and telling their stories, hopefully we can inspire other women to pursue their business dream, which is why I would urge as many people as possible to send in nominations for this year’s awards.”

Chamber membership is a requirement for nomination. For more information visit https://bit.ly/2LBXq49. For an application pack email ew@emc-dnl.co.uk or call the Chamber’s events team on 0333 320 0333 and select ‘option 2’ when prompted.

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