2017 Winners & Finalists

The winner of this award is a woman with incredible potential and motivation to achieve greatness in her field of the Built Environment. She will have had several significant achievements, contributing to her field in a distinctive and innovative fashion.

Winner

• Louise Hardy, Sirius Minerals

Finalists

• Perm Saini, Claremont Property Group
• Michelle Greeff, Hobs Studios
• Diane Hart, L&Q
• Karen Temple, NPS Group
• Anne McNamara, Shine Bid Services
• Valerie Bannister, Your Move

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The First Woman of Engineering & Manufacturing will most likely have overcome the odds to be a strong female force in a typically male-dominated field. She will be a role model, with great success behind her, and showing promise for the future.

Winner

• Caroline Hargrove, McLaren Applied Technologies

Finalists

• Angie Ma, ASI Data Science
• Lisa Birch, Charles Austen Pumps
• Andrea, Catlow
• Anna Wild, Laing O’Rourke
• Catalina Quiroga, Sevcon

The winner of this award will be a woman with ambition, drive and charisma. She will have achieved success in the field of retail and/or consumer industries, be at the forefront of innovation and be making a distinctive contribution to a real consumer need.

Winner

• Ali Powell, Fitness First Group

Finalists

• Angela Day, Affordable Car Hire
• Annabel Karmel, Annabel Karmel
• Anna Kilmurray, Clearscore
• Sara Davies, Crafter’s Companion
• Miguelina Gambaccini, Miguelina Inc
• Jana Korpova, Smart Currency Exchange

The First Woman of Media will be ambitious and creative with a ground-breaking spirit. With significant success to date and big goals for the future, she will be a role model for future generations.

Winner

• Verity Brown, The Specialist Works

Finalists

• Anna-Louise Gladwell, AKQA
• Tracy De Groose, Dentsu Aegis Network
• Thalia Droussioti, Global Listings
• Joanna Carrigan, News UK
• Cat Botibol, PD3
• Jane Anne Hayward, WS Advertising

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The winner of the finance award will be tenacious and outstanding in her field. She will most likely have overcome difficulties to get where she is today, and will be passionate about driving change and supporting diversity and inclusion in the finance industry.

Winner

• Helen Steers, Pantheon Ventures (UK)

Finalists

• Anna Sofat, Addidi Wealth
• Marieke Flament, Circle
• Runa Alam, Development Partners International
• Elizabeth Raffle, Lloyds Banking Group
• Rhonda Ryan, Pavilion Alternatives Group
• Gail McManus, Private Equity Recruitment
• Gina Miller, SCM Direct

The First Woman of Public Service winner will be a dedicated and passionate female at the forefront of the public service industry. Her previous successes will support her drive for future achievements. She will be pioneering and entrepreneurial in spirit.

Winner

• Deborah Cadman, Suffolk County Council

Finalists

• Claire Horton, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home
• Christine Roberts, David MacBrayne HR (UK)
• Fleur Sexton, PET-Xi
• Nicola Ross, Thames Valley Police
• Professor Aisha K. Gill, University of Roehampton
• Yasmin Batliwala, WDP
• Kimberly Richardson, Widows of Opportunity

The winner of this award will be an inspiring, committed and creative female, at the top of the tourism and leisure industry. She will be making a distinctive and innovative contribution to the field and empowering the next generation through her successes.

Winner

• Abigail Wright, Spabreaks.com

Finalists

• Ufi Ibrahim, British Hospitality Association
• Kate McWilliams, easyJet
• Kate Sullivan, Lonely Planet
• Clare Wood, MK Gallery
• Dale MacPhee, Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh - The Caledonian

The winner of this award will be redressing the balance of this male-dominated field; inspiring younger women with her achievements. She will be pioneering, tenacious and committed to her industry as shown through her numerous successes and promise for the future. She will overall be a role model for women in science and technology.

Winner

• Elizabeth Sheldon, Evidence Talks

Finalists

• Resh Sidhu, Framestore
• Linda Summerton, Immodulon
• Sarah Weller, Mubaloo
• Anne-Marie Imafidon, Stemettes
• Hayley Sudbury, WERKIN

New for 2017! The First Woman of Healthcare will be an individual who has been at the forefront of innovation in healthcare. She will be dedicated to the field with high achievements huge personal and professional motivation to succeed. She will be charismatic and ambitious. She may have overcome difficulties to get where she is, and will subsequently be an inspiring role model for women in this field.

Winner

• Amber Vodegel, Health & Parenting

Finalists

• Penny Overy, Cambridge Care Company
• Alison Whittaker, Crawford Healthcare
• Charlotte Summers, Diabetes Digital Media
• Jean Rumveye, Medino
• Jan Flawn, PJ Care
• Jan Steward, Ultrasound Direct

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The First Woman of Business Services will be a ground-breaking high-achiever with huge personal and professional motivation to succeed. She will be charismatic and ambitious and significant achievements to date. She may have overcome difficulties to get where she is, and will subsequently be an inspiring role model for women in this field.

Winner

• Hayley Johnson, Epos Now

Finalists

• Rachel Barton, Accenture
• Penelope Warne, CMS Cameron McKenna
• Jo Haigh, fds Director Services
• Yvonne Thomas, Interserve
• Ann Harding, Quattro Plant
• Dawn McCarthy, Rentokil Initial
• Trisha Pirie, Scottish Enterprise

The winner of this award will have recognised a need, and executed a successful solution to that need in an innovative and distinctive manner. She will be a strong, motivated and charismatic leader, most likely with a compelling personal story.

Winner

• Angela Spang, JUNE Medical

Finalists

• Lisa Scott, Gourmet Gadgetry
• Kim Antoniou, Kafoodle
• Hillary Graves, Little Dish
• Coleen Wong, Techsixtyfour

The winner of this award will be under 35 years of age at the time of the awards ceremony. She will have achieved significant success in her short life with phenomenal potential for the future. She may have overcome the odds to get where she is today, and will be a shining role model to young women in business.

Winner

• Charlotte Pearce, InkPact Marketing

Finalists

• Elizabeth Dirth, 2050 Climate Group
• Rayner Davies, A&R Cleaning Services
• Julianne Ponan, Creative Nature
• Anne Macdonald, Harper Macleod
• Melba Mwanje, SE1 United
• Joelle Dinnage, The Global Art Agency

Sponsored By:

The First Woman disruptor will be shaking up the industry or profession in which she operates. She may be at the cutting edge of scientific discovery, or transforming complacent markets with innovative ideas, but either way she will be doing so with great success and tenacity.

Winner

• Lilia Stoyanov, Transformify

Finalists

• Maria Harris, Atom Bank
• Emma Cleveland, Cleveland & Co Associates Limited
• Angelica Donati, Houzen
• Jane Gorick, Packaging Services Europe
• Victoria Peppiatt, Phrasee
• Tracey Follows, The Future Laboratory

The First Women Mentor of the year will be a male or a female who has gone the extra mile as a mentor of women in business, or young businesses over the past year. The winner will have shown willingness to volunteer their time to supporting one or more new or growing businesses and/or supporting one or more individuals in their chosen career. They will be inspiring and dedicated to diversity and inclusion.

Winner

• Donna Marie Herdsman

Finalists

• Elizabeth Filippouli, Global Thinkers Mentors & Global Thinkers Forum
• Linda Kirk, Just for Women Centre
• Zandra Lee Moore, Panintelligence
• Tiffany Kelly, RoundTable Global
• Aline Santos Farhat, Unilever

The company to be awarded First Women Business of the Year will be one which has a clear commitment to investment in people, diversity and inclusion. The company will display unique and distinguishing characteristics which set it apart from the rest as a pioneering and dedicated force for change. Judging will be by public vote through partners, Real Business.

Winner

• Capgemini

Finalists

• Deloitte
• EDF
• IBM
• KPMG
• L&Q
• Simmons & Simmons

This award honours the career and life achievements of one particularly exceptional, ground-breaking woman. The winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award should represent two key characteristics; demonstrating what is possible for women and supporting the success of other women. She will have a personally inspiring story and will be an exceptional role model to others.

Winner

Dame Fiona Caldicott