Girls! Make Your Mark Awards
Our exciting new awards, launched with handbag.comand celebrate Britain’s female entrepreneurs and encourage more to take the plunge.
From an overwhelming number of applications that were whittled down to twenty-two finalists, our panel of prominent judges chose six lucky winners:
Female Entrepreneur of the Year
Jennifer Irvine, The Pure PackagePioneer
Emelie & Louise Olsson, the Catapult ClubEntrepreneurs with a Conscience
Carry Somers, PachacutiHandbags & Gladrags
Sarah Brown, Pai SkincarePeople's Choice as voted by handbag.com readers
Sanchita Saha, CitySocialising.comCongratulations to all of our winners!
Our twenty-two finalists were:
Isabel Branch, Plan: Polo
www.planpolo.com
Plan Polo is an online planning tool for club players in the world of Polo.
Sarah Gillies, UMIcreate
www.umicreate.co.uk
Launching August 2008, UMIcreate is an online card creation site that enables people to create personalised holiday postcards, scan in their children’s artwork, personalise party invitations and much more.
Priya Lakhani, Masala Masala
Inspired by her mothers home cooked curries, Masala Masala is a truly authentic curry recipe which Priya hopes will be soon found on the supermarket shelf.
Jo Morey, Haute Chocolate
Jo is planning to open Haute Chocolate which is a combined shop and café that promises to provide escapism and indulgent, luxurious chocolate to busy people throughout the day.
Emelie Olsson and Louise Olsson, The Catapult Club
www.thecatapultclub.com
Based on the teaching the same principles as the art of Krav Maga; self confidence, self empowerment and personal liberation, the Catapult Club aims to provide its female members with the necessary skills to make their dreams a reality.
Sarah Vorbach, face boutique
www.faceboutique.com
Face Boutique cosmetics are the highest quality products for younger skin and are ethical and naturally derived.
Joanna Behari, Home Jane ltd
www.home-jane.co.uk
Home Jane is a provides an all round service by professional trades women who undertake plumbing, electrics and plastering and advise on interior decoration, interior design and property maintenance.
Nicky Gray, KiKi’s Kabin
www.kikiskabin.co.uk
Set in an old church KiKi’s Kabin provides three floors of unadulterated fun for kids and just a tiny bit of thinking time for parents.
Jennifer Irvine, The Pure Package
www.purepackage.com
The Pure Package delivers high quality, nutritionally balanced and individually tailored meals.
Clare Molyneux of Open the Door
www.openthedoortie.co.uk
Open the Door - Theatre in education facilitates performing arts in over 500 schools and youth clubs, children’s homes and young offenders’ institutes per year.
Sanchita Saha, CitySocialising.com
www.citysocialising.com
CitySocailaisng.com is an event based social networking site aimed at young professionals moving to or in London.
www.annalouofLondon.com
Anna Lou’s self-titled jewellery collections have progressed from their humble beginnings in London Portobello Market to being sold in over 300 stores and high-end boutiques in the UK, Japan, USA and Europe.
Helen Bate, Pictures to Share
www.picturestoshare.co.uk
Pictures to Share are a community interest company specialising in the production of beautifully crafted books.
Alexandra Bishop, Biome Lifestyle Ltd
www.biomelifestyle.com
Biome Lifestyle online is the perfect answer for those searching for a way to kit out their homes with super-stylish yet environmentally friendly products.
Amanda Jones, Red Button Design Ltd
www.thisisredbutton.co.uk
Red Button Design Ltd is a design house producing products exclusively for the aid and humanitarian markets.
Safia Minney, People Tree
www.peopletree.co.uk
People Tree is a fashion dedicated business built on two simple yet profound goals: to promote environmental justice and to ensure the continuation of traditional clothing production techniques in order to protect the livelihoods of communities that would otherwise be lost through increased modernization.
Elaine Owen, Designated Associates
www.elaineowen.com
Designated Associates is a independent, self financing business which offers IT and technology based teaching, services and consultancy to business and individuals across the North West.
Carry Somers, Pachacuti
www.pachacuti.co.uk
Pachacuti creates successful, contemporary fashion and accessories business built on the foundation of fair trade.
Sarah Brown, Pai Skincare
www.paiskincare.com
Pai Skincare is an International line of luxury skincare products, noted for being organic, handmade and boasting beautiful packaging.
Debbie Bryan, Debbie Bryan Ltd
www.debbiebryan.co.uk
Debbie Bryan designs and makes craft based design led products. The company is committed to a handmade ethos that ensures the collections remain fresh, new and original.
www.boudiche.com
Boudiche is a lingerie boutique which creates a luxurious shopping environment in which women can find gorgeous lingerie that fits properly.
Tell me more about the Awards!
A panel of prominent businesswomen including Jacqueline Gold, Head of Ann Summers, Carrie Grant, vocal coach to the stars, and Gita Patel have helped to judge four exciting Girls! Make Your Mark Award categories:- Female Entrepreneur of the Year
- Entrepreneurs with a Conscience
- The Pioneer (for businesses less than 12 months old or an enterprising idea)
- Handbags and Gladrags
- People’s Choice (as voted for by handbag.com readers)
What are the prizes?
As well as giving winners the recognition and spotlight they rightly deserve there are some fantastic prizes for the successful entrants of the Girls! Make Your Mark Awards, including money-can’t-buy mentoring and advice.
I think the Girls! Make Your Mark Awards will help provide a fabulous arena to showcase the brilliant efforts of female entrepreneurs in the UK today. I know from personal experience that it can be challenging running a start up business, whilst juggling other aspects of your life, this is why I feel it is important to support and help champion females who have gone it alone and are realising their dreams.
Pearl Lowe
The big launch
Famous faces
Watch judge Jacqueline Gold talk about the Awards and what it takes to make it as a female entrepreneur:
Watch judge Carrie Grant talking about making her mark in the music business:
British women and enterprise - the shoe fits
Interestingly, three quarters of women believe that their female attributes, including intuition and guile, would give them the edge over their male counterparts in the business arena.