WIB 2017 Pullout

10
❙ WOMEN IN BUSINESS AWARDS WOMEN IN BUSINESS AWARDS
❙ 11
10 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2017 LEICESTER MERCURY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2017 LEICESTER MERCURY 11
Rising Star Award: Nicol Nightingale
PICTURE: MATT SHORT PHOTOGRAPHY
WINNER: Nicol Nightingale, right, with Sarah Lydon, from sponsors Search Consultancy
Celebrating 30 years of
exceptional recruitment
For the third year running, Search Consultancy isproud to sponsor the
‘Rising Star’ Award at the Leicester MercuryWomen in Business Awards.
Whether you’re an employer looking for staff, or you’re looking for
your next career opportunity, Search can help.With anexpert team
of consultants placing candidates across more than 25 industry
specialisms, no recruitment consultancy isbetter placed to meet
your needs.
Accountancy &Finance •Financial Services •HR&Development
Insurance •Legal •Marketing •Sales •Office Services •Doctors
Call &Contact Centre •Hospitality •Medical •Healthcare •Rail
Nursing •Social Care •Aviation •Driving •Industrial •Logistics
Supply Chain •IT, Digital &Change •Energy •Engineering
Oil &Gas •Scientific •Construction •Facilities Management
We’d love to meet and discuss how wecan use our experience to
create atailored solution for your organisation. Please feel free to
contact Sarah at sarah.lydon@search.co.uk or on 0116 247 3338.
Nicol joined Fothergill Wyatt in
April 2016, returning to
mainstream lettings after sixand-a-half
years in the student
market.
As acondition of her employment,
she asked to be put
through the Level 3Technical
Award in Residential Letting
and Property Management
through Propertymark Qualifications
as she knew it would
enhance her industry knowledge
and help her progress in
her career.
Last summer, she studied for
this qualification in her own
time, while working six days a
week and caring for her then
one-year-old daughter.
She passed all four exams,
achieving marks between 90
per cent and 100 per cent.
She was soon promoted to Associate
Director, aged just 32,
and after only 12 months with
the company.
Most recently Nicol applied
for a part-time, voluntary role
with ARLA Propertymark, the
professional body for letting
agents.
She beat strong competition
to become a Regional Rep,
which will see her offering
guidance and support to other
letting agents in the region.
2017 Recruiting
2017
Exceptional
People
In addition, Nicol is focusing
on establishing herself as an industry
expert and, at the same
time, raising the profile of the
business across the city by
partnering up with other
reputable companies, such as
Mazars accountancy firm, to
Runner-up: Abigail Dakin
ABI is the brains behind babywear
and accessories brand
Claude & Co.
She left a comfortable wellpaid
job in May last year to
start her own online children’s
wear business –with the aim of
offering more beautiful and
unique products to stylish parents.
Abi focuses on putting together
an eclectic collection of
considered brands of clothing,
interior décor, toys and books
especially for mums and the
little ones they are buying for.
She looks for timeless pieces
that she hopes will make a
child’s world a creative and
more unique place.
Abi recently launched an
own-brand range of unisex
clothing for infants up to three
years old.
The collection is built on the
design philosophy that unisex
clothing can be unexpected,
defined by style and not be
gender specific in terms of colours
and shapes.
Abi says she is passionate
about small independent
Runner-up: Pamela Sharpe
PAM is the director of small social
enterprise retailer Miss
Pandora, a womenswear
boutique.
Her company’s mission is to
improve quality through values.
Miss Pandora is a company
that promotes the ’real’female
form, with body positivity.
Its slogans are ‘Own Your
Body’and ‘Every body’s beautiful‘,
with a pledge to only use
real women of different sizes as
models and to always advertise
with open and honest photography
and marketing the best
of ’real life’ with no unrealistic
expectations.
Miss Pandora produces high
quality garments designed and
manufactured in Leicester to
help boost the local and UK economy.
Pam is keen to contribute to
her community and does this
by fund-raising for Rainbows
Hospice in Loughborough.
She got into retail not because
Sponsored by
hold joint property seminars
for existing and potential new
clients.
To achieve so much in such a
short space of time demonstrates
the drive and passion
Nicol has forboth the property
industry and her career.
brands. She said: “Selling our
own clothing brand up against
mighty brands that we know
and love, makes us very
proud.”
Abi started selling her ranges
wholesale in June as she seeks
to grow the business.
she wanted to make her fortune,
but because she wanted
to try to raise the standards
and values of the industry and
give women a better experience
based on honesty and
openness.
Sponsored by
Small Business of the Year: Rosie Harrison
PICTURE: MATT SHORT PHOTOGRAPHY
WINNER: Rosie Harrison, right, receives her trophy from Jennifer Thomas, of sponsors FSB
Runner-up: Amanda Daly
AMANDA has ensured that
Dalycom successfully moves
with industry changes while
growing steadily.
One of its biggest achievements
was celebrating its 30th
birthday last year.
The company started in 1986
with no more than one telephone
and has since evolved as
one of the early adopters of
cloud-based services, a move
which helped the company stay
ahead of competition as well as
growing its monthlyrecurring
revenue model to secure the
business for the future.
Amanda’s forward-thinking
and assertive nature has
played a key role in the transformation
of the business, resulting
in a major drive to make
changes both internally and
externally.
Runner-up: Gemma Orton
GEMMA established Mocha
Marketing in 2013 because
she wanted to challenge stereotypical
marketing and
communications agencies.
Unlike traditional agencies,
Mocha strives to put their clients
first by working as an extension
of their team, rather
than an external arm.
Where communication is
concerned, Mocha prides itself
on its highly communicative
nature with clients which
sets them aside from the traditional
agency.
With a recent office move to
an aspiring business location,
Mocha’s vision for growth is
ambitious.
Their clients work in a vast
range of industries, and vary
from start-ups to million
pound turnover businesses.
Throughout the past three
years, the company has
reached a £170,000 turnover,
achieving an impressive
£100,000 turnover in its first
year.
In recent months, Mocha
A range of cloud-based telephonyand
IT services were added
to the product portfolio to
ensure the company was moving
with the times and keeping
up with changes in technology,
as well as meeting the needs of
customers.
A new senior management
team has been put in place to
look after the day-to-dayoperations
of the business,to give the
directors more time to work
strategically on the business,
rather than within it day-today.
In addition to this, a customer
account manager was brought
in to serve the firm’s existing
customer base and provide a
more dedicated service.
The manager is also a single
point of contact for existing
customers to speak to.
Marketing has teamed up with
a digital media partner so it
can offer website, PPC and
SEO solutions.
The team have a united vision
of striving for excellence
and are passionate about
achieving exceptional results
for their clients.
Three years ago, Rosie, a stay
at home mother-of-three,
designed six humorous
greetings cards which she
printed and hoped to sell in a
shop in Kibworth.
They proved to be very popular
and, encouraged by their
initial success, Rosie decided to
expand the rangeand try to sell
them to a wider audience.
Her company Rosie Made a
Thing was launched at the
start of 2015.
Following an initial exhibition
at the NEC which generated
much interest, the company
has gone from strength to
strength.
Her cards are designed and
printed in Leicester and are
now distributed to more than
600 retailers in the UK including
John Lewis, Scribbler and
Fenwick.
She also exports them to
America, Australia, Hong
Kong, Ireland and Finland.
Turnover in the first year was
£52,000, rising to £270,000 in
year twoand the business is on
track to generate more than
£500,000 in revenue this year.
Rosie employs two people –
her mum, who handles the
website orders, and an office
manager. The rest of the distribution
is carried out by a company
in Gloucester.
In 2016, Rosie Made a Thing
won a prestigious award at the
Henries (the industry greeting
card awards) for her “Gin &
Frolics” range, which won best
Humorous Range.
AMBITION
DON’T LET ANYTHING GET IN THE WAY OFYOURS
Get ateam of experts for your business
from
£172.50
in the first
year*
As abusiness owner you have to wear many hats. Tax, HR and legal issues can all test your
knowledge and take valuable time out of your company.
Join the Federation of Small Businesses and you will have unlimited access to specialist advice,
exclusive products and services, and anetwork of support to help solve your challenges so you
can achieve your business ambitions.
Join the thousands of FSB member businesses across Leicestershire and take advantage of:
ADVICE
• Taxadvice
• Employment advice
• 24 hour legal
helpline
FINANCE
• Business banking
• Workplace Pensions
• Debt recovery
SUPPORT
Contact Development Manager Jennifer Thomas
Call 0116 279 3181, tweet @FSB_L_N_R,
email Jennifer.thomas@fsb.org.uk
• Local networking events
• Government lobbying
for business
• Cyber protection
*FSB Business Essentials membership starts from 142.50 per annum with a£30 registration fee in the first year.This rate is applicable to businesses with no employees.
Rates increase depending on your number of employees. Please see the website for full details of subscription rate bands. †Calls are normally free of charge from UK
landlines but charges may apply from mobile phones. Lines open 8am-6pm weekdays, closed Bank Holidays. Registered Office: National Federation of Self Employed
and Small Businesses Limited, Sir Frank Whittle Way, Blackpool Business Park, Blackpool, FY4 2FE. Registered in England No. 1263540