Marie Claire sponsors Everywoman Ambassador Award

List of finalists for the Everywoman Awards has also been announced

marie claire has teamed up with everywoman, the membership organisation which helps women in business to advance their careers, to present an award to a successful woman who is insipiring more young women to become entrepreneurs.

Previous recipients of the Ambassador Award have included Cath Kidston MBE and founder of The White Company Chrissie Rucker MBE. It will be presented at the NatWest Everywoman Awards during a lunch ceremony at London’s Dorchester Hotel on Wednesday December 5.

This will be a high profile occasion attended by successful women in business and with a Ministerial Address by Rt Hon Maria Miller MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport & Minister for Women and Equalities.

The event will mark ten years of championing women's enterprise by raising the profile of women in business.

Karen Gill MBE, co-founder of everywoman says: 'We have been fortunate over the past ten years to be introduced to a huge number of inspirational, successful women and this year’s finalists again have wowed us with their achievements.

'Many more women are turning to enterprise during the economic downturn, realising how satisfying and rewarding it can be and I hope that by highlighting our amazing finalists this year more will be encouraged to follow in their footsteps.'

Finalists in four categories have already been announced:

The Artemis Award – sponsored by Crystal Clear - for female business owners aged 25 and under: • Rachel Blatch, aged 25, from Southend on Sea launched Essex Stars in 2009, teaching cheerleading to over 100 young people aged 4 to 30. Passionate about the sport, Rachel is currently lobbying for it to be inaugurated as an Olympic sport ahead of Rio 2016. • Zoe Jackson, 23, from St Albans set up Living the Dream Performing Arts Company when she was just 16 and now trains over 500 young people for showcases, flash mobs, workshops and events for brands including Virgin Media. • Jessica Rose, 25, from London established the London Jewellery School on the back of a hobby. Despite the risk of bankruptcy when her investment in premises fell through, she now runs 80 different amateur and professional classes from her Hatton Garden studios, runs an international distance learning programme, and has future plans for national expansion

The Demeter Award – for female business owners aged 26 to 35: • Elli Chapman, 34, from Norwich, who having experienced a challenging upbringing in care and a confining disability was aware first hand at how a lack of external support can affect disenfranchised youth, and as a result set up Culture Works East (CWE), specialising in high quality creative arts to inspire young people to reach their full potential. In the last twelve months, the organisation has helped 1,500 young people, 75% of whom progressed into further education, training or employment. • Hayley Gait-Golding, 32, from London sold her home to fund start up BEAR Nibbles, which is sold in all major supermarkets as well as 2,000 independents. Her brand provides employment for women in rural areas around the world and offers onsite childcare. • Lisa Tobias, 31, from Glasgow secured a bank loan aged just 23 to purchase her first Domino’s Pizza franchise – Pizza Cake t/a Domino’s Pizza. Since then she has grown her group to six, is the company’s most successful female franchisee in the UK and Ireland and in 2012 achieved like-for-like sales growth of 14.2% despite the economic downturn.

The Athena Award - for female business owners aged 36 to 49: • Julie Deane, 45, from Cambridge started the Cambridge Satchel Company to fund school fees. Her innovative use of social media has seen a meteoric rise for a brand that turns over £9 million in its fourth year of trading. • Sipra Deb, 40, from Sheffield founded The Play Arena following her father’s murder to create a community hub where children could learn and flourish whilst families socialise. With no business background she used the internet to write her business plan, securing funding from six banks along the way. • Caroline Redman Lusher, 38, from Farnham is the founder of Rock Choir, the largest amateur community choir comprising 17,000 members who have performed across the UK securing a multi-album deal with Universal in the process. The Hera Award – for female business owners aged 50 and over: • Debra Charles, 50, from Northampton overcame dyslexia to launch Novacroft, which is the largest supplier of remote loading train tickets to the public transport network in the UK. • Liz Doogan-Hobbs MBE, 52, from Newark overcame a life altering accident to launch Liz Hobbs Group, which provides music concerts after sporting events, turning her business into the largest revenue stream for horse racing and growing attendance at sporting events. • Janis Sinton, 56, from Bristol was forced to run her business following her husband’s sudden death and has grown TasteTech into a global, multi-million pound enterprise providing pioneering solutions for the food industry.

Other awards include: The Iris Award – sponsored by IBM - for the most inspirational woman who runs a technology business that makes a difference, provides real solutions in the world today and, ultimately, is instrumental in building a smarter planet. The NatWest everywoman Award - recognising the most passionate and dedicated woman business owner who the judges feel has overcome significant challenges to achieve outstanding business success, and The Spirit of everywoman Award - honouring one woman whose business contribution has changed the landscape for women in business. Previous winners have included Karren Brady, Dame Mary Perkins, founder of Specsavers and renowned broadcaster Moira Stuart OBE.

For table bookings and ticket enquiries, please contact everywoman directly on 020 7981 2574. Further information can be found here.

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