These Are the 7 Most Successful Business Women in Britain Today
Though they may come from different backgrounds and have different areas of specialization, the following seven women all have one very important thing in common: they have each ascended through the corporate ranks to become some of the most powerful executives in Britain today, breaking down long-established barriers in the business world. Here are the some of the most successful business women in Britain today.
Denise Coates CBE, Founder and Chief Executive of Bet365
Denise Coates attended the University of Sheffield where earned a degree in econometrics, but she also grew up in an environment that would pave the way for her success with Bet365.com, an online gambling company, which she launched in 2000.
Chrissie Rucker MBE, Founder and Board Director of The White Company
Chrissie Rucker, born Belinda Christian Rucker in Kent, was inspired to become an entrepreneur after her attempts to purchase white linens for her boyfriend’s apartment were thwarted by a lack of availability in local shops. Rucker began a mail-order business, The White Company, which grew into a shopping empire.
Baroness Dido Harding CBE, Chief Executive of TalkTalk
Diana Mary “Dido” Harding has been upwardly-mobile since she the day she received her MBA from Harvard University. Harding moved through the executive ranks of the Woolworths Group, Tesco, and Sainsbury’s before being named the CEO of TalkTalk Telecom Group in 2006.
Ann Cairns, President of International Markets for MasterCard
Ann Cairns began her career as a research engineer for British Gas, becoming the first woman qualified to go offshore in Britain, before moving into banking in the 1980s. Cairns led the estate management team overseeing the Chapter 11 process for Lehman Brothers International Holdings from 2008 to 2011, and joined MasterCard in August of that same year.
Cilla Snowball CBE, Chairman of AMV BBDO
Pricilla Snowball left Birmingham University with a BA in French and went directly into advertising, rising through the Abbot Mead Vickers BBDO chain of command until she was named Chief Executive in 2002. Since then, Snowball has taken the helm of Britain’s largest advertising agency and become one of the most powerful executives in the United Kingdom.
Amanda Sourry, Executive Vice President of Unilever’s global hair category
Amanda Sourry began working at Unilever as a brand manager directly after graduating from the University of Cambridge in 1985. For the next thirty years Sourry would occupy a variety of senior positions beneath the Unilever umbrella, including a seventeen-year sojourn in America where she served as head of global spreads and dressings.
Alison Cooper, Chief Executive of Imperial Tobacco
Currently serving as the CEO of one the world’s largest tobacco companies, Alison Cooper began her career as an auditor for Deloitte, Haskins, & Sells shortly after earning her degree from Bristol University. Cooper joined Imperial Tobacco in 1999 as Group Finance Manager, and was promoted several times before becoming CEO in 2010.
Gone were the days when only the male population succeed in business. Women from all over the world are enjoying their own success. Recently, Lagan Construction hosted a National Women in Engineering Day event wherein young girls from different schools were invited. The purpose of this event is to encourage them to consider Engineering as a career. Indeed, with the right opportunity and skills developed, any young woman can be as successful as these persons featured.
