INSPIRING UK FEMALE BUSINESS-LEADERS WIN BIG AT VEUVE CLICQUOT AWARDS 2024
Tracey Blackwell and Francesca Brady
Judges praise Pension Insurance Corporation’s Tracy Blackwell and AirRated’s Francesca Brady for their “entrepreneurial daring” and having “succeeded in typically male-dominated sectors”.
Two inspiring female entrepreneurs picked up Bold Woman gongs at the annual Bold Woman Awards by Veuve Clicquot held at London’s Royal Opera House yesterday.
Tracy Blackwell, co-founder of the Pension Insurance Corporation, won the Bold Woman Award by Veuve Clicquot for growing the specialist insurance company (which accepts unwanted retirement obligations from companies) from a small firm in 2006 into a FTSE 100 business worth £50bn today. Pension Insurance Corporation currently pays into the pensions of 350,000 people, while also investing more than £13bn in UK infrastructure (which includes the UK’s largest urban regeneration project in the Wirral).
“Despite its fundamental importance to the future welfare of millions of people, not to mention the infrastructure we fund, the pensions industry flies beneath the radar much of the time,” said Blackwell, who has also been dubbed “retirement queen” by the Daily Mail. “So to be recognised with such a prestigious award will help to raise the profile of this crucial industry.”
Meanwhile, Francesca Brady, co-founder and CEO of AirRated – which provides certifications for indoor air quality – was announced as the Bold Future Award by Veuve Clicquot. Brady helped pioneer AirScore, which uses sensor technology to measure air quality, and acts as a global benchmark for indoor air health.
The pair were praised by Jean-Marc Gallot, president of Veuve Clicquot, for “succeeding in typically male-dominated sectors” and for “successfully reinventing traditions” plus for having “clearly demonstrated entrepreneurial daring, championed better representation of female leaders and maintained an ethical approach.”
Founded in 1972, The Bold Woman Award by Veuve Clicquot is the longest-running international awards celebrating the contribution women have made to business life. Previous recipients of the Bold Woman Award have included late architect Dame Zaha Hadid (2013), Anne Pitcher, CEO of the Selfridges Group (2020) and Professor Sarah Gilbert, who co-developed the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine (2021). Last year’s winner was Tessa Clarke, co-founder of food-sharing app Olio, while Karen Scofield Seal, founder of seaweed-processing company Oceanium, picked up the Bold Future Award.
The inspiration behind the awards is Madame Clicquot, founder of the Veuve Clicquot champagne brand. Widowed at the age of 27, she took over the family business in 1805 – a time when very few women were entrepreneurs. Known as “La Grand Dame de la Champagne’, she is famed for being a visionary business trailblazer.
Both Blackwell and Brady will join Veuve Clicquot’s new Bold Open Database, which aims to connect female entrepreneurs across the globe.