Women Recognised At Long-Awaited Women Of Achievement Awards

At a ceremony held at the Mercure Hotel, Willerby, the winners of the Women in Business (WIB) Women of Achievement Awards (WOAA) were announced.

In addition to celebrating the achievements of Hull and East Yorkshire’s businesswomen, the WOAA recognizes those who hold leadership roles in their professions, industries, organisations, or charities.

In addition to the winners, nominees and guests, Gloria Hunniford OBE, one of Britain’s best-known television and radio personalities, spoke as this year’s guest speaker.

The Smailes Goldie Group sponsored the Overall Women of Achievement Award to Carol Ideson, who runs Carol Ideson Funding and Advice.

According to the judges, Carol’s impressive contribution to the city has made a huge difference to so many people’s lives – contributing more than £12 million to local charities and small businesses. They said they felt privileged to award Carol this honour.

Natalie Houfe, chair of Women in Business Hull, said:

“This is the first WOAA since 2018 due to COVID. We’ve worked incredibly hard over the past few years and I’m so proud of and grateful to the WIB committee, the nominees and the sponsors for making this a reality again, as none of this would be possible without them.

“The room looked and felt amazing and buzzed with excited energy from almost 400 guests. We had some incredible finalists, and the winners received the most beautiful bespoke glass blown trophies. We also had some fun goodie bags to make the guests smile.”

Title Split’s Harriet Dunn also won the New Business Award, recognizing her drive and commitment. Additionally, Maria Gillum from Ideal Heating received the Women in STEM Award – a new award this year – for her work as a senior design engineer and STEM ambassador. Jo Leigh-Thompson from Foxglove Care Limited won the Female Entrepreneur Award, as the judges praised her willingness to take risks.

Natalie continued:

“Our guest speaker Gloria Hunniford was, of course, full of charisma and entertaining with her cheeky stories. She was inspirational and spoke personally about the loss of her daughter through breast cancer. Almost the entire room stood to their feet when she asked those to stand who had been affected by or knew someone affected by cancer.

“We also raised just over £6,000 for our chosen charity, HER Breast friends, which is incredible.

“The Women of Achievement Awards is such a celebration and acknowledgement of success and achievement. They inject massive inspiration, encouragement and confidence into our local businesses and the business sector.

“I’d like to give a massive congratulations to this year’s winners and nominees – the next WOAA will be 2024 so watch this space!”

Women in Business Women of Achievement Award winners:

New Business Award, sponsored by Harrison Solway

Harriet Dunn, founder and director at Title Split

Established Business Award, sponsored by Victory Leisure Homes