International Women’s Day: top British women business leaders for 2023
BusinessLive shines a light on some of the thousands of women exemplifying leadership around the UK.
Welcome to our list of 23 of the most prominent women leaders in business in 2023.
We have compiled the list to mark International Women’s Day, marked every year on March 8 to highlight women’s achievements and the vital, continuing campaigning for gender equality. BusinessLive has been taking a look at some of the inspirational business leaders from across the UK, including senior executives and self-made millionaires and those representing business at the highest levels.
We hope our list reflects how the best leaders lift up those who follow by campaigning for women in the workplace – whether that is about mental health wellbeing or gender equality. Most importantly, this list is far from definitive and fully comprehensive and we are well aware that there are thousands more around the regions that deserve to be named and celebrated every day, not just on International Women’s Day, so please mention them in the comments, or on Linkedin and Twitter.
Anne Boden
Anne Boden spent 30 years working for financial leaders including Lloyds Banking Group, Allied Irish and the Royal Bank of Scotland, before launching mobile-only Starling Bank in 2014. After seeing the potential for digital technology to revolutionise the way people carry out their banking, Starling has since been voted Best British Bank three times. She also sits on the board of UK Finance and is an adviser to the Board of Trade. She was awarded an MBE for services to financial technology in 2018.
Henrietta Brealey
Henrietta Brealey, chief executive, Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, first joined the organisation 11 years ago as a part-time intern, and worked in a variety of roles before becoming one of its youngest ever directors at 25, when she took on the newly created position of director of policy and strategic relationships. Just months after becoming chief strategy officer in 2021, she was appointed to the top job at the Chamber.
Denise Coates
Denise Coates CBE is the founder of online gambling giant bet365, having made a gamble pay off when she took out a £15m bank loan to launch the business from a portable cabin more than 20 years ago. The £2.85bn turnover business, based in Stoke-on-Trent, now employs more than 5,000 people in the UK and is embarking on an ambitious North American expansion strategy.
Roisin Currie
Roisin Currie became CEO of Greggs Plc last May, moving into the role from her retail and property director position. She first joined Greggs 12 years ago, after working at Asda where she held people director roles, responsible for the organisation’s retail and distribution operations. She is a trustee of the Greggs Foundation and is chair of the Employers Forum For Reducing Re-offending.
Susan Davy
Susan Davy, was appointed Chief Executive of the FTSE100 firm in July 2020, having spent five years as CFO. Her industry knowledge has underpinned Pennon’s growth strategy, which has included the acquisition of Bournemouth Water in 2015. She is also a former chair of the CBI South West and she is also a non-exec director at Restore Plc.