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Welcome to the judges page! Want to see who'll be eyeing up your nomination? Meet the judging panel below!

Rachel Elnaugh Entrepreneur

Rachel Elnaugh is one of Britain's highest profile female entrepreneurs. Having started her working life as an office junior, at the age of 24 she created the market leading experiences brand Red Letter Days on a shoestring budget from the front room of her home. Red Letter Days went on to generate over £100million in turnover in the 16 years that she ran it, and in doing so pioneered the UK's £250 million experiences sector.


This earned her an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2002, as well as being short listed for the 2001 Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year award and the Growing Business Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2002.

Then, in early 2005, Rachel shot to fame as one of the original Dragons in BBCTV's BAFTA nominated cult business show Dragons' Den.

After the well-publicised crash of Red Letter Days in 2005, which followed the ill-advised expansion of the business three years earlier, Rachel stepped away from the media spotlight and has been working in the small business sector ever since, inspiring, motivating and helping entrepreneurs to achieve personal success.

Rachel has spent the past four years working in the Enterprise Sector inspiring, motivating and empowering entrepreneurs on their journey towards success.

She is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the British Library Business & IP Centre, an Ambassador for the Prince.s Trust; in 2008 she won the IAB .Champion for Entrepreneurship in the UK. award and in 2009 was runner-up for SFEDI.s .Champion/Supporter of Other Enterprises. award.

Her first book 'Business Nightmares' was published by Crimson in 2008 and the paperback version was released in April 2009. She is now working on her second book for release in Spring 2010.

Rachel advises and mentors many entrepreneurs one to one and also launched a low cost online business coaching service in February 2009 featuring a members. forum and weekly webinars with celebrity entrepreneurs and industry experts. She launched Rachel Elnaugh Events in June 2009 and her acclaimed first event .Marketing Magicians. is now available on DVD. The next event .Wealth Wizards. is running on Monday 5 October 2009 at the British Library Conference Centre London.

Rachel lives in Bakewell, Derbyshire with her husband Chris and five sons Mark, Paul, Eddie, Michael and Jack.

Whilst judging The Mumpreneur Awards, Rachel will be looking for passion, energy, integrity and ethics in our winner - a mum with a great idea plus the drive to make it work but in harmony with her life.

Rachel Says: "I'm a great believer in empowerment through enterprise, and also the new wave of feminine businesses - which are run not just to make money but through passion and to bring great value into the world. This is a brilliant time for Mums to use business as a medium for their creativity as well as to generate wealth both for themselves and their family. I'm excited to be part of The Mumpreneur Conference and I hope it inspires a whole new wave of female entrepreneurs."

www.rachelelnaugh.com


Jo Cameron Women on their Way

Jo Cameron is a well known successful business woman, media personality, author and professional speaker. She first became famous in season two of the hit TV Show The Apprentice. The company that she founded with her co-Director Lisa Ibbotson, Women on Their Way Ltd, specialises in international events and conferences to inspire women to go higher in their chosen professions.

Their life changing events and conferences receive acclaim at the highest levels including from the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown and attract tens of thousands of pounds of media coverage. Their clients, sponsors and delegates range from large and notable organisations such as HSBC, West Midlands Police, Coutts, KPMG, EY to many public sector organisations and women business owners. Each year thousands attend Women on Their Way events all over the UK.


Setting up her first business in 2004 after being made redundant, her career took off to new heights. In 2006 she beat off 10,000 other hopefuls to secure her place in the hugely successful TV show The Apprentice. She was the most written about and the most memorable candidate. What made her famous was her sincerity, her passion and her ability to stand up for what she believed in. She made so much of an impact that she was commissioned to write the official BBC Apprentice column the following year.

After overcoming devastating personal loss in 2006, when her first baby was born prematurely and died a few hours later, she has become dedicated to helping people survive adversity and overcome difficulties in life. Since then she has rebuilt her personal life with a new partner and her second daughter was born in October 2009.

As a judge for The Mumpreneur Awards, Jo will be looking for someone who has kept going when it all felt like it was too hard. She's looking for someone who manages to achieve amazing things in business, and who ensure that she has her own ambitions, despite having to look after her family too.

Jo says: "Mums who manage to run their own business are awesome and I'm very much looking forward to getting involved. There are so many women doing amazing things and creating new role models with an awards programme is fabulous"

www.womenontheirway.co.uk


Paula Wynne Remote Employment

After a career as a publicist and marketer, Paula Wynne is now an award winning business woman, an online entrepreneur, woman's ambassador, speaker and panelist. She aims to help other women to work flexibly as she has needed to do and Remote Employment is her vision for bringing a better quality work life to working parents across the UK. Paula is also the organiser of the unique and popular Remote Worker Awards and is a SEEDA Women's Enterprise Ambassador. In January 2008, Paula Co-Founded Remote Employment and has achieved in making this online niche job board Google's No 1 both in the UK and Worldwide for 'Flexible Jobs' and 'Home Based Jobs', which beats 134 million searches daily.


Remote Employment has recently won two business awards. In one, they won Karen Darby as a mentor and their other award was the BT Global Action Plan Responsible Business Day Award. And as well as that, Barclays recently announced that Remote Employment has been nominated in the Top 100 Companies to go forward to the finals in the Barclays Trading Places Award.

Paula will be on the look out for original concepts from mums who have bags of energy and enthusiasm and who not only aspire to reach great heights, but who are in themselves a great inspiration to other women in business.

Paula says "The Mumpreneur Awards is a great way for women and mums to be recognised for their success in business and achievements as a mum balancing the daily juggle of family, business and work as well as a peaceful home life."

After a highly successful 2009 Remote Worker Awards aimed at highlighting the benefits of remote and home working, we are working on the 2010 Remote Worker Awards, in association with BT Business. Visit www.remoteworkerawards.com to find out more and enter the awards!

www.remoteemployment.com
www.remoteworkerawards.com


Brody Swain 96.2 Touch FM

Since the age of 14, Brody always wanted to be a Radio Presenter.

His radio career started in 1990 working as an in-store DJ at the Virgin Megastore in Birmingham. His first break into real radio came 3 years later. "I remember not being able to sleep the night before my first show and being really ill with nerves".

This led to Brody working for other radio stations in Birmingham, Worcester, Tamworth, and more recently Gloucestershire.

The most memorable time in his career came last year whilst working for a station in Cheltenham during the summer floods. The rain had caused massive disruption, which ironically left the area with no running water. "It was one of those rare times in life when absolutely everyone turned to the local radio. We became a lifeline and provided non-stop essential information". The crisis also led to Brody interviewing Prime Minister Gordon Brown when he visited the area to see the floods for himself.

Brody joined Touch FM in December 2007 to present Coventry's Breakfast show.

Im so happy to be working in Coventry. Its an exciting place, changing and developing all the time. As well as all the latest news, showbiz and travel information, we also look at the stories that affect Coventry. I want people to call me and let me know whats bugging them.

Tune into The Breakfast Show with Brody Swain weekday mornings between 6 and 10am on DAB, online and 96.2fm.

Brody is proud and excited to be asked to be on the judging panel. He will be looking ideally to see the energy and passion behind the individual businesses. He will also be looking for businesses that can be sustained and will around in many years to come.

Brody says "The Mumpreneur Awards are a fantastic way for mums to get a well deserved huge pat on the back for doing the difficult juggling act of running a business with bringing up a family."

www.962touchfm.co.uk


Wendy Shand Tots to Travel

This years Practical Parenting's Business Parent of the Year Award winner, Wendy Shand started Tots to Travel when her 2 year old son fell into an unenclosed swimming pool whilst on a family holiday in France in 2005. Wendy spotted a gap in the market to provide families with small children and babies with safe, genuinely family friendly holiday accommodation in France. What followed was www.TotstoFrance.co.uk, a business boasting a portfolio of personally vetted holiday properties, specially kitted out for families.


Following the success of the French venture, Wendy has expanded her concept to Italy, Spain, Portugal and the UK, with Asia and Australia following soon and has turned over over £1 million. This worldwide expansion means that the business is now known as www.TotstoTravel.co.uk and is drawing acclaim from all over the world.

In the three years since starting Tots to France, Wendy has won 4 awards including the Practical Parenting Business Parent of the Year Award 2009, BT Essence of the Entrepreneur Award and the Mother@ Work Mumpreneur Award and was recently Highly Commended in the Remote Worker Awards 09. She has been profiled in broad sheet newspapers, glossy magazines, business books, on radio and on TV, most recently the BBC's Money Programme 'Mum's the Business'

Wendy's looking for a mum who has shown she has the get up and go to be successful, and a robust business that is both target orientated and scalable. She's also interested in mums who manage to achieve an excellent work/life balance and have a business to suit them and their family.

Wendy says "I love meeting mums who run their own businesses! They are interesting, pro-active and creative and are massively contributing to the national economy. Mums in business should definitely be supported in being the best that they can be - both as a parent and as a business woman – and this conference and award scheme is helping to achieve that aim."

www.totstotravel.co.uk


Stephen Hammon Heart of England Conference Centre

Heart of England Conference and Events Centre and Heart of England Country Park and Beach owe their existence to the passion, devotion and hard work of Stephen Hammon, Managing Director of the business.

An entrepreneur at heart, Stephen started his working life back in the 80s laying turf with his father during the day and, in the evening, DJ-ing at weddings, parties and in pubs. It wasn't long

before Stephen added bouncy castles and Karaoke to his product portfolio and gave birth to the entertainment company, Heart of England Promotions.

Since then, using the vision for which he is now infamous, Stephen has developed the business into this splendid conference and events centre, adding The Quicken Tree Restaurant, Old Hall country house accommodation and, his latest venture, Heart Park & Beach.

Stephen wants to see our mumpreneurs demonstrate that they have energy, drive and tenacity. When selecting his winners he'll be looking for a mum with the ambition to fulfil her dreams alongside her commitment to her family. Stephen will also expect to see evidence of creativity and vision in spotting and satisfying a market.

Stephen says "I have a lot of admiration and respect for these women. They are obviously very good at juggling the demands of home, family and work life … this must take amazing energy and commitment. Super-mums!"

www.heartofengland.co.uk


Lisa Warner Fink Cards

Lisa is the mumpreneur behind Fink Cards. Fink Cards are products that get people talking! We start conversations by asking questions because we believe family conversation is a great way to help children to become confident, successful communicators. Fink launched it's first product, Family Edition, in September 2008 and has since extended it's product range to include a teenage edition, wedding edition, goal posts and christmas crackers.


Lisa was the winner of the Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 02X Awards 2009, and the only UK finalist in the global Cartier Women's Initiative Awards 2009, the ideal, award winning business woman to be judging the Mumpreneur Awards.

When selecting her winners, Lisa is looking for a big vision! She wants to see passion, energy and excitement, so if you've got those qualities handy, then be sure to enter the awards.

Lisa says "There are many, many mums out there right now creating amazing businesses, The Mumpreneur Conference & Awards offers a fantastic opportunity to meet, network and connect, it is a place to celebrate business success and be inspired."

www.finkcards.com


Natalie Hickey Precious Parcels

Natalie Hickey runs Precious Parcels, an online business selling handmade gifts and personalised plaques. Natalie will be representing the 2009 winners as a judge for the 2010 awards. Natalie was crowned winner of the Best Start Up Award after wowing the judges with her exceptional growth over the last 12 months. Within the first 5 weeks of trading, she had managed to sell a staggering 300 plaques, and has maintained huge sales ever since.


Natalie is truly an inspiration to all mums starting small businesses working from home, and she is on the looking for someone to take over her title as the Best Start Up Business in 2010. They've got some big shoes to fill, so if you think it could be you, be sure to enter the awards!

Aside from keeping a beady eye on the Best Start Up category, Natalie will be hoping to find nominations from mums who show that they have real potential to make it big. It's those with the potential for greatness, and the drive to make it happen, that deserve acknowledgement for their achievements at any stage of business.

Natalie says "I was so honoured to have won an award in 2009, and I know how much it means to everyone. The event is an important one for any mum in business, so I am delighted to be a part of it in 2010 also."

www.preciousparcels.co.uk


Andy Baines B72 Imaging

Andy is a photographer based in Coventry, covering all aspects of photography services including portraits, fashion, commercial and weddings, not to mention the newly launched Be Boudoir feminine portraiture side to the business. He also teaches studio lighting at his studio and runs regular workshops.

A published photographer who'll be featuring in Vogue in 2010, he'll clearly be at home photographing the wonderful women at the conference and awards. At present he is waiting on his membership to the MPA, something that will push him, and his skills, to make him a better photographer and business person.


As our 2010 photographer, Andy is excited to be involved in the judging process. He will not necessarily be looking for originality... after all, most things have been done, but he will be looking for an original approach to a business venture, businesses that show creativeness in their approach to various aspects of running a business and a fundamental passion about what they do and what they want to achieve.

Andy says "The Mumpreneur Conference is an initiative enabling customers quality services through the empowerment of women in business. I'm delighted to be involved in the judging and at the event itself"

www.b72imaging.com
wwww.beboudoir.co.uk


Amanda & Laura The Mumpreneur Conference

The Mumpreneur Conference is organised by two mums in business, Amanda and Laura. The duo are joining the panel as one judge, representing the organisers of the conference. Having realised that they would probably persuade one another to change their winners choices to match, it seemed only sensible to count as one vote. Considering they agree on practically every matter in life, they are looking forward to working together as a judge.

Amanda recently walked away with a fantastic garden office after winning the Vivid Green Award at the Remote Worker Awards as well as achieving highly commended in the BT Home Business category.


Amanda & Laura will be on the look our for inspirational mums in business, nominations which make them smile, cry and be generally amazed at a mums achievements. They will be looking to find winners that can act as ambassadors for mums in business.

"We are dedicated to providing mumpreneurs with an event that will enhance their business lives. Networking is an invaluable resource for anyone in business, and this event enables women to networking with like-minded individuals. We're very excited about this years conference and awards!"

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