Veuve Clicquot announces this year’s Bold Woman Award winners
Pop stars have the Grammys, actors have the Oscars, and businesswomen have Veuve Cliquot’s Bold Woman Awards. Established over 50 years ago in 1972, it is the longest-running international accolade of its kind for women in business. Inspired by the entrepreneurship of its founder, Madame Clicquot, a widowed single mother who smashed the glass ceiling of the 1800s, it honours leading female figures across all areas of business. Previous winners have included Professor Sarah Gilbert, recognised in 2021 for her work leading the development of the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine; CEO of Selfridges Group, Anne Pitcher, in 2020; and renowned architect Dame Zaha Hadid in 2013.
Tracy Blackwell, co-founder of one of the UK’s largest specialist insurers, Pension Insurance Corporation plc (PIC), picked up this year’s award at a glitzy ceremony at the Royal Opera House. She was honoured for growing PIC into a FTSE 100-sized business that pays the pensions of 350,000 people. The specialist insurance company has grown its asset portfolio to £50 billion in the 18 years since it was founded, with more than £13 billion invested in UK infrastructure, including 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,” Blackwell said. “So to be recognised with such a prestigious award will help to raise the profile of this crucial industry. I’m incredibly proud of how much PIC has grown, based on our purpose of paying the pensions of our current and future policyholders. Through our investment in UK infrastructure, we have the potential to change the country over the next decade, also bringing a measure of intergenerational equity as we back the pensions of older people with the infrastructure and housing needed by younger, and future, generations. In achieving this award, I hope I can inspire the next generation of game-changing, bold female entrepreneurs.”
Speaking of, the Bold Future Award was given to AirRated co-founder and CEO Francesca Brady, whose business focuses on the air quality of our indoor spaces, where we spend 80 percent of our time. “The work we are doing is incredibly important to people’s health and winning the Bold Future Award is amazing recognition personally and offers a fantastic opportunity to shine a light on the issue of indoor air quality,” Brady said. “We are constantly striving to increase the number of women in science and I’d love to see more female led businesses and I hope I can inspire others to be brave and follow their passion.”
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