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Best Business Mum 2010 Cara Sayer SnoozeShade Cara started her business when she took an unfinished prototype of her first product SnoozeShade Original for prams and pushchairs to a trade show in October 2009. It was met with a positive response and was taken into some great retailers including John Lewis, Mothercare and Jo Jo Maman Bebe from the outset. Since then she has secured a great distributor who has taken SnoozeShade into Tesco, Toys R Us and many other great retailers. She attended the German show Kind und Jugend in September 10 and has since gone on sale in at least 10 countries with more appearing every day. I know Cara gets the most pleasure out of the emails she gets from mums around the world who have found SnoozeShade a lifesaver and a godsend as it makes her very long hours worthwhile. Cara is an inspiration for new business mums; she makes time to help anyone while growing her SnoozeShade brand at an impressively fast rate! She had an amazing 2010, increasing her distribution not only to all the major nursery retailers in the UK but internationally too. Other successes include SnoozeShade being the only UK brand to mingle with the celebrities in LA at the Golden Globes and a brilliant feature on Day Break. One thing I respect most about Cara is that she doesn't keep opportunities to herself even thought that would probably be easier for her.  She is happy to share information on reasonably priced printers, her contacts, baby events, editorial requests and has set up a PR syndicate for small companies like herself to all get access to a PR person two days a week. Her previous awards and recognition highlight how amazing Cara is but I know this award will mean a lot to her. Lara Boyle Beauty and the Bib Beauty and the Bib produces and sells shaped bibs, laminated bibs, bandana bibs, bibs for children with special needs, onesies and hats. Lara set up her business after the birth of her fourth child, in response to the apucity of attractive, good-quality bibs. She started with a market stall and also sold her bibs online via her web site. Having initially run the business from home, she rented a warehouse in Deptford, allowing her to keep more stock. During the past year she has moved to a larger premises, much nearer to the shop. She has seen her products - already widely available in the UK and other parts of Europe - go on sale in Japan, and has been approached by TKMax who want to do a licensing deal with her, in a bid to improve the quality of their babywear. A major endorsement of the success of her brand Beauty and the Bib has also undergone a major re-branding and the new web site and new logo will be launched in February this year. Being brought up on a council estate in Bermondsey, she didn't have the most aspirational childhood, in fact far from it. This is why she amazes me-she defies odds, she has ambitions, she has passion. She took a gamble. She stopped teaching History and followed her heart as opposed to her head-pursued something she loved-her product. This love is so visible whenever she talks about the 'beautiful bibs', whether that be to me or an enquiring person in her 'flagship store'. She is true to who she is and thrives upon the pressure and pleasure of her growing blossom-her company. I respect her for what she has done; Despite many obstacles she hasn't given up...she just keeps on going. Her love for her company is what I find remarkably inspiring and I think that we, her children, are blessed to have a mother like her-the perfect ambassador for not only business women but also a Mother. Hereby, I couldn't think of a more perfect or true title for her than 'Business Mum of the Year'. Victoria Dixon enhance-me Enhance me is a website that can turn ordinary photos into magical scenes. Victoria has given me 2 amazing pictures of my children that I will treasure forever. She worked tirelessly to produce the pictures to my satisfaction. Even when problems arose, she overcame them professionally. Her work is amazing and she produces her work quickly and to a very high standard. I can't thank her enough for what she has done for me and I hope to be dealing with her again in the future. I first virtually ‘met’ Victoria five years ago when I was pregnant with my son. We both used a parenting forum, where I practically lived in the ‘due in August’ section. Victoria had only just begun her business when she created a group photo enhancement of all the august babies. It was a wonderful photo that all the mums kept and cherished. About 3 years later I met Victoria again, this time on the mumsclub forum, at a time when we were both running businesses. Victoria’s business has grown and grown, she is making even more wonderful illustrations and coming up with new ideas for expansion. For many people distance is a problem but not for Victoria, even though she lives so far away in the Orkney Isles, with social networking she’s never far away; she is well known and well liked on the ‘mumpreneur’ circuit. She’s had more than her fair share of heartache too but she hasn’t let it effect her. From her corner in the Orkney Isles, she quietly gets on with building her empire. She is quite simply a wonderful inspirational mum in business. Joanne Dewberry charliemoos I have known Joanne for quite a few years now and was around as the idea of Charlie Moos was formed, developed and subsequently grown. She has done a fantastic job in a short space of time and to see her expand into the Networking side of things and now with her business advice site is amazing. She has encouraged me to grow my own business, at times when other people have told me I'm not cut out for it. She is always there with encouraging words and amazing support and obviously brilliant advice! Despite her personal difficulties this year, she has continued to be there for lots of people and is well on the way to achieving her dreams. Charlie Moos has grown to the point where she is having to source people to help make her bags She has provided support to so many new businesses in the past year that it has prompted her to start her own advice business. She has arranged numerous events for Networking and Recruitment and through this, she is raising 2 children aged 4 and under, and 'growing' a third. Zoe Brown bwebsites Zoe is MD at B Websites Ltd and mother of 5 children 4 of whom are 5 and under. Her company has been established for 7 years and offers digital solutions - websites, blogs, e-commerce stores. Zoe also runs workshops to help smaller businesses get the most of their materials. 5 years ago Zoe designed and developed software that allows her customers to manage their own websites. SMART is now used to power over 200 website including those of governments and corporates. In 1991 Zoe fell pregnant, she was 15. She was told that the child should be adopted and she would not be able to raise the baby alone. She did leave her baby in hospital for 2 days...but the brought her home and knew that she had to do something. Her daughter was all the motivation she needed to carry on with her education and she ended up with a degree in computing in 1998. Her degree opened many doors and after 5 years corporate experience Zoe was made redundant whilst pregnant with her second child at the age of 30. Being a stay at home mum was not her plan and instead she started her own website business. The company now employs 6, many of which are parents to whom are offered part-time and flexible working hours so that they too may achieve that illusive work life balance. She is presently mum to 5 children aged 19, 5, 4, 18 months and 4 months. She has been able to continue working through the tremendous support of her partner and her clients. Sarah Wickins & Jo Ellis buggysnuggle Sarah (my wife) & Jo, her business partner started The Buggysnuggle Company way back in 1997, before being a "mumpreneur" became trendy! They have steadily and surely built their company up and weathered all the storms of the last 13 years! They supply over 300 UK stores with the Buggysnuggle (the original funky footmuff) and their other nursery products. They also sell via 10 Worldwide distributors - an area which is expanding all the time. They design all their own fabrics, manufacture their products in Europe (determined to avoid the Far East) believing strongly in supporting the European fabric mills, and they do their own distribution from their head office near Oxford. They are also an inspirational partnership, managing to work from 2 offices 292 miles apart! I believe they are quite typical of the type of "mumpreneurs" you talk about who are not very good at marketing themselves and recognising their own achievements - so I would like to do it for them! This is the category I think Sarah & Jo most deserve to be considered for. They have quietly worked away with their fantastic business for 13 years. Though the business is small, they keep several small factories in work and they have a very pro-European ethos. Almost all their competition manufacture in China and though constantly under pressure from prices, they are determined to keep sourcing from Europe because they believe the fabric mills need to be supported. Once lost they won't be recovered. Sarah worked as UK Production Manager for Monsoon in the early 90's and has watched the UK manufacturing industry virtually disappear over the last 15 years. I have also forgotten to mention that Jo has a beautiful daugter Ruby 12, and Sarah & I have 4 lovely kids (Cameron 15, Danny 13, Sam 7 & Lizzie 22 months) and they have managed to juggle their business and children for 13 years, always very determined to maintain the work-life balance! I know they are an inspiration to many women. Debbie Huxton Debbie Huxton A dynamic and innovative company dedicated to helping people achieve and maintain an optimal healthy lifestyle. Debbie Huxtons Mind Diet combines an individualised unique health and wellness programme, redesigning lives, because ONE size does not fit all. She is helping people from all walks of life all over the country, make the changes they deserve. Debbie is passionate about health and personal growth and encourages others to improve theirs and take health of your to do list and make it priority. She is dedicated to helping changing our childrens legacy and is currently working with Tile Hill girls school year 7s to implement an education programme dealing with body image. self esteem, tackling obesity As an emergency nurse she has seen first hand too many children suffer and nowhere to turn. Following her own sons suicide attempt she was determined to help others and change lives.An ordinary mom doing extraordinary things. She was brave enough to take an idea and run with it. Debbie should be considered for this award as she works tirelessly to help others. Rain or shine she always has a smile and the love she has for others knows no bounds. She is inspiring and once you meet her you know you are around someone special. Her passion and desire to help others is outstanding and she will continue to inspire others because of this. She is going up a mountain in Morocco to help a friend raise money for his charity the Vine trust and in October is going to the Peru to nurse, on a boat in the Amazon for two weeks to continue helping the Vine Trust. It is time for her mindset, dedication to others and personal commitment to continue helping others be recognised. You cant out a price on how this lady is changing the lives she touches. Polly Marsh Cuddledry Polly is one of the mums who created the Cuddledry apron towel - designed to help new mums and dads to safely and confidently bath their babies. Her business now creates and sells an ever increasing range of baby and toddler products, all genuinely helpful to parents because they come from someone like Polly - a mum of three young girls. The company has succeeded in getting its products retailed by all the leading high street retailers of baby products - from John Lewis to Tesco - and in over 40 countries around the world, despite only having been in business for four years. Polly is an inspirational, fun and caring person, who candidly shares what she has learned about business - the good things and the mistakes - since she set up Cuddledry, with countless other mums who are either thinking about or getting going in business. She is that rare breed of person who does not hide their own mistakes or fears, but shares them with others so they don't go through the same things, and can do better. Cuddledry Ltd. has grown at a tremendous, often daunting speed, but even when flat out with business and family commitments, Polly has time for others trying to follow the 'mumpreneur' path. She always comments on how others helped her with Cuddledry, and hence feels 'what goes around comes around' so shares the lessons she has learned with those newer to business. In particular she has helped other mumpreneurs who have developed product ideas with moving into manufacturing overseas, helping them avoid pitfalls and secure good financial deals.She has inspired many!