Last night the Royal Opera House was popping like a cork off a champagne bottle as Veuve Clicquot hosted the 2024 edition of its Bold Woman Award. The event drew an effervescent crowd of businesswomen, founders and entrepreneurs from various industries and backgrounds.
Karen Millen, Victoria Aspinall, Skye McAlpine, Otegha Uwagba, Emma Louise Boynton, Alice Liveing, Isa Guha, Matilda Goad, Georgie Huddart, Rhona Eskander and Dr Maryam Zamani all gathered at the iconic London venue to hear who won the gongs up for grabs: Bold Woman Award and Bold Future Award.
In the end, it was exceptional businesswoman Tracy Blackwell, CEO of Pension Insurance Corporation who scooped the Bold Woman Award and Francesca Brady, CEO and Co-Founder of air quality innovation firm AirRated who bagged the Bold Future Award.
“In 1805, Madame Clicquot was the original Bold woman, and our two winners this year encapsulate everything she stood for. Succeeding in typically male-dominated sectors, both our winners excelled across the four key areas our judges assess.
“They both are successfully reinventing traditions, have clearly demonstrated entrepreneurial daring, championed better representation of female leaders and maintained an ethical approach”, said Jean-Marc Gallot, President of Veuve Clicquot.
Madame Clicquot had to take the reins of the champagne house after the death of her husband in 1805, at a time when women did not have their own bank account, or the right to work. She had to surmount many obstacles before gaining respect and becoming known as “la Grande Dame de la Champagne.”
It is in her honour that the award has been running since 1972 for women who find success on their own terms and challenged the status quo, just as Madame Clicquot did two centuries ago.
Presenter Naga Munchetty hosted proceedings, and previous Bold Woman Award winners and finalists Sharmadean Reid, Izzy Obeng, Katherine Garrett-Cox CBE and Roni Savage also came in support of established and up-and-coming female entrepreneurs.
