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The Women of the Year Luncheon & Awards was established in Nottingham in 1982 as a ladies’ luncheon to raise monies for a charity called The Winged Fellowship Trust.
Over 40 years on, we continue to support our chosen charities each year. In recent times we have been proud to support charities including Revitalise, Marie Curie and The Princes Trust: Women Supporting Women.
Over the years, the event has grown from being a regional ladies’ luncheon to a national awards ceremony with a key focus on business. The event now plays host to around 600 guests and recognises the achievements of women in business and women that have strived to achieve the unthinkable in the most challenging of circumstances across the country.
Zalena Vandrewala is a commercial litigator with Top 50 National Law Firm, Freeths LLP. Having been recognised for her work in the Legal 500, Zalena has conducted and resolved a wide range of commercial and general disputes nationwide over the last 17 years. Zalena is also a mentor for start-up and SME businesses throughout Cheshire and Staffordshire and is passionate about supporting young people in business to help achieve their goals.
Having worked with Women of the Year Luncheon & Awards for some time, in 2009 Zalena was appointed to the Board of Directors. In 2018, Zalena was then appointed to Chair of the Board and Director of the Women of the Year Luncheon & Awards. In her time with the organisation Zalena has helped to grow the audience from 350 to over 600 guests and has been instrumental in forging working relationships with many female representative organisations to further raise awareness of women in business.
A true people person, Wendy enjoyed a career delivering impactful culture change programmes across diverse business for over 20 years. As HR Director for FedEx in 2000, the development of “Delivering Peace of Mind” transformed the business in readiness for acquisition in 2006. This culminated in Wendy becoming Personnel Today – HR Director of the Year.
Following the same success, Wendy moved to Steelite International in 2008 becoming Group HR Director and delivering another culture programme in a traditional manufacturing environment that had gone through significant depression since the 1980’s. Wendy introduced “Stepping up to the Plate” in 2009 as a programme of change which created training opportunities for everyone, from employees being able to learn how to read and write, through to a new business foundation degree with Staffordshire University which was open to all employees regardless of level within the organisation. Her passion is to improve links between education and industry and to ensure that business requirements are communicated to education to ensure young people are fit for purpose.
She became instrumental in the acquisition of Royal Crown Derby by Steelite International in 2012 and led the business through a rebranding and new product line programme – which was out of her area of expertise. Culture change, of course, soon followed.
Ready to leave the corporate world, In 2015 set up her own business, Strategi Solutions Group. With culture change at the heart, Wendy saw an opportunity to align three core business streams: People, Marketing and Creative. All working simultaneously to help businesses thrive through change, using her wealth of experience to support every step of this journey.
The company is now an employer of choice in Staffordshire, committing to cultivating local talent, and has gone on to win numerous prestigious awards. Wendy was the winner of Inspiring Workplaces Inspiring Leader 2022, Strategi was a finalist at the Engage Awards 2022, winners of Best SME HR and Marketing 2021, National Business Awards, Personnel Today Awards and the Staffordshire Chamber Awards to name a few!
Emma Elston MBE is a British entrepreneur and investor. Emma was Co-Founder and CEO of UKCM for 25 years until August 2023 when the business was acquired by US owned Impact Environmental Group. The husband and wife team led the business for 25 years and grew it into a very successful national brand. Emma also has a passion for start-ups and has invested and grown a number of these into thriving and exciting businesses. With no formal business training herself it is important for Emma to devote her time mentoring people from all walks of life, either helping them make the step into the world of business or providing them with advice and support that makes a difference to their outlook.
In 2012 Emma was named Business Woman of The Year and in 2015 she was awarded and MBE for her services to Manufacturing. She is an Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, Women Supporting Women.
A huge thank you to all of our sponsors!
Women of the Year’s 2024 nominated charity:
