Karren Brady began her career at Saatchi & Saatchi when she was 18 years old and swiftly moved onto London Broadcasting Company as a sales executive. She joined Sport Newspapers Ltd in 1988 and became Director within a year.
Karren is now known as the first woman in football. She was Managing Director of Birmingham City Football Club from 1993 to 2009 and during that time turned the Club's fortunes around. She took over Birmingham City FC when it was in administration, and in her first year at the helm, the Club recorded a financial trading profit. In 1996 the Club made an overall profit for the first time in modern history and in February 1997 she launched the Club on the Stock market; she was the youngest Managing Director of a PLC in the UK.
In October 2009 her business was valued at over £82million and she sold it.
In January 2010, Karren was appointed Vice Chairman of West Ham United FC. In January 2011, under her leadership campaign, WHU was awarded as preferred bidder for the Olympic Stadium. As a result her club hope to be moving there post games in 2014. Following her first 12 months at West Ham, the club made a trading profit for the first time in many years.
Karren has attracted much media attention in her career, and was the subject of an hour long documentary 'Inside Story' - The Real Life Manageress' shown on BBC 1. She has hosted her own TV show, and has also presented shows on ITV. Karren has written four books.
Karren is a columnist for The Sun newspaper; the UK's biggest selling national daily newspaper. She is also a columnist for Women & Home. She is a judge of the Cosmopolitan Women of Achievement Awards and the Sports Industry Awards, Red Magazine Women Awards, Women & Home Women Awards.
An Ambassador for The Stroke Association, WellChild and Teenage Cancer Trust, Karren is also Chair of the Mothercare Group Foundation. She has been a Board Director of Mothercare PLC, Channel 4 Television and Sport England and is currently a non-Executive Director of Arcadia. She is an honoree Fellow of the Institute of Sales and Marketing.
She was voted by Cosmopolitan as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world and in 2004 and again in 2006 attended The Queen's lunch for Women Achievers and Business Leaders. She was acknowledged as one of the most influential women in Britain by the Daily Mail and voted as one of Britain’s Most Inspirational Women by Good Housekeeping magazine.
In November 2006 she won the Cosmopolitan Woman of the Year, in the category of Women Who Have Changed the World.
In March 2006 she was chosen as the team leader on BBC1's The Apprentice, for Comic Relief, where she led her team (Trinny Woodall, Jo Brand, Cheryl Cole and Maureen Lipman) to a resounding victory over the boys team (Alistair Campbell, Piers Morgan, Rupert Everett, Danny Baker and Ross Kemp) raising over £750k (the two teams together raising £1million for charity).
In December 2007 Karren was a guest on Desert Island Discs and February 2008 saw the launch of Karren Brady’s 'Today's Business Woman' magazine.
In October 2007 Karren was voted Business Woman of the Year and in November 2008 she was named as one of the top leadership role models in a national poll. This recognition was quickly followed in December 2008 when she was presented with the coveted Spirit of Everywoman Award at the NatWest Everywoman Awards, acknowledging her outstanding achievements in changing the landscape for women in business.
During January 2009, Karren presented a series of features for ITV1's GMTV called Just the Job, helping people back into work, and giving advice about looking for and retaining your job in this uncertain economic climate.
November 2010 saw Karren listed in the business category of The Sunday Telegraph's '100 Most Powerful Women in Britain', whilst she was also included in the Evening Standard's list of 'London's 1000 Most Influential People 2010', second to David Beckham in the category of Sport.
In December 2010 Dr. Karren Brady received her Doctorate from the University of Birmingham in Business studies.
In 2010 following appearances as one of Lord Sugar's interrogators on the popular BBC show 'The Apprentice', Karren has replaced Margaret Mountford as Lord Sugar's right-hand woman.
In July 2011 she won the National Reality TV Award for Best TV Judge beating Cheryl Cole, Louis Walsh and Aleshia Dixon amongst others.
Testimonials
'Looking through the evaluation forms the women’s leadership panel was extremely well received, and, indeed, was considered a highlight of the event' Leaders in London event
"Please pass on our sincere thanks to Karren for the excellent presentation she gave to our 400 women audience. It was clear, relevant, interesting and professionally delivered." Yorkshire Women in Business Conference
'The feedback this morning, across the board, has been hugely positive and and many have commented (me included) that what you said was inspiring - which I think is about as good as it gets!' Mark Tasker (Partner) for Fox Williams LLP, Solicitors
'Your keynote presentation on Tuesday was Brilliant. What a great communicator, I bet everyone in the audience thought you were sitting with them in their front room', Jonathan Wainwright at the EEDA Conference
'We had a great evening and have received very positive feedback regarding your talk. We really appreciate your enthusiasm and help to spread the spirit of enterprise' Frances Bycroft, University of Cambridge
'Thank you very much for your very entertaining and informative speech. Our delegates thoroughly enjoyed your session and many believed this was the highlight of the conference!' Anthony Keast - Tyco International
‘Thanks again for delivering a brilliant speech at our Risk Forum and as you’ll see from our online survey results below; an excellent rating!’ Catherine Tasker Institute of Risk Management
"Karren was a star! Very engaging and certainly one of the best I've seen on the circuit for a very long time. Please pass on my thanks." CB Richard Ellis
‘Overall evaluation 10, audience reaction 10...engagement with audience and content of presentation covering business development, personal development outstanding’ Royal Bank of Scotland
Karren Brady was stunning and very inspirational, a real master class, very motivating’
‘Inspirational, Brilliant. Wow!’
‘Fabulous session from Karren Brady ? Superb content and delivery, one of the best speakers’ Chief Nursing Conference
‘The success of a Masterclass is solely dependant on the quality of the speakers, the power of their presentations and the value the audience perceive in the session and you exceeded our expectations in all three areas.’ HBOS
“I would just like to say how lovely Karren was, not only a very beautiful lady but also very articulate and intelligent. It was so interesting to hear a women's viewpoint on the football world and everyone commented on how interesting her speech was.’ Deloitte
‘Inspiriting and witty account of life as the first woman of football was extremely motivational and feedback from the event has been exceptional’ Women in Business Lunch
‘Overall evaluation..10, Audience reactions…10, I have recommended Karren to all my colleagues’ Chamber of Commerce
'Thanks again – next year Conference – how are you going to get someone as good as Karren? I really don’t know!! Scottish Wholesale Association
‘Just thought you’d like some feedback from the client … they thought you were excellent, they’ve had marvellous feedback from the event and will be sending you a thank you letter in due course. Very many thanks for this Karren’ Confederation of British Metal Forming
‘I can say from the response you saw and the feedback I heard during and after the conference just how well Michael Taylor & the team thought of you and the audience were thrilled to bits. I think they were quite in awe of you actually’ Xchanging
‘I just thought I'd let you know that Leicestershire Promotions thought you were fantastic’: ‘Your session was certainly in the spirit of Refuel – topical, informative, refreshing and inspiring’ CEO Leeds media
‘The feedback has been very complimentary; our audience thoroughly enjoyed your talk and felt that the lecture was just the kind of backbone we need at corporate events in Scotland’ Insider Elite Awards
‘Having spoken with many of the delegates both on the day and over the past week, they have had nothing but compliments for the very illuminating presentation that you have. The energy, enthusiasm and passion you brought to our event was compelling.’ Chairman Irish Direct marketing Association
‘Thanks for the excellent and inspirational talk you gave at the Elite Dinner in Edinburgh; I came into work today with a renewed sense of vigor'
‘Thank you for your excellent speech, straightforward, refreshing, enlightening and inspiring’. Stockport Chamber of Commerce
‘Every single person who responded on our feedback forms rated your presentation as good or better. This represented a 100% approval rating’ CEO British Council of Shopping Centres.
Karren is now known as the first woman in football. She was Managing Director of Birmingham City Football Club from 1993 to 2009 and during that time turned the Club's fortunes around. She took over Birmingham City FC when it was in administration, and in her first year at the helm, the Club recorded a financial trading profit. In 1996 the Club made an overall profit for the first time in modern history and in February 1997 she launched the Club on the Stock market; she was the youngest Managing Director of a PLC in the UK.
In October 2009 her business was valued at over £82million and she sold it.
In January 2010, Karren was appointed Vice Chairman of West Ham United FC. In January 2011, under her leadership campaign, WHU was awarded as preferred bidder for the Olympic Stadium. As a result her club hope to be moving there post games in 2014. Following her first 12 months at West Ham, the club made a trading profit for the first time in many years.
Karren has attracted much media attention in her career, and was the subject of an hour long documentary 'Inside Story' - The Real Life Manageress' shown on BBC 1. She has hosted her own TV show, and has also presented shows on ITV. Karren has written four books.
Karren is a columnist for The Sun newspaper; the UK's biggest selling national daily newspaper. She is also a columnist for Women & Home. She is a judge of the Cosmopolitan Women of Achievement Awards and the Sports Industry Awards, Red Magazine Women Awards, Women & Home Women Awards.
An Ambassador for The Stroke Association, WellChild and Teenage Cancer Trust, Karren is also Chair of the Mothercare Group Foundation. She has been a Board Director of Mothercare PLC, Channel 4 Television and Sport England and is currently a non-Executive Director of Arcadia. She is an honoree Fellow of the Institute of Sales and Marketing.
She was voted by Cosmopolitan as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world and in 2004 and again in 2006 attended The Queen's lunch for Women Achievers and Business Leaders. She was acknowledged as one of the most influential women in Britain by the Daily Mail and voted as one of Britain’s Most Inspirational Women by Good Housekeeping magazine.
In November 2006 she won the Cosmopolitan Woman of the Year, in the category of Women Who Have Changed the World.
In March 2006 she was chosen as the team leader on BBC1's The Apprentice, for Comic Relief, where she led her team (Trinny Woodall, Jo Brand, Cheryl Cole and Maureen Lipman) to a resounding victory over the boys team (Alistair Campbell, Piers Morgan, Rupert Everett, Danny Baker and Ross Kemp) raising over £750k (the two teams together raising £1million for charity).
In December 2007 Karren was a guest on Desert Island Discs and February 2008 saw the launch of Karren Brady’s 'Today's Business Woman' magazine.
In October 2007 Karren was voted Business Woman of the Year and in November 2008 she was named as one of the top leadership role models in a national poll. This recognition was quickly followed in December 2008 when she was presented with the coveted Spirit of Everywoman Award at the NatWest Everywoman Awards, acknowledging her outstanding achievements in changing the landscape for women in business.
During January 2009, Karren presented a series of features for ITV1's GMTV called Just the Job, helping people back into work, and giving advice about looking for and retaining your job in this uncertain economic climate.
November 2010 saw Karren listed in the business category of The Sunday Telegraph's '100 Most Powerful Women in Britain', whilst she was also included in the Evening Standard's list of 'London's 1000 Most Influential People 2010', second to David Beckham in the category of Sport.
In December 2010 Dr. Karren Brady received her Doctorate from the University of Birmingham in Business studies.
In 2010 following appearances as one of Lord Sugar's interrogators on the popular BBC show 'The Apprentice', Karren has replaced Margaret Mountford as Lord Sugar's right-hand woman.
In July 2011 she won the National Reality TV Award for Best TV Judge beating Cheryl Cole, Louis Walsh and Aleshia Dixon amongst others.
Testimonials
'Looking through the evaluation forms the women’s leadership panel was extremely well received, and, indeed, was considered a highlight of the event' Leaders in London event
"Please pass on our sincere thanks to Karren for the excellent presentation she gave to our 400 women audience. It was clear, relevant, interesting and professionally delivered." Yorkshire Women in Business Conference
'The feedback this morning, across the board, has been hugely positive and and many have commented (me included) that what you said was inspiring - which I think is about as good as it gets!' Mark Tasker (Partner) for Fox Williams LLP, Solicitors
'Your keynote presentation on Tuesday was Brilliant. What a great communicator, I bet everyone in the audience thought you were sitting with them in their front room', Jonathan Wainwright at the EEDA Conference
'We had a great evening and have received very positive feedback regarding your talk. We really appreciate your enthusiasm and help to spread the spirit of enterprise' Frances Bycroft, University of Cambridge
'Thank you very much for your very entertaining and informative speech. Our delegates thoroughly enjoyed your session and many believed this was the highlight of the conference!' Anthony Keast - Tyco International
‘Thanks again for delivering a brilliant speech at our Risk Forum and as you’ll see from our online survey results below; an excellent rating!’ Catherine Tasker Institute of Risk Management
"Karren was a star! Very engaging and certainly one of the best I've seen on the circuit for a very long time. Please pass on my thanks." CB Richard Ellis
‘Overall evaluation 10, audience reaction 10...engagement with audience and content of presentation covering business development, personal development outstanding’ Royal Bank of Scotland
Karren Brady was stunning and very inspirational, a real master class, very motivating’
‘Inspirational, Brilliant. Wow!’
‘Fabulous session from Karren Brady ? Superb content and delivery, one of the best speakers’ Chief Nursing Conference
‘The success of a Masterclass is solely dependant on the quality of the speakers, the power of their presentations and the value the audience perceive in the session and you exceeded our expectations in all three areas.’ HBOS
“I would just like to say how lovely Karren was, not only a very beautiful lady but also very articulate and intelligent. It was so interesting to hear a women's viewpoint on the football world and everyone commented on how interesting her speech was.’ Deloitte
‘Inspiriting and witty account of life as the first woman of football was extremely motivational and feedback from the event has been exceptional’ Women in Business Lunch
‘Overall evaluation..10, Audience reactions…10, I have recommended Karren to all my colleagues’ Chamber of Commerce
'Thanks again – next year Conference – how are you going to get someone as good as Karren? I really don’t know!! Scottish Wholesale Association
‘Just thought you’d like some feedback from the client … they thought you were excellent, they’ve had marvellous feedback from the event and will be sending you a thank you letter in due course. Very many thanks for this Karren’ Confederation of British Metal Forming
‘I can say from the response you saw and the feedback I heard during and after the conference just how well Michael Taylor & the team thought of you and the audience were thrilled to bits. I think they were quite in awe of you actually’ Xchanging
‘I just thought I'd let you know that Leicestershire Promotions thought you were fantastic’: ‘Your session was certainly in the spirit of Refuel – topical, informative, refreshing and inspiring’ CEO Leeds media
‘The feedback has been very complimentary; our audience thoroughly enjoyed your talk and felt that the lecture was just the kind of backbone we need at corporate events in Scotland’ Insider Elite Awards
‘Having spoken with many of the delegates both on the day and over the past week, they have had nothing but compliments for the very illuminating presentation that you have. The energy, enthusiasm and passion you brought to our event was compelling.’ Chairman Irish Direct marketing Association
‘Thanks for the excellent and inspirational talk you gave at the Elite Dinner in Edinburgh; I came into work today with a renewed sense of vigor'
‘Thank you for your excellent speech, straightforward, refreshing, enlightening and inspiring’. Stockport Chamber of Commerce
‘Every single person who responded on our feedback forms rated your presentation as good or better. This represented a 100% approval rating’ CEO British Council of Shopping Centres.
Business Speaker and Former Managing Director of Birmingham City FC and now Deputy Managing Director of West Ham Karren Brady is also Lord Sugar's right hand woman in the Apprentice. She is a world class Business and inspirational speaker, covering subjects such as Motivation, Goal Achieving, Leading a Team, Delivering Change, Marketing, Business, Entrepreneurship, Management Skills, Women in Business, Team Building as well as after dinner speaking.
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