Sisters Adeola and Ronke Jane founded Cultureville to make modern African-inspired fashion accessible globally, ethically sourcing prints from West Africa and designing contemporary silhouettes in Manchester. 

High-profile partnerships and pop-up residences at major UK retailers have proven the scalability of their culturally rich, ethically conscious brand.

Anita is a multi-award-winning author and founder of Green Bean Studios, drawing on over 20 years of child development expertise to build a children's edutainment brand spanning retail, EdTech and animated TV. 

Founded around her character Green Bean, the brand's Green Bean Collection helps children play, learn and go on outdoor adventures.

Co-founding Wander Films while travelling, Chloë built it from a bold, personality-driven video content venture into a major creative hub in Middlesbrough, focused on high-energy, social-first storytelling for brands and broadcasters. 

A Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree, she's a passionate advocate for the Teesside area, known for her authentic approach to brand storytelling and female entrepreneurship.

Clare is the Founder and CEO of Kids Planet — an award-winning UK nursery group and the second-largest nursery operator in the country that cares for babies through to preschool. 

Clare started with one nursery after struggling to find childcare that fitted around a working parent's life. Kids Planet is still family-run today, with her sister as COO and her father as co-founder.

Ed founded helfy (formerly The Wellbeing Doctors) in 2019 after the loss of a friend led him into lifestyle medicine. The Liverpool-based clinic combines traditional medical care with personalised lifestyle support and has built its own MHRA-certified clinical software, with 1% of profits from its network of clinicians going toward tackling health inequality in the North West.

A former NHS doctor, Dr Elliot Street co-founded Inovus Medical in 2012 to modernise surgical training through accessible digital simulators. 

Based in St Helens, the company now employs 65 people and exports to 80 countries, recently earning the KPMG Tech Innovator and Social Impact awards.

Gillian founded Exceptional Care in 2013, becoming the youngest-ever Registered Individual at Ofsted. 

The group is a provider of high-quality residential care for children with complex needs, built around a 'home away from home' approach to therapeutic recovery and long-term outcomes for vulnerable youth. Under Gillian's guidance, it has expanded to include several specialist homes across the North West and a dedicated training academy.

James launched Panache Cruises in 2020 (in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic) after a decade building and later selling his previous cruise retail business. 

Guided by his 'nothing is too much trouble' philosophy, the Chorley-based company now turns over more than £50m with a team of 110 across the UK, US and Australia. It has also been named one of the Sunday Times' best places to work for two years running.

Jana is the CEO and Founder of NeuWave, a precision wave forecasting company that she launched out of her PhD research. It uses AI models to tell offshore operators when it's safe to go to sea.

Based in Manchester, the company has raised over £800,000 in its first two years and now works with offshore wind farms and port operators across the UK's coastal regions.

After decades in trading and product development, John founded Gas Safe Europe to produce carbon monoxide and smoke alarm testing products, developing an oil-free smoke test formula that's now approved by most major alarm manufacturers worldwide. 

Based near Chester, the four-and-a-half-person, family-run business has grown revenue by 888% in the past three years, expanding from three countries to over 31.

Kate is the Managing Director of Like Technologies in Halton, bringing a distinguished career in corporate and public sector technology and consultancy leadership. 

She leads multidisciplinary teams across major transformation programmes and is passionate about the innovative, inclusive culture built at Like Technologies for its employees, community and environment.

Liz founded ORCHA nearly 12 years ago after a career as an NHS speech and language therapist. She's driven by a mission to improve access to healthcare through safe, trusted digital health technologies. 

The company now runs assurance and distribution of digital health apps across 12 countries, working with organisations including Public Health England, NHS Digital and the American Telemedicine Association.

After 30 years in the civil service, Liz co-founded Hippo to bring an evidence-based, human-centred approach to digital delivery, building the Leeds-based consultancy into one of the North's leading digital businesses over the past decade.

Michelle and her husband James founded FuelHub in 2019 after struggling to find healthy, convenient ready meals for their own busy lives. The business launched, coincidentally, on the same day that their son Stanley was born. 

Warrington-based and built on premium quality and trust, the business now supplies elite sports teams and retailers including Holland & Barrett. It's on track to hit £12m in revenue this year.

Mike founded OPEN Media in Liverpool after spending over a decade in advertising, print and outdoor media. He led the company to become the UK's first B Corp-certified outdoor media owner in 2023 and undertook a full rebrand and relaunch in 2024.

Murvah is the CEO and Co-Founder of HIVED, which she built from the ground up after spotting inefficiencies in the UK's delivery infrastructure through her first venture. 

Now the only UK company running a fully electric, end-to-end delivery model at scale, HIVED has delivered over 6.5m parcels for brands including John Lewis, H&M and Nespresso.

Oonagh trained as a chocolatier in Paris before turning a Portobello Road market stall into The Marshmallowist, now based in Leeds. 

A viral collaboration with Fortnum & Mason (the Wafflopus) has doubled the company's turnover, staff and bakery space in the past six months alone.

Paul founded Epic Global Solutions in 2013 after his own lived experience with a gambling addiction to help prevent that harm in others. 

The Appley Bridge-based business now trains and consults with sports leagues, gambling operators, banks and schools across 38 countries, helping to identify and prevent gambling harm before it takes hold.

Paul is on a mission to make cities, towns and organisations greener, healthier and more inclusive. 

He co-founded Farm Urban in 2013 while completing his PhD and has since led the Liverpool-based social enterprise through a decade of sustainable, double-digit growth, with a presence now in Manchester, Scotland and London.

Pete trained as a solicitor before co-founding his first business and later took the reins of Crysp full-time in 2024. The Bradford-based platform helps over 350 businesses to manage health, safety and regulatory compliance. 

Pete also chairs the Bradford District Place Making and Investment Partnership, helping to shape long-term investment into the city.

Phil joined MCAU eight years ago when the architecture and regeneration practice had just four or five staff. He now oversees both project and business leadership across Manchester and Liverpool, as the practice has grown to around 25 people and roughly £3m in turnover by working on regeneration and placemaking projects across the North West.

Rachael is the fourth-generation MD of JJ Smith, having joined as a non-executive director while on maternity leave and worked her way up through commercial director. 

The Liverpool City Region-based business now turns over around £8m and recently won a King's Award for Enterprise. Over a third of its workforce are current or former apprentices.

Rob joined his father Bernard's plumbing and heating business straight from school at 16 and took over 15 years ago when it had just five staff. 

Based in Warrington, the certified B Corp group now spans five business units including gas, electrical, air conditioning and more, with around 55 staff and a turnover approaching £7m.

Dubbed "the Nanny McPhee of people" by her clients, Ruby founded Talent Loop in December 2022 to help fast-growth companies fix not just hiring but the whole employee lifecycle. 

The Manchester-based consultancy has since scaled to seven staff and been named among Business Insider's 42 Under 42 and ComputerWeekly's Most Influential Women in Tech.

Sam is on a mission to redesign insurance for women. As founder and CEO of Stella Insurance and founder and Chair of Freedom Services, she's built a business that now employs over 200 staff across Cheadle and Sydney, which started from her sister's conservatory back in 1999.

Simon founded Simed Global in 2022 after spotting airport security swab technology and asking whether it could be adapted for instant health diagnostics. 

Based in Birkenhead, the company is close to CE marking for its saliva-based bacterial infection test, with partnerships underway across India, Turkey and South Korea for tuberculosis and bovine TB detection.

Zandra is a prominent leader in the UK tech scene, having founded zygens after 15 years leading Panintelligence, a business intelligence and data analytics software company. 

An advocate for female founders in tech, Zandra co-founded Lean In Leeds and has worked closely with government to address the funding gap for women, taking her Leeds-based firm into global markets with accessible data tools for SaaS companies worldwide.