The awards took place on 2nd December 2025 at The Londoner Hotel in Leicester Square where more than 300 business leaders, investors, and long-term supporters of women in enterprise gathered under one roof to acknowledge the hard work behind each winner’s story.

This year’s nominees reflects the scale and ingenuity of women’s entrepreneurship today. Some are building young companies that are shaking up familiar industries, others are guiding established firms with multi-million-pound revenues, and some are using their businesses to create a positive impact in their communities.

Findings from the Female Business Owners Index 2025, produced by Tide and everywoman, suggest that the past year has been testing for women-led businesses. Falling consumer spending, inflation, and political uncertainty were common challenges. Even so, women founders across the UK continue to push forward, and 67% expect their revenue to grow in the coming year.

Nicole Goodwin and Sophie Catto, Joint Managing Directors of AllBright everywoman, said: “Female entrepreneurs across the UK are demonstrating extraordinary perseverance, optimism, and ambition in one of the toughest business climates in recent years. Female founders are working longer hours and navigating multiple pressure points, yet their determination has never been stronger.

“By bringing together a powerful community of role models, investors, mentors, and partners, these awards not only celebrate success stories but actively create them by opening doors to funding, commercial opportunities and strategic support. This year’s finalists and winners are bold innovators, breaking down deep-rooted barriers for the next generation of female founders. We are immensely proud to celebrate their achievements and champion the unstoppable women who are reshaping the UK’s entrepreneurial landscape.”

Celebrating the 2025 AllBright everywomen Tech Innovator Award, was Emma O'Brien, Founder & CEO of Embridge Consulting in Kent. The category was sponsored by Farrer & Co.

With no external funding, Emma built Embridge Consulting from her kitchen table, having been made redundant after having her second child. She has built a people-first transformation consultancy, filling a critical gap in a market where mid-sized, purpose-led organisations were often overwhelmed by impersonal, costly, enterprise-driven change. Emma has faced personal tragedy, losing her son Leo suddenly and unexpectedly. This experience deepened Emma's level of empathy, sharpened her focus and ignited a new mission to use the platform she has built to not only grow Embridge but also to deliver lasting social impact. From this, Leo's Angels has been born, a memorial fund dedicated to harnessing technology to transform epilepsy care. Emma continues to challenge industry norms by building a business that drives measurable results for clients, while prioritising ethics, impact, and people.

Presenting the award Marie Bates, Corporate Partner and ED&I Partner at Farrer & Co, said: “As a law firm where the majority of our lawyers are women, supporting women succeed is at the absolute heart of who we are.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is seeing female entrepreneurs really push boundaries. Women in Tech in particular, define the odds of disrupting the sector.”

On receiving the award, O’Brien said: “I was only introduced to the female entrepreneurship ecosystem in the UK in 2023, after being in business for 13 years and not actually identifying as an entrepreneur.

“You guys in the room, every single finalist … you are absolutely incredible, and you lift up the whole of the UK female entrepreneurship system. I genuinely would not be here without the female entrepreneurs that I found and became really good friends with the last couple of years.”

The Woman of the Year Award was, for the first time, given jointly to sisters Toria Chan and Jules Shiel-Boulger, Co-Founders of STEPS Rehabilitation, from Sheffield, who are breaking the mould of specialist residential rehabilitation in the UK.

Building on their backgrounds in physiotherapy, nursing, and homoeopathic medicine, they spent seven years researching and planning to create a facility that offers intensive, personalised rehabilitation for individuals with catastrophic neurological injuries all under one roof. Securing initial funding proved especially difficult, as lenders viewed the venture as very high risk. Through persistence and strategic networking, they successfully raised £6 million from private investors and a regional growth fund grant, turning their bold vision into reality. In just over eight years, STEPS has delivered rehabilitation programmes to more than 400 people, with its pioneering model combining expert medical care, specialist nursing, innovative therapies, and world-leading technology under one roof, significantly improving recovery outcomes. STEPS has had a profound impact on the local community by placing Sheffield on the map as an innovator in neurorehabilitation, providing employment to over 180 people, and being recognised as one of Sheffield's top 1% of employers.

On accepting the award, Chan said: “Incredibly shocked to have won … there have been so many amazing people that have supported us on the journey. We had this really strong vision, but we’ve never done anything like this before. Everybody [said] ‘we love the vision, but come and see us when you’re making a profit’ … which was good to hear, but not particularly helpful at the time. Without people believing in us and in our passion and really getting behind the journey, we absolutely wouldn’t be here today.

"As well as our friends and family … the key thing that got us through in those early days was the people that were at STEPS having the rehabilitation and seeing them on a daily basis, achieving things … that’s what kept us going all the time, when we were thinking ‘can we still keep doing this?’ … We’ve got some absolutely awesome people in the team at STEPS, and without them, we wouldn’t be able to deliver what we do.”

George Schmidt, Tide UK/Europe CEO, said: “This year’s winners and nominees capture exactly what makes female entrepreneurship such a powerful force in the UK. Many women have been navigating tougher conditions, yet the founders recognised today have shown remarkable ambition and creativity in how they are building and growing their businesses.

“The Tide everywoman Entrepreneur Awards do more than celebrate individual success stories. They help create the conditions for those successes by giving founders greater visibility, stronger networks and access to opportunities that too many women are still denied.

“At Tide, we’re committed to helping women-led businesses start, scale, and thrive, which is why our partnership with everywoman is so important to us. The founders honoured this year are reshaping their sectors and inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs. We’re proud to stand alongside them and support the momentum they are creating.”

The Tide £20,000 grant for an exceptional female-founded SME was presented to Zoe Williams, Founder of Aegle's, from London. Zoe founded supplement company Aegle’s after discovering a life-changing solution to her own severe acne.

Gemma Hamilton, Head of Origination at BGF, said: “At BGF, we’re committed to championing the successes of female founders, which is why we are delighted to be associate sponsor of the 2025 everywoman Entrepreneur Awards for the fourth year running. It’s so important to recognise the outstanding contribution that talented female founders make to the wider economy. At BGF, we’re proud to have committed at least £300 million to support female entrepreneurship over the next five years, adding to our £540+ million capital deployment in some of the UK’s most exciting and ambitious female-powered businesses to date.”

The Brand of the Future Award, sponsored by The White Company, was presented to Daisy Knatchbull, Founder and CEO of Knatchbull, from London. The Brand of the Future Award recognises a business scaling at pace, with a strong commitment to sustainability and brand values. The recipient of this award receives support and mentorship from The White Company founder Chrissie Rucker.

The 2025 category winners

• The Balance Award: Rana Righton, Managing Director of The Gluten Free Bakery, from London
• Entrepreneur for Good Award: sponsored by Specsavers: Ruby Raut, CEO of WUKA Ltd, from Welwyn Garden City
• International Expansion Award: sponsored by Rathbone Financial Planning: Karen Hewitt, Chief of Retail at Character.com, from Swansea
• The Next Level Award: Sponsored by Saffery: Charlotte Stagg and Jessica Lancaster, Co-Founders and CEOs of Coconut Lane UK and Cocopup London, from Witney
• Scale Up Award: sponsored by BGF: Julie Collison, Director of Clear Strategy Limited, from Dublin
• Social Star Award: Daisy Kelly, Founder & CEO of Glow For It, from Hammersmith
• Solopreneur Award: Katy Fridman, Founder of Flexible Working People, from London
• Tech Innovator Award: Emma O'Brien, Founder & CEO of Embridge Consulting from Kent
• Small Enterprise Award: sponsored by Tide: Rosie Skuse, Founder & CEO of Molto Music Group, from London
•                Tide also presented an additional £1,000 grant to Rosie and Molto Music Group.

The 2025 winners were chosen by a judging panel comprising some of the UK’s most successful women in business, as well as VCS and investors who are at the forefront of closing the funding gap with their diverse portfolios. Judges included Chrissie Rucker (Founder of The White Company), Susan Allen (co-founder at Here We Flo), Kelli Aspland (Director of Solar Buddies), Yvonne Nagawa (Chief of Staff at Black Seed Ventures), Sarah Anderson CBE (Chief Executive at The Listening Place), and Nell Daly (Founder & Managing partner at Revenge Capital), amongst others.