Technical PR specialist awarded national accolade

Established eight years ago, the accolades aim to acknowledge the hard work of enterprising female talent within the workplace and celebrate respected businesswomen across a wide variety of industries.

In September, Katie Mallinson was awarded the Start Up of the Year ‘gong’ for the Yorkshire, North East and Scotland region. This category champions distinctive women whose company is within their first five years of trading.

Each finalist who triumphed in their regional heat was then put through their paces last month in Manchester at a live judging session, where experts including Apprentice favourite Linda Plant quizzed the women on their organisations. The overall winners from the 12 categories were then revealed on December 1st at a glittering event held at Royal Armouries in Leeds.

Following the day, Forward Ladies’ manging director Griselda Togobo expressed her pride in the women who had been shortlisted for the national awards: “We were delighted to welcome applications from women from across the UK in this year’s national awards. We are also happy to have been able to reward and celebrate the achievements of women from diverse backgrounds and industries proving that success can be achieved by anyone through hard work and determination.

“Women are setting up their own businesses in unprecedented numbers and the news that women are also making strides in the boardroom signals a welcomed shift. We look forward to supporting more women and working with progressive companies looking to unlock the potential of women in their businesses.”

The three-course gala lunch presentation included talks from high profile speakers – chief executive of HSBC UK Ian Stuart CBE, the first female chairman of the Institute of Directors Lady Barbara Judge, and Business Woman of the Year Jan Flawn of PJ Care – who all spoke about their own inspirational journeys.

Katie founded Huddersfield-based Scriba PR in 2013, and has doubled her client base this year alone, whilst boosting staff numbers from three to seven. The firm provides communications support to technical B2B companies, who find it difficult to tell their own story. Commenting on her achievement she said: “It was another great day celebrating women in business from a wide range of backgrounds. The competition was incredibly tough, as I was up against some hugely successful women, so when they called my name I was extremely shocked.

“I feel privileged and honoured to have been chosen as the national Start Up business of the year.”

Find out more information about the Forward Ladies National Awards, the judges or view the full list of winners.