The House of Lords played host yesterday evening (Thursday 12th) for the official launch of 41st Women of the Year Luncheon and Awards 2023 (WOTY), marking the opening of the nomination window for the highly prestigious honour ‘Business Woman of the Year 2023’.

Sally Lindsay, WOTY President and highly established British actor and writer took centre stage at the major launch event, sponsored by Lloyds Bank PLC, to unveil the proceedings for this year’s event and recognise the very notable and extremely deserving past winners of the last 40 years.

Taking place on Friday, 6th October 2023 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, Women of the Year Luncheon & Awards, is a celebration of achievement which promotes positive female role models who provide inspiration across all areas of society and the business community. The lead sponsor for the event is the major online bank, Aldermore.

Sally paid homage to the hugely inspirational women who have come to the fore this year, stating at the event: “The last 12 months saw women continue to strive to achieve across many fields. We celebrated success seeing our very own Lionesses win Euro 2022, Stephanie Frappart became the first ever woman to referee at the Men’s World Cup. Elisabeth Borne became only the second female to take the position of prime minister in France and the late American author and activist Maya Angelou became the first Black woman to appear on a US quarter but whilst there was much to celebrate, we continue to see women fighting for basic human rights across the world.

“August marks one year since the Taliban took control in Afghanistan and just last month, we saw men walk out of a university to show support for their fellow female students who have now been banned from obtaining higher education. We continue to see our Iranian sisters fight for their rights following the harrowing death of Mahsa Amini after being detained for wearing her hijab incorrectly and of course we have all seen the difficulties faced by men AND women across Ukraine as they continue to suffer in the war declared by Russia.

“Closer to home we continue to see statistics that tell us there are less women sitting at Board level in FTSE 100 companies today than there were in 2010. Women made up the majority of those made redundant during the pandemic. Navigating career and childcare continues to be a major issue with PregnantThenScrewed reporting that around 54,000 women a year lose their job in the UK for simply getting pregnant. This is all happening in 2022! So, when people next ask you, our sponsors and ambassadors, why we still have Women of the Year, you have just a snapshot of information there to share.

“Looking forward within the organisation, there is a whole new generation of young women looking to be inspired and supported in whatever they choose to do by men and women like those present in this room today and here at Women of the Year we’re determined to be a part of that support network for the future.”

As well as the main honour, WOTY Business Woman of the Year 2023, two other major awards will be presented on 6th October – ‘Women of Achievement’, in celebration of a much deserving group of individuals or team, and ‘Woman with Edge’, sponsored by leading law firm Freeths LLP, and celebrating the younger generation of women coming through the ranks and ‘the ones to watch’.

Attending the high-profile launch evening at the House of Lords were many other honoured guests including WOTY Ambassador and Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords Baroness Newlove, and WOTY Directors Emma Elston MBE, Sharon Redrobe OBE, Zalena Vandrewala and Fleur Sexton DL.

Key launch event sponsors include Lloyds Bank PLC (House of Lords overall launch event sponsor), No.3 Gin (House of Lords launch event drinks sponsor) and Aldermore (major sponsor of the Awards and Luncheon). Other key sponsors include Freeths LLP, Pertemps Recruitment Partnership Limited, Aston University, Strategi Solutions, Red Cloud Business Services Ltd and Miss Media.

To make a nomination for WOTY Business Woman of the Year 2023, or for Freeths LLP Woman with Edge, please visit https://www.womenoftheyear.org.uk/