Six rising stars point the way to a better future
To celebrate International Women’s Day today we are taking a look at some of the female rising stars of business in the South West. There are many women doing some of the most innovative and exciting work in the whole region, including in its fast-growing tech sector. Here is our list of six, in no particular order, who we expect you’ll be hearing more about over the coming years.
Laura Wall, artist and illustrator Laura Wall is an artist, illustrator and author best known for her Goose series of children’s books.
She gave up an enviable post working for a television company to become a full-time artist in 2010.
Since then, she has held five solo exhibitions with the latest one selling out in the first half hour of the show, created huge outdoor murals and seen her Goose series grow to 13 books available in more than 40 countries and translated in 12 languages.
She has developed her own homeware range from note pads to paddle boards, and sells online and from her gallery in Teignmouth.
Kalkidan Legesse, slow fashion campaigner and founder of Sancho’s
Kalkidan is behind the slow fashion brand Sancho’s in Fore Street, Exeter, and is a campaigner for fair, transparent trading.
Her latest concept is Shwap, an online platform to sell and buy pre loved sustainable fashion.
She explained in an interview with BusinessLive last year that businesses operated by black women and other marginalised groups “naturally lift up” those below them economically.
She said: “I have met so many wonderful people, women in particular, who are creators, who have stories to tell and dances to share and I have realised that those situations in my life that I have found to be uncomfortable, they have also found uncomfortable and that is incredibly validating.”
Sara Hill, founder and chief executive of Role Mapper Technologies
One of many bright lights in the South West’s burgeoning tech sector, Exeter-based entrepreneur Sara Hill founded HR tech platform Role Mapper in 2019.
The platform allows companies to design and manage more inclusive job descriptions, helps businesses to reach and retain talent they may miss and streamlines administration surrounding the recruitment process. It aims to encourage the hiring of a diverse workforce and allow employees’ more flexibility around work commitments if required.
Role Mapper was chosen by Tech Nation as one of its 10 ‘Rising Star’ early stage scale-up companies at the forefront of technology across the UK.
Zara Nanu, founder and chief executive of Gapsquare
The Bristol-based gender analyst and social entrepreneur set up her software company in 2015 to help businesses comply with gender pay gap regulations.
Before that she worked in the charity sector for about a decade focusing on women’s rights, including trafficking in human beings and exploitation, education, employment.
Zara set up Gapsquare after realising there was inequality of economic rights and a divide between the charity sector and business.
“We have developed software that helps companies comply with regulations automatically but also gets them insights into why they have the gap and how they can address it quicker,” she said.
“Women working together to support each other’s work is what will help shift things around. We might live in a world of inequality, but we do not have to accept it as a given. Together, we can make transformational change and create a more equal world in which we can all thrive.”
Samantha Payne, co-founder of Open Bionics
Samantha Payne co-founded her Bristol-based technology company, which makes bionic ‘superhero’ limbs for amputees, in 2014 with Joel Gibbard.
The company’s multi-grip bionic hands – or so-called ‘Hero Arms’ – are created using 3D printing tech and are the only advanced device that’s affordable enough to be available on the NHS.
The arms are also available through national healthcare systems in major western countries including France, Germany, and the US.
Open Bionics launched private sales in May 2018, with the ‘Hero Arm’ fast becoming the best-selling multi-grip bionic hand in Britain.
The business has also teamed up with Disney to design film-themed arms for users, including Star Wars BB-8, Marvel’s Iron Man and Frozen bionic covers.
Henrietta Kitt, founder of Hetty’s Kitchen
Henrietta Kitt (Hetty) set up her award-winning Gloucestershirebased bakery business, Hetty’s Kitchen, in 2018.
During 2020, Hetty was forced to adapt the business to survive after the closure of local markets. She decided to launch a mail-order brownie service instead – and business boomed.
The decision to pivot the business, which also has a ‘ cake hatch’ at Morelands Trading Estate, led to significant growth, with orders from across the UK.
The business has outgrown its bakery and is now looking for new premises as it expands.