Kate Wilson receives Mumpreneur UK’s “2011 Most Inspirational Business Mum Award”
Mumpreneur is an inspiration
It’s tough to combine being a mum with running your own business, but Kate Wilson, originally from Edinburgh and working in Southwark in London, has done it so well that her success has been recognised at the 2011 Mumpreneur Conference and Awards sponsored by Yell and DHL Express.
Kate Wilson’s new children’s book and app publishing business, Nosy Crow, which launched in January 2011, was chosen by a panel of independent judges that included Dragons Den star Duncan Bannatyne- who says anyone running their own business ‘must stay focused and work hard’- as the winner of the Most Inspirational Business Mum Award. The award, sponsored by Intuit UK, was presented on Sunday 25th September at the Heart of England Conference Centre, Warwickshire and concluded the celebratory event. After receiving her award, Kate said:
“This is the most fantastic – and unexpected – validation of the hard work of the clever and professional staff of Nosy Crow and of our creative and professional authors and illustrators. I am so grateful to them, and to our customers throughout the world, from independent bookshops just a few minutes down the road to Apple in Cupertino, California, whose support of the books and apps we are publishing has made our first few months of publishing such a success.
And, of course, I am grateful to Mumpreneur UK, Yell, DHL and Intuit for making the awards happen, and to my children and my husband for their support every day.
Anyone setting up a business, a social enterprise or a charity, particularly in the current economic climate, is courageous. To do so while having young – or youngish, in my case! – children takes even more bravery. I think all the parents shortlisted for the awards are inspirational, but I am very proud and happy that we were singled out.”
Nosy Crow is a new, independent company, publishing children’s books and apps, including high- quality, commercial fiction and non-fiction books for children aged from 0 to 14 from both well-known authors and illustrators and new talent. The company also develops innovative, multimedia, highly interactive apps for tablets, smart phones and other touchscreen devices. These apps are not existing books squashed into phones, but instead are specially created to take advantage of the devices to tell stories and provide information to children in new and engaging ways.
Pernille Bruun-Jensen, managing director for Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks accounting software for small businesses, commented: “Congratulations to Kate Wilson for being crowned the Inspirational Business Mum of 2011, at this year’s Mumpreneur Awards. Kate has shown tremendous entrepreneurial spirit and ambition in realising her dream with Nosy Crow. At Intuit we are passionate about small businesses and Kate is truly an inspirational role model for all budding entrepreneurs thinking of starting a business to take the next step. Well done Kate, from all at Intuit, we look forward to hearing of Nosy Crow’s many successes in the future.”
Kate was chosen from 720 entries into the awards and is the third Inspirational Business Mum to be announced by Mumpreneur UK. Laura Rigney, co-founder of the organisation said “Both the judges and the Mumpreneur UK team were blown away by Kate’s story and couldn’t think of a better example of a successful business mum. In such a short period of time Kate and her team have built a brand that will soon be recognised and trusted worldwide.”
For more information on The Mumpreneur Awards 2011 award winners, visit www.mumpreneuruk.com, where you can also find support, resources and other events for mumpreneurs in the UK.
Notes to Editors
• Kate Wilson can be contacted on 020 7089 7575 and kate@nosycrow.com
• For further information about Nosy Crow, images or information please visit www.nosycrow.com or contact Dom Kingston on 07740482561 or dom@nosycrow.com
• For further information about the awards, images or information on Mumpreneur UK please contact Laura Rigney on 07855240442 or email hello@mumpreneuruk.com