Power 50 Publication - Flipbook - Page 15
Page 15
Nicola Miller
CEO & Founder, Lime Blue Solutions
Nicola studied hospitality management at
university and went onto various roles
within the hotel industry, including
conference coordinator at Church House
Conference Centre and Imperial College,
and sales manager at a hotel in Jersey. “I
wanted to combine my love of venues
with that of travel so set up Lime Blue
Solutions in 2004 with my then business
partner Michelle Boyt. For the past 18 years,
I have been lucky enough to run events
from 10 to 1,000 people in countries around
the world. It became apparent that having
a close relationship with a design agency
really added to our client offering, so we
merged my husband’s company into Lime
Blue several years ago.”
Biggest challenge:
Having to steer the company forwards,
learn and market new technologies,
create new revenue streams, maintain our
cash flow, make tough decisions
regarding furlough and consequent
redundancies whilst keeping the
remaining team motivated and focused
certainly had its challenging moments.
Everyone at Lime Blue dug deep and
worked incredibly hard throughout the
pandemic which consequently meant
that we still have a thriving business.
“I always feel proud when you stand
back at the end of an event with a
very happy client beside you and an
onsite team that feels like family.”
Person who most inspired me:
My father has inspired me the most. He
taught me the importance of always
keeping an eye on the bottom line and not
being afraid to employ people that are
better than you at certain things. As a very
successful and well-respected high-end
beef and lamb supplier to some of the top
hotels in the world, he also suffered an
almost catastrophic time for his own
business when BSE hit in the 1980’s. He
certainly helped and inspired me at the
beginning of the pandemic to keep going
and find a way through.
Holly Moore
CEO & Founder,
Make Events and HM Events
After working in events for ten years at a
venue and as head of employee
engagement events at AstraZeneca; Holly
saw a niche in the market. She wanted to
create an agency that would deliver the
ultimate experience for colleagues, clients,
venues and all other stakeholders. Holly
has grown Make Events over the last ten
years to a recognisable brand within the
industry.
Most memorable moment:
Recently, I won Jacqueline Gold CEO, of
Ann Summers’ annual WOW Award. I was
one of three female winners of the year. I
have long admired Jacqueline Gold for
her story but also her trailblazing in the
female empowerment space, so to win
this award was highly memorable.
Biggest challenge:
Lockdown without a doubt. I had no
investors or business partners, so every
decision was on my head. We lost
£3million of revenue, I was isolating on my
own and I was in a total fog. I had to work
so hard on my mindset to continually find
the answers. They weren't always right, but
I did the best I could. It has been the
biggest leadership course I could have
been on.
Proudest professional achievement:
There are so many – from getting the
House of Make our HQ, to client wins and
seeing the team develop. However, more
recently I would say the Make Events Show
which was a virtual show we put on in
March 2021. It was our last attempt to
market ourselves and engage people with
our brand. I was so done in January – I
had the choice to mothball or go again.
We went again. I co-hosted the show with
Gethin Jones – it was a huge investment
and risk that paid off.
Sophie Morris
Managing Director, Worldspan
A degree in psychology led Sophie to her
first job in exhibition management. She
joined Worldspan 25 years ago as a
project executive and has worked her way
up through increasingly senior roles to
become managing director and is now
also a shareholder in the business. “I’ve
grown Worldspan from a small boutique
event management agency to a much
larger creative communications agency
with a sizeable digital specialism and
developers in-house. As Worldspan turns
50 this year, we are ambitious to develop
our digital offer further.”
Biggest challenge:
Being dyslexic, I struggled through school
and in my early career which caused me
to have a lack of confidence in myself. It
took me a long time to realise that
Dyslexia is not a weakness but a
challenge. I turned my perception around,
which has made me work harder and
push myself further to achieve my goals.
Proudest professional achievement:
I think what I am proudest of is the work
we do to help young people get on the
career ladder. We have always supported
local schools and colleges with
placements and work experience, and
some of those placements have gone on
to have fantastic careers. We have
recently supported the UK Kickstart
Scheme and have two outstanding new
talents that we are mentoring and
developing.
Person who most inspired me:
If I had to pick one, it would be Len Wilcock
– the founder of Worldspan and my
mentor for many years. Len founded the
business 50 years ago and was a
visionary. He was one of the leaders in the
industry that carved the way for others to
follow. He was creative in his thinking and
took chances where others wouldn’t. He
helped me believe that anything was
possible if you truly believed in it.
