PACE Development founder named winner of the New Business Startup of the Year

Jo Britton, founder and director of PACE Development was named winner of the new business start up of the year in the FL National Awards & Summit 2019, North West, Ireland and Wales region  at an exclusive awards lunch which took place on Friday, 13 September at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, Manchester.

Now in its 10th year, the awards are designed to demonstrate enterprise, talent and innovation from across the region’s thriving business community and have become one of the most recognised and well-attended business awards in the region.

Jo, a Manchester based marketing and manufacturing specialist founded PACE (Personal and Corporate Effectiveness) Development eleven months ago to help tackle critical skills shortages and a  lack of female talent at all levels of industry. Her business is on a mission to help women in industry accelerate their careers by adopting the personal branding techniques used by icons such as Lady Gaga whilst tapping into the support of a coach and mentor.

Says Jo, “I’m delighted to have won this prestigious award in our first year of business.  I was inspired to launch PACE Development having worked in manufacturing, engineering and technology based sectors and becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of women in senior roles.”

She explains: “Sadly female talent remains under-developed and under-exploited. Today, 10% of the UK engineering workforce is female and just 5% of  FTSE 100 CEOs are women who continue to be outnumbered by CEOs named Steve or Dave. In 2019, this really isn’t good enough. At PACE Development, we want to help change these statistics. Our aim is to help industry to access a massively untapped pool of female talent. This can make a huge difference to business productivity and growth.”

PACE Development also reinvests a percentage of its fees to help aspiring young industry leaders and those who face disadvantage to develop the confidence and skills to maximise their potential.

Since launching in 2009, the Forward Ladies Awards recognise leaders and organisations who have made the greatest impact on the regional and wider UK economy over the last 12 months. Winners of the regional awards will go on to compete in the national final in November.