Baroness Karren Brady CBE enters year-long partnership with Simply Business to support the success of UK SMEs

 

Simply Business, one of the UK’s biggest providers of small business insurance, has announced a year-long partnership with Baroness Karren Brady CBE, as the company’s first ever Small Business Ambassador. 

Baroness Brady will work alongside Simply Business to help raise the profile of the challenges facing small businesses and SMEs across the UK. The cost of living crisis, rising energy prices, and soaring inflations have all had a concerning and long-lasting impact on UK small businesses. 

The partnership will also see Karren offer the likes of exclusive mentoring sessions, and free webinars to Simply Business customers to support the success of the self-employed. 

Karren is the Vice Chairman of West Ham United Football Club, and features on BBC’s The Apprentice. She is one of the UK’s leading female business speakers, a TV Personality, a best selling author and columnist.

In 2013, she was awarded a CBE for her contribution to women in business and entrepreneurship; and the following August she became a Peer in the House of Lords taking the title Baroness Brady of Knightsbridge CBE.

Recent research by Simply Business revealed the key challenges and concerns facing SME owners in the new year. Over four in five (81%) small business owners are worried how the cost of living crisis is affecting their business, with a quarter (26%) worried they simply won’t be able to pay their bills in 2023. 

This is at a time when many are still in recovery mode. Over two years on, one in six still believe that they will never financially recover from the pandemic. 

Baroness Brady has been working with small businesses for over a decade and was appointed as the UK government’s small business advisor by then Prime Minister, David Cameron, in 2013. Karren regularly meets with small business owners, and will continue to do this within her partnership role with Simply Business. 

Baroness Karren Brady, Simply Business Small Business Ambassador said: “Simply Business is a brand that has a track record of supporting entrepreneurship, a value that is close to my heart and one I have prioritised throughout my career. Small businesses are crucial to the UK economy and will prove pivotal to our economic recovery. We need to harness the talents, ambitions and drive of all business owners, big or small. That’s why I’m delighted to partner with Simply Business to support small business owners at a vital time through a number of joint initiatives and campaigns, including free webinars for customers and one-on-one mentoring sessions.”

Alan Thomas, UK CEO at Simply Business commented: “Small businesses account for 99% of all British businesses, contributing trillions of pounds a year in turnover. The recovery of our economy and communities is directly linked to their success. Yet small businesses up and down the country are facing enormous challenges. That’s why we’re delighted to be partnering with Baroness Karren Brady as our first ever Small Business Ambassador. Baroness Brady is a leading voice in British business and shares our passion for supporting the success of the nation’s self-employed. We’re both proud and excited to work alongside her – to shine a light on the challenges facing this vital community whilst playing a part in ensuring as many SMEs as possible are able to prosper.”