Dublin, London, New York
Baroness Karren Brady of Knightsbridge CBE has achieved success born of passion, vision and ambition, but realised through determination and hard work. She is an inspiration to anyone who wants to challenge the odds and turn dreams into reality.
She is one of the UK’s Leading Business Women and CEO at West Ham United FC. Voted “One of the 100 most powerful women in the world” by Cosmopolitan, she is an excellent keynote and after-dinner speaker who offers audiences practical advice on what it really takes to transform dreams of great wealth and success in a high-pressure results-driven world into reality.
Karren began her career at LBC when she was 18 years old and swiftly moved onto Saatchi & Saatchi as junior Account Handler. She joined Sports Newspapers Ltd in 1988 and became Director within a year.
Karren is now known as the first woman in football. She became MD of Birmingham City at the age of 23, a post which she held for 16 years during a time of great change. During that time she turned the Club’s fortunes around. She took over Birmingham City when it was in administration, and in her first year at the helm, the Club recorded a financial trading profit. In 1996 the Club made an overall profit for the first time and by the time it was launched on the stock market, it was valued at £25m. The average gate numbers increased from 6,000 to a sell-out of over thirty thousand, and in 2009 her business was valued at over £80million.