Karren Brady

Karren Brady is Vice Chairman of West Ham F.C, Lord Sugar's Advisor on The Apprentice and one of the UK's leading Female Business Speakers.

Karren began her career aged 18 at Saatchi & Saatchi, she swiftly moved onto LBC as a sales executive. In 1998 she joined Sport Newspapers Ltd and became Director within a year.

Karren Brady is recognised as the first woman in football. She was Managing Director of Birmingham City Football Club from 1993 to 2009 and during that time turned the Club’s fortunes around. She took over the club 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 in modern history and in February 1997 she launched the Club on the Stock market; Karren was the youngest Managing Director of a PLC in the UK.

In October 2009 Karren sold Birmingham City FC for £82million.

In January 2010, Karren was appointed Vice Chairman of West Ham United FC. In January 2011, under her leadership WHU was awarded as preferred bidder for the Olympic Stadium. As a result her club hopes to be moving there post games in 2014. Following her first 12 months at West Ham, the club made a trading profit for the first time in many years. West Ham has been awarded the tenancy of the Olympic Stadium and will move in from 2016

An Ambassador for The Stroke Association, WellChild and Teenage Cancer Trust, Karren Brady is also Chair of the Mothercare Group Foundation. She has been a Board Director of Mothercare PLC, Channel 4 Television and Sport England and is currently a non-Executive Director of Arcadia. She is an honoree Fellow of the Institute of Sales and Marketing.

Karren is a columnist for The Sun newspaper and Women & Home. She is a judge of the Cosmopolitan Women of Achievement Awards, the Sports Industry Awards, Red Magazine Women Awards and Women & Home Women Awards.

Karren Brady has attracted much media attention throughout her career, and was the subject of an hour long documentary ‘Inside Story’ - The Real Life Manageress’ shown on BBC 1. She has hosted her own TV show, and has also presented on ITV.

In 2013 Karren was ranked by the BBC Woman’s Hour Power List as one the UK’s 100 most powerful women. In the same year Karren became an Ambassador for LifeSkills created with Barclays.

Karren was awarded a CBE in the 2014 New Year's Honours.