IF we give 100 per cent, we will succeed – or at least that’s one of the motivational maxims that was instilled in us at school and when we entered the working world.

But Noel Gallagher and Fearne Cotton are two of the more famous names to have ditched that theory.

Michelle Niziol is a seasoned entrepreneur, former contestant on the Apprentice, and a working mother. She has worked in the finance and property industries for more than a decade, founding IMS Mortgage Solutions in 2005, and expanded her business to provide a comprehensive property solution with IMS Property Group. Find out how she got started and what motivates her to keep pushing every day.

Setting up business anywhere requires dedication, grit and industry know-how, and choosing the right location to base a start-up can be a major factor in helping a new company to get off the ground.

As one of the UK’s leading science and innovation campuses, Sci-Tech Daresbury is home to a thriving community of international high-tech businesses to fast-growing SMEs and has a burgeoning reputation as offering a ‘home for life’.

A barrister from Ward Hadaway's Manchester office is celebrating after being shortlisted in the North West Women in Business Awards 2018.

Savvy businesswoman, Kerry Martin started her career in the beauty industry with an apprenticeship with Essenelle, which at the time was the largest hair and beauty business in the country. It is there she learnt the skills that would lead her to creating her own beauty empire. 

Liverpool Girl Geeks is a company that thrives to inspire women and girls to join the tech business. They state that if we don’t act now, by 2040 only 1% of the tech sector will be women.

In 2013, Rebecca Jones and Chelsea Slater asked “Where are all the women in tech?” and the answer was nowhere. In response to this, they started multiple workshops for women and girls, teaching them coding and other aspects of the tech industry.