Jennifer Ogden, marketing manager at Heald Ltd, explains why Debbie Heald should win the Leader of the Year category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition:
Debbie Heald heads up Heald Ltd, an East Yorkshire manufacturer producing anti-terror products that aim to prevent targeted attacks on vulnerable properties worldwide.
Debbie purchased a 50% share in Heald in 1994. Since then, she has taken a business making a net loss to profit and implemented a global strategy whereby Heald products are exported worldwide. She has done this while raising a young family and dealing with personal challenges. Sadly, three years ago, Debbie’s eldest daughter was diagnosed with cancer and she juggled lengthy hospital stays with running a 24/7 international business.
A winner of this year’s Northern Power Women Awards, Debbie is keen to support gender diversity in the workplace and inspire other females to enter STEM careers and traditionally male-dominated industries. Approximately 50% of the Heald workforce is female, challenging industry norms in manufacturing.
Debbie plays a leading role in mentoring every member of her team, supporting individual circumstances and providing ongoing training. One member of the Heald team is a single parent with little support and has not been able to give advanced notice of the hours he can work. Debbie has recognised his need to pledge a certain amount of time to family commitments and supported him fully.
Debbie has incredible drive and determination; she walks confidently into a room of engineers and gains the respect and acknowledgement from an industry that she is so passionate about.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the top three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
