Karren Brady : Full Biography : SPEAKERS for BUSINESS

Karren Brady

Former Managing Director of Birmingham City FC

Full Biography

Karren Brady 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 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 Birmingham City FC 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 the Club launched on the Stock market valued at the time of float at £25,000,000; she was the youngest Managing Director of a PLC in the UK. During her tenure at Birmingham City Karren increased the average gate of the Club from 6,000 to a sell-out capacity of over 30,000 and in 2009 her business was sold for £82million. In January 2010, Karren was appointed Vice Chairman of West Ham United FC.

Karren has attracted much media attention in her position, 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, Brady Bunch, and has also presented both Loose Women and Live Talk on ITV and she has also presented Central Weekend Live. She is regularly featured in the news, on TV and radio. Karren has written four books; a factual account of her first season at Birmingham City, ‘Brady plays the Blues’ two novels, ‘United’ and ‘Trophy Wives’ and her latest book ‘Playing to Win’ is about successful women in business.

Karren is a columnist for The Sun newspaper; the UK’s biggest selling national daily newspaper. She is a judge of the Cosmopolitan Women of Achievement Awards and the Sports Industry Awards. She is on the business Board of Scope, and the Ambassador for Birmingham Women’s Aid. She is a Board Director of Mothercare PLC, Channel 4 Television and Sport England. She is an honouree Fellow of the Institute of Sales and Marketing. She was voted by Cosmopolitan as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world and in 2004 and again in 2006 attended The Queen’s lunch for Women Achievers and Business Leaders. She was acknowledged as one of the most influential women in Britain by the Daily Mail and voted as one of Britain’s Most Inspirational Women by Good Housekeeping magazine.

In October 2007 Karren was voted Business Woman of the Year and in November 2008 she was named as one of the top leadership role models in a national poll. This recognition was quickly followed in December 2008 when she was presented with the coveted Spirit of Everywoman Award at the NatWest Everywoman Awards, acknowledging her outstanding achievements in changing the landscape for women in business.

Following appearances as one of Lord Sugar’s interrogators on the popular BBC show ‘The Apprentice’, Karren has now replaced Margaret Mountford as Sir Alan’s right-hand woman.