Fareham business owner named as one of the UK's top 100 female entrepreneurs

Gillian Jones-Williams was listed in small business campaign f:Entrepreneur’s #ialso100, which is a list of the top 100 female entrepreneurs in the UK.

Gillian founded her Fareham-based coaching and development firm, Emerge Development Consultancy in 1995.

She was listed for her work as an author of coaching books and her trademarked women’s development programme RISE, which she and her team deliver in both the UK, the Middle East and Saudi Arabia.

She is a Master Executive Coach who coaches many senior executives and CEOs and through her work in coaching women created the model of the 8 Traits of Successful Women.

Gillian left school at the age of 16 to get a job as her mother suffered from chronic manic depression and is on a mission to show women that they can all be equal, regardless of background, culture, education or age.

She is also patron of domestic abuse charity Aurora New Dawn and holds a Speakathon on International Women’s Day every year to various organisations around the country to raise money for the charity.

She said: ‘It is such an honour to be included in this list of amazing women who have achieved so much. I am so passionate about my business and in particular the women’s development and I believe that women should really support each other, so to be part of such an inspiring and supportive group is a rare privilege. I hope this will inspire other women to follow their dreams.’

The #ialso event was founded on International Women’s Day in 2017 and has its name after the phrase used most by the gathered entrepreneurs was ‘I also’, with each woman describing their work as being much more than a single-job career and more of a flexible portfolio.

Now in its fourth year, f:Entrepreneur is run by peak b, a campaigning organisation with a track record in conception, management and execution of high-profile, national campaigns particularly in the small business and enterprise sectors.