Karren Brady facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Baroness Brady
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| Born |
Karren Rita Brady
4 April 1969 Edmonton, London, England
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| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) |
Paul Peschisolido
(m. 1995) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Commander of the Order of the British Empire Life Peerage |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal |
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| Assumed office 22 September 2014 Life peerage |
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Karren Rita Brady, Baroness Brady, CBE (born 4 April 1969) is a British businesswoman and TV star. She is known for her work in football. She was the managing director of Birmingham City F.C. and is now the vice-chairman of West Ham United F.C.. She also helps Alan Sugar on the TV show The Apprentice.
Karren Brady is a member of the House of Lords for the Conservative Party. She has also served as a Small Business Ambassador for the UK government. She started working with Birmingham City in March 1993 when she was 23. In 2002, she became the first woman to hold such a high position in English football. This happened when her team was promoted to the Premier League. She helped the company become a public limited company (plc) in 1997. This made her the youngest managing director of a UK plc. She left Birmingham City in 2009. In January 2010, she became vice-chairwoman of West Ham United. This happened after David Sullivan and David Gold bought the club.
Karren Brady writes regularly for Woman & Home magazine and The Sun newspaper. She has also written four books, including two novels. Her book Strong Woman, published in 2012, was a Sunday Times Bestseller. It aimed to inspire women in business. On 22 September 2014, Karren Brady became a member of the House of Lords. She was given the title Baroness Brady. In July 2017, she was appointed chairman of Taveta, which owns the Arcadia Group.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Karren Brady grew up in Edmonton, London. Her family home was close to the Tottenham Hotspur football ground. Her father, Terry Brady, was from Ireland and worked in printing and property. Her mother, Rita, is Italian. Karren also has an older brother named Darren.
She went to Salcombe Preparatory School until she was 11. After that, she attended Poles Convent, a boarding school. She also studied at Aldenham School, which was a boys' school that accepted girls for the final two years. There, she earned four A-levels.
Career in Business
Starting Out and Birmingham City
Karren Brady began her career as a trainee at an advertising agency called Saatchi & Saatchi. She had wanted to study journalism but was not accepted into the course. However, she decided not to go to university. She wanted to start working and make her mark in the world.
A year later, she joined the London Broadcasting Company (LBC). She worked as an advertising account executive. She aimed to get business from her father's client, David Sullivan. He owned the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport newspapers. Sullivan was so impressed with Karren that he offered her a job.
Sullivan hired her for Sport Newspapers, and she became one of his directors at just 20 years old. While working for Sullivan, Karren saw an advert in the Financial Times. It was for the sale of Birmingham City F.C., which was in financial trouble. She convinced Sullivan to buy the club and let her manage it. Sullivan agreed, thinking a young female director would bring attention to the club. Karren Brady was 23 when she became the managing director of Birmingham City F.C. in March 1993.
She faced challenges in her role because she was a woman. She quickly showed she was strong and capable. For example, when a player made an inappropriate comment, she responded by saying she would sell him. She did sell him shortly after.
In 2008, Karren Brady and David Sullivan were questioned by police. This was part of an investigation into football. No charges were brought against them, and Karren denied any wrongdoing. The club said it was wrong that she was targeted. In August 2009, it was confirmed that no further action would be taken. She left Birmingham City two months later. This was after Sullivan and Gold sold the club. In the same month, she joined the advisory board for England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
Leading West Ham United
In January 2010, Karren Brady became the vice-chairman of West Ham United F.C.. This happened when David Sullivan and David Gold became the new joint-chairmen. She wrote in her newspaper column that she would make sure the club would not face financial problems again.
Karren Brady was in charge of moving West Ham United from their old home, the Boleyn Ground, to the Olympic Stadium in east London. West Ham was chosen as the main tenant for the Olympic Stadium in December 2012. Karren said that the club wanted to be ambitious. They aimed to make the stadium a great place for fans from all over the world.
West Ham United officially became the main tenants of the Olympic Stadium on 23 March 2013. In July 2013, Karren Brady explained that the club had debts that needed to be paid before the move. She oversaw the club's move to the Olympic Stadium in the summer of 2016. The stadium was renamed London Stadium. This move increased West Ham United's seating capacity from 35,000 to 57,000. All the new seats were sold out before the 2016–17 season began. This made West Ham have the third-largest home attendance in the Premier League.
After the move, some fans who wanted to stay at the old stadium were upset. Karren Brady received some criticism in October 2016. She had described the move as "a chance to rebrand the club." She later clarified her comments. She said the move was part of a plan to make West Ham one of the top football clubs in the world.
Other Business Roles
Karren Brady has held many other important business roles. She was the chairman of Bauer's Kerrang! and was on the board of Sport England. She was also a non-executive director for Channel 4 television. She later joined Syco, a company owned by Simon Cowell and Sony.
In September 2010, she joined the board of Taveta Investments Ltd. with Sir Philip Green. She also resigned from her non-executive position with Mothercare, where she had worked for seven years. Karren Brady is an ambassador for Barclays Life skills. This program helps young people gain work experience. She also supports the Life After Stroke Awards and is an ambassador for Well Being for Women.
Supporting Women in Business
Karren Brady is well-known for supporting women in business. She has often encouraged women in leadership roles to help other women. She believes that women who have reached the top should help younger women succeed. This can be done through networking and mentoring.
She has said that women on company boards should remember the challenges they faced. They should share their strategies for success. It is important to find talented women in business and help them become confident. This will encourage them to aim for leadership positions. She also believes that companies should look for female entrepreneurs. These women can bring new ideas and diversity to any board.
Karren Brady also partnered with Arden University to offer "The Karren Brady MBA." However, this program was not successful and was later stopped.
Karren Brady was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2014. This award was for her services to business and for supporting women in business.
Television Career
In March 2007, Karren Brady appeared on Comic Relief Does The Apprentice. She was the team leader for the girls' team. They raised over £750,000 for Comic Relief. In June 2008, she was a guest interviewer on The Apprentice. She interviewed the final five contestants. After the show, she offered a job to Claire Young, who was the runner-up. Karren was impressed by her during the interview. She interviewed candidates again in 2009 for The Apprentice Season 5.
On 30 August 2009, it was announced that she would be Alan Sugar's new assistant on the sixth series of The Apprentice. She took over from Margaret Mountford.
Political Involvement
Karren Brady hinted that she might be interested in politics in the future. This was during an interview in March 2013. In September 2013, Karren Brady spoke at the Conservative Party Conference. She talked about small businesses and supported George Osborne's policies. She was also appointed the government's Small Business Ambassador.
On 8 August 2014, it was reported that Karren Brady would become a Conservative member of the House of Lords. On 22 September 2014, she was given the title Baroness Brady. In October 2015, Karren Brady was part of a vote in the House of Lords. She voted with the government on proposed changes to tax credits.
Personal Life
In 1995, Karren Brady married Canadian soccer player Paul Peschisolido. He played for Birmingham City for two seasons. In 1996, she had her first child, a daughter named Sophia. She took about six weeks off work after her second child, a son named Paolo, was born. In March 2024, Karren became a grandmother when Sophia had a baby boy.
Karren Brady lives in the Knightsbridge area of London with her husband. They also have a property in Knowle in the West Midlands. Her husband also owns a house in Canada.
In 2006, during a medical check-up, doctors found a serious health issue. She had surgery in February 2006 and made a full recovery. She was back at work about a month later.
Even though some people think Karren Brady supports Arsenal, she says on her website that her loyalty is only with the two clubs she has worked for.
Awards and Recognition
- In 2006, Cosmopolitan magazine named Karren Brady their Woman of the Year. She was in the category of 'Woman Who Has Changed The World'.
- In 2006, she attended The Queen's lunch for Women Achievers and Business Leaders.
- She was named the Revitalise Businesswoman of the Year in 2007.
- In December 2008, she won the NatWest Spirit of Everywoman Award for her work supporting women in business.
- In November 2010, she was listed in The Sunday Telegraph's 100 Most Powerful Women in Britain. She was also in the Evening Standard's list of London's 1000 Most Influential People 2010.
- She received an honorary doctorate in business from the University of Birmingham in December 2010.
- In 2011, she was named Britain's Most Inspirational Woman by the Breakthrough for Breast Cancer Inspiration Awards.
- In 2012, she won the CEO of the Year Award at the Football Business Awards.
- In February 2013, she was named one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.
- Karren Brady received a CBE in the 2014 New Year Honours list. This was for her services to business and women in business.
- In January 2014, she was named in Debrett's top 500 most influential people in Britain.
- On International Women's Day, 8 March 2014, she was named 10th in The Guardian's 50 most influential women in British sport.
- Karren Brady became Baroness Brady in the House of Lords in August 2014.
See also
In Spanish: Karren Brady para niños
