University sponsored Lifetime Achievement award honours Freeport bid Chair

At the LeicestershireLive Women in Business Awards 2021, the University of Leicester sponsored Lifetime Achievement award was presented to Penny Coates, who chaired the successful bid to create an East Midlands Freeport, by Dr Navdeep Athwal, Lecturer in Marketing.

The LeicestershireLive Women in Business Awards 2021 celebrate the outstanding achievements of female entrepreneurs and professionals within the region.

This is the first year that the University of Leicester has sponsored the Lifetime Achievement award at the LeicestershireLive Women in Business Awards. 

The recipient, Penny Coates, has held senior positions in some of the East Midlands’ biggest organisations and companies and continues to play a part in the local and wider UK economy. More recently she chaired the successful bid to create a Freeport around East Midlands Airport – a campaign which received Government backing at the last Budget.

Dr Navdeep Athwal attended the ceremony and presented Penny with her award. She said: “It’s been challenging times for businesses in Leicestershire due to the pandemic and last night was an opportunity to celebrate the success of a range of business people across sectors. This is just one of the many ways the University is further developing its links with local businesses, and this will continue to grow as we commence our second Centenary.

“The University of Leicester sponsored a main award for 'Lifetime Achievement’, and I presented this on behalf of our University to Penny Coates. Penny truly is a trailblazer, and has a depth of local and national business expertise.

“I was honoured to be on the judging panel for the awards but it was difficult process as all of the nominations had their own inspirational business story!”