Canine rehabilitation centre leader Kirsty Skeates has been named as one of the UK’s most inspirational and dynamic female entrepreneurs.
The Beverley-based businesswoman was invited to a House of Lords reception as part of F:Entrepreneur’s #IAlso100 campaign after her achievements with Fit4dogsUK.
Launched in 2019 the New Zealander now employs a nine-strong team in East Yorkshire, having pooled her passion for dogs with her swimming teacher career and husband’s marine engineering background.
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Having met and married a Yorkshireman she moved to the UK in 2012.
“I always had a passion for dogs, it was a career change really,” she said. “I knew there was quite a big demand for rehabilitation for dogs in the area, so my husband and I planned and built it up, and here we are three years later.
“I taught children to swim, I always had a passion for water too. The healing benefits of it for dogs is amazing, that’s why I changed, and it has been really good, and we have a growing team.”
She is now being profiled alongside 99 female entrepreneurs from across the country in the sixth year of the campaign.
It tells the stories of amazing female business owners and helps provide inspiration and role models across the wider small business community
“This award comes at a time when the team and myself have worked incredibly hard over
the last two years to keep the business moving forward in these challenging times,” she said - overjoyed to be part of the event on the eve of International Women’s Day.
“It was amazing, meeting other women entrepreneurs. We heard from some really good speakers and it is really great to be part of a support community.”
Delivered by Small Business Britain – a leading champion of small businesses in the UK - F:Entrepreneur was launched in 2017.
Those behind it said the #Ialso100 line-up - which included winners during the pandemic-hit 2021 celebration - particularly sets out to showcase trailblazing female founders who lead businesses alongside a roster of other responsibilities, such as volunteering, mentoring and community support.
Kirsty was also called out for her ongoing commitment to improving health and wellbeing for dogs recovering from operations and illnesses. and for her amazing work she does with the local food bank helping to provide dog food for the charity.
Founder Michelle Ovens CBE, who is also the director of Small Business Saturday UK, said: “Congratulations to Kirsty, and all of the brilliant female entrepreneurs featured in this year’s #ialso100.
“It is so vital that we recognise and celebrate the phenomenal contribution that women running businesses are making across the UK, and the far-reaching, positive impact they are having, not just on the economy, but on wider communities too. The last few years have been hugely challenging for small businesses, yet despite this female entrepreneurship continues to grow and flourish in the UK, and is very much at the heart of the UK’s recovery.”
Also at the House of Lords from the Humber were 2021 successes Liz Drury, Ulceby-based voiceover artist; Ruchita Green, an entrepreneurial Indian chef behind Masala Masters and craftpreneur Gemma Winter of It Started With a Stitch.
Ruchita said: "Listening to remarkable speakers like Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Shadow Cabinet minister for Mental Health) and Rhian Parry from North Wales who is currently working with wind farms in Grimsby brought home this core belief that women in business are real powerhouses, constantly fighting against the odds, and huge drivers in our economy. It felt incredible to be part of it all.”
Liz added: “It was a truly wonderful day, and I feel honoured and humbled to be counted among such inspirational ladies.”
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