Karren Brady
Encyclopedia
Karren Brady is an English
sporting executive, television broadcaster, newspaper columnist, author and novelist. She is the former managing director of Birmingham City
Football Club and current vice-chairman of West Ham United
. Her appointment with Birmingham City began in March 1993, when only 23 years old, and in 2002 became the first woman to hold such a post in the top flight of English
football when the team was promoted. She was responsible for the company's flotation in 1997, thus becoming the youngest managing director of a UK plc
. She left the club October 2009 after it was sold for £82,000,000. In January 2010 she was appointed vice-chairman of West Ham United following a change of ownership of the club.
She is currently Lord Sugar's assistant on the BBC 1's TV show The Apprentice and writes regular columns for Woman & Home magazine and The Sun. She has also published four books including two novels.
, and the family house was near to the Tottenham Hotspur
football ground. Her father, Terry Brady, was once chairman of Swindon Town
and a director of Portsmouth
. He made his fortune in printing and property development. Her mother is Italian, and she has an older brother, Darren. She attended Poles Convent, a boarding school in Ware, Hertfordshire
and Aldenham School
, Elstree
, a boys' school which accepted girls in the sixth form.
the advertising agency. She left to join the London Broadcasting Company (LBC
) where she managed an account for radio advertising with several clients, who initially did not spend much money; however, one of the clients, publisher David Sullivan, encouraged by Brady, spent more than £2,000,000 on advertising in just six months, which earned Brady more commission than the rest of the sales team put together. Sullivan offered her a job with his firm, and she became one of the directors at the age of 20. While in Sullivan's employ, Brady spotted an advert for the sale of Birmingham City F.C.
in the Financial Times
, when the club was in receivership
, and persuaded Sullivan to buy it and let her run it. Sullivan later commented that he agreed to the deal because such a young, female director would attract publicity to the club, and also because Brady was a "sacker". Brady was 23 when she started work as managing director of Birmingham City F.C. in March 1993. She is also chairman of EMAP
's Kerrang!
, and has a seat on the board of Sport England
. She is a non-executive director of Mothercare
and Channel 4
television. In September 2010 she joined the board of Arcadia with Sir Philip Green.
In 2008, Sullivan and Brady were arrested by City of London Police
, interviewed and released on bail, as part of the investigation into 2006 allegations of corruption in English football
, which also involved similar actions taken against players and officials from other clubs; club chairman David Gold was interviewed as a witness. the club stated that no charges had been brought, that Brady denied any wrongdoing. The investigation involved only tax and national insurance offences relating to two players. Gold said that it was "utterly wrong that this highly professional businesswoman has been made a victim in a witch-hunt against football". In August 2009 it was confirmed that no further action would be taken. She left Birmingham City two months later, after the club was taken over by Carson Yeung
. The same month she was appointed Chairman to the England 2018 World Cup bid advisory board.
by new joint chairmen, David Sullivan and David Gold. Writing in her newspaper column Brady said "To West Ham fans I'll make a single pledge - while we are on the board, we will hang in the Tower of London before your club again goes through the financial turmoil which so nearly brought it down". Brady said she liked the idea of changing the club's name to West Ham Olympic. David Gold subsequently said that the club shall always be West Ham United under his chairmanship but "What you might do is call the stadium West Ham Olympic stadium. I can make a case for that."
and was team leader for the girls' team, winning £1,000,000 for Comic Relief. In June 2008, Brady was a guest interviewer in series four of The Apprentice – interviewing the final five. After the show, it was revealed that Brady had fulfilled a promise she made to Alan Sugar on screen, and offered a job to Claire Young, who finished as runner-up in the series, after being impressed by her interview. In 2009 she interviewed candidates again in The Apprentice Season 5, as seen on BBC 1.
On 30 August 2009, she was revealed as Alan Sugar
's new assistant in the sixth series
of The Apprentice, replacing Margaret Mountford
, who had left the series (and who returned in series 6 and 7 as a guest interviewer, the same role that Brady had fulfilled in her first appearance in the main UK apprentice series).
, who played for Birmingham City for two seasons, 1992–93 and 1993–94. About one year later, she had her first child, a girl named Sophia. She had about six weeks off work after the birth of her second child, a boy named Paolo. Karren lives in Birmingham with her husband and children and they also own a holiday home in Canada.
In 2006, Brady underwent a full-body MRI scan as part of a medical screen, which unexpectedly discovered a potentially fatal cerebral aneurysm
. In February 2006, at the age of 36, at very short notice, she underwent neurosurgery
to prevent the aneurysm from rupturing, and was back at work about one month later, fully recovered.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
sporting executive, television broadcaster, newspaper columnist, author and novelist. She is the former managing director of Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
Football Club and current vice-chairman of West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
. Her appointment with Birmingham City began in March 1993, when only 23 years old, and in 2002 became the first woman to hold such a post in the top flight of English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
football when the team was promoted. She was responsible for the company's flotation in 1997, thus becoming the youngest managing director of a UK plc
Public limited company
A public limited company is a limited liability company that sells shares to the public in United Kingdom company law, in the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth jurisdictions....
. She left the club October 2009 after it was sold for £82,000,000. In January 2010 she was appointed vice-chairman of West Ham United following a change of ownership of the club.
She is currently Lord Sugar's assistant on the BBC 1's TV show The Apprentice and writes regular columns for Woman & Home magazine and The Sun. She has also published four books including two novels.
Early life
Brady was brought up in Edmonton, LondonEdmonton, London
Edmonton is an area in the east of the London Borough of Enfield, England, north-north-east of Charing Cross. It has a long history as a settlement distinct from Enfield.-Location:...
, and the family house was near to the Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
football ground. Her father, Terry Brady, was once chairman of Swindon Town
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...
and a director of Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
. He made his fortune in printing and property development. Her mother is Italian, and she has an older brother, Darren. She attended Poles Convent, a boarding school in Ware, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
and Aldenham School
Aldenham School
Aldenham School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged thirteen to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England...
, Elstree
Elstree
Elstree is a village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire on the A5 road, about 10 miles north of London. In 2001, its population was 4,765, and forms part of the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood, originally known simply as Elstree....
, a boys' school which accepted girls in the sixth form.
Birmingham City
Brady's first job was working at Saatchi & SaatchiSaatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi is a global advertising agency network with 140 offices in 80 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in London in 1970 but now headquartered in New York. The parent company of the agency group was known as Saatchi & Saatchi PLC from 1976 to 1994, was listed on the London...
the advertising agency. She left to join the London Broadcasting Company (LBC
LBC
LBC Radio operates two London-based radio stations, with news and talk formats. LBC was Britain's first legal commercial Independent Local Radio station, providing a service of news and information to London. It began broadcasting on 8 October 1973, a week ahead of Capital Radio...
) where she managed an account for radio advertising with several clients, who initially did not spend much money; however, one of the clients, publisher David Sullivan, encouraged by Brady, spent more than £2,000,000 on advertising in just six months, which earned Brady more commission than the rest of the sales team put together. Sullivan offered her a job with his firm, and she became one of the directors at the age of 20. While in Sullivan's employ, Brady spotted an advert for the sale of Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
in the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, when the club was in receivership
Receivership
In law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...
, and persuaded Sullivan to buy it and let her run it. Sullivan later commented that he agreed to the deal because such a young, female director would attract publicity to the club, and also because Brady was a "sacker". Brady was 23 when she started work as managing director of Birmingham City F.C. in March 1993. She is also chairman of EMAP
EMAP
Emap Limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...
's Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
, and has a seat on the board of Sport England
Sport England
Sport England is the brand name for the English Sports Council and is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
. She is a non-executive director of Mothercare
Mothercare
Mothercare plc is a British retailer which specialises in products for expectant mothers and in general merchandise for children up to 8 years old. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
and Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
television. In September 2010 she joined the board of Arcadia with Sir Philip Green.
In 2008, Sullivan and Brady were arrested by City of London Police
City of London Police
The City of London Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the City of London, England, including the Middle and Inner Temple. The service responsible for law enforcement within the rest of Greater London is the Metropolitan Police Service, a separate...
, interviewed and released on bail, as part of the investigation into 2006 allegations of corruption in English football
2006 allegations of corruption in English football
In 2006, several allegations were made of corruption in English football by sources inside and outside of the game.-January - Managers:In January 2006, then Luton Town manager, Mike Newell and then-manager of Queens Park Rangers, Ian Holloway alleged that backhanders were rife in the sport.The...
, which also involved similar actions taken against players and officials from other clubs; club chairman David Gold was interviewed as a witness. the club stated that no charges had been brought, that Brady denied any wrongdoing. The investigation involved only tax and national insurance offences relating to two players. Gold said that it was "utterly wrong that this highly professional businesswoman has been made a victim in a witch-hunt against football". In August 2009 it was confirmed that no further action would be taken. She left Birmingham City two months later, after the club was taken over by Carson Yeung
Carson Yeung
Carson Yeung Ka Sing is a businessman from Hong Kong. He is the chairman and an executive director of Birmingham International Holdings , an investment, entertainment and sportswear firm registered in the Cayman Islands, through which he owns English football club Birmingham City F.C...
. The same month she was appointed Chairman to the England 2018 World Cup bid advisory board.
English 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bid
England 2018 was the Football Association's unsuccessful bid for the right to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. FIFA invited bidding countries to bid for either the 2018 or the 2022 finals, or both...
West Ham United
In January 2010 she was appointed vice-chairman of West Ham UnitedWest Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
by new joint chairmen, David Sullivan and David Gold. Writing in her newspaper column Brady said "To West Ham fans I'll make a single pledge - while we are on the board, we will hang in the Tower of London before your club again goes through the financial turmoil which so nearly brought it down". Brady said she liked the idea of changing the club's name to West Ham Olympic. David Gold subsequently said that the club shall always be West Ham United under his chairmanship but "What you might do is call the stadium West Ham Olympic stadium. I can make a case for that."
The Apprentice
In March 2007, Brady appeared as a celebrity contestant on Comic Relief Does The ApprenticeComic Relief Does The Apprentice
Comic Relief Does The Apprentice is a special celebrity version of British reality television series The Apprentice, produced to raise money for Comic Relief. The first edition aired in March 2007, and the second in March 2009. Five male celebrities and five female celebrities took part in the show...
and was team leader for the girls' team, winning £1,000,000 for Comic Relief. In June 2008, Brady was a guest interviewer in series four of The Apprentice – interviewing the final five. After the show, it was revealed that Brady had fulfilled a promise she made to Alan Sugar on screen, and offered a job to Claire Young, who finished as runner-up in the series, after being impressed by her interview. In 2009 she interviewed candidates again in The Apprentice Season 5, as seen on BBC 1.
On 30 August 2009, she was revealed as Alan Sugar
Alan Sugar
Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar is a British entrepreneur, media personality and political advisor. From humble origins in the East End of London, Sugar now has an estimated fortune of £770m , and was ranked 89th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2011...
's new assistant in the sixth series
The Apprentice (UK series six)
Series Six of The Apprentice is a British reality television series. The series started on BBC One on 6 October 2010 and ran for twelve weekly hour-long episodes, as in all previous years...
of The Apprentice, replacing Margaret Mountford
Margaret Mountford
Margaret Mountford is a British lawyer, businesswoman and television personality known for her role in The Apprentice.-Biography:Mountford is originally from Holywood in Northern Ireland...
, who had left the series (and who returned in series 6 and 7 as a guest interviewer, the same role that Brady had fulfilled in her first appearance in the main UK apprentice series).
Personal life
In 1995 Brady married Canadian footballer Paul PeschisolidoPaul Peschisolido
Paolo Pasquale Peschisolido , commonly known as Paul Peschisolido, is a Canadian association football manager and former player...
, who played for Birmingham City for two seasons, 1992–93 and 1993–94. About one year later, she had her first child, a girl named Sophia. She had about six weeks off work after the birth of her second child, a boy named Paolo. Karren lives in Birmingham with her husband and children and they also own a holiday home in Canada.
In 2006, Brady underwent a full-body MRI scan as part of a medical screen, which unexpectedly discovered a potentially fatal cerebral aneurysm
Cerebral aneurysm
A cerebral or brain aneurysm is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel.- Signs and symptoms :...
. In February 2006, at the age of 36, at very short notice, she underwent neurosurgery
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In...
to prevent the aneurysm from rupturing, and was back at work about one month later, fully recovered.
Awards
- In 1995, she was voted the 98th sexiest woman in the world by the readers of FHMFHMFHM, originally published as For Him Magazine, is an international monthly men's lifestyle magazine.- History :The magazine began publication in 1985 in the United Kingdom under the name For Him and changed its title to FHM in 1994 when Emap Consumer Media bought the magazine, although the full For...
magazine.
- In 2006 Brady was CosmopolitanCosmopolitan (magazine)Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
magazine's Woman of the Year, and named in the category of 'Woman Who Has Changed The World'.
- In 2006 when she attended The Queen’s lunch for Women Achievers and Business Leaders.
- Brady was named as Business Woman of the Year 2007.
- In December 2008 she won the NatWest Spirit of Everywoman Award for services to women in business.
- In November 2010 she was listed in the business category of The Sunday Telegraph’s ‘100 Most Powerful Women in Britain’ and was included in the Evening Standard’s list of ‘London's 1000 Most Influential People 2010’. second to David Beckham in the category of sport.
- She was awarded an honorary doctorate in business from the University of BirminghamUniversity of BirminghamThe University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
in December 2010.
- 2011 she was awarded Britain's Most Inspirational Women by the Breakthrough for Breast Cancer Inspiration Awards.