Michelle Mone, Baroness Mone OBE, is widely acknowledged as one of the UK’s most successful businesswomen. An entrepreneur, global speaker, designer, innovator and parliamentarian, she is best known for founding MJM International, and consequently the lingerie company Ultimo. Born in Glasgow’s East End, Baroness Mone is a self-made entrepreneur, building her start-up firm into a £36m business. Mone has also appeared on several British television shows, including The Apprentice, Celebrity Masterchef, and Loose Women, amongst others. her designs are found in department stores worldwide.

Passionate about both business and sociological issues, Mone was appointed to conduct a two-part government review for then Prime Minister David Cameron on entrepreneurship and small businesses, with a focus on setting up small businesses in deprived areas. Mone was commended on the release of the review by many key business figures, such as Sajid Javid, head of European commercial banking at HSBC, business secretary and secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Ruth Lowbridge, MBE, Executive Chair of the SFEDI Group, alongside others.

In 2010, Mone was formally recognised for her achievements and awarded an OBE for her outstanding contribution to business. She would then go on to be elevated to life peer in 2015, as Baroness Mone, of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, and was introduced in the House of Lords. Prince Charles invited Mone to join the board of directors of The Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust, naming her as a celebrated success story for PSYBT, having received a loan of £5,000 in the juvenile stages of her career. Mone has been decorated with several prestigious awards, including the HSBC special lifetime Achievement award.