Llais Cymru’s #LlaisAwards Celebrates Four Years of Empowering Welsh Women in Business

Llais Cymru’s Welsh Women in Business Awards, or the #LlaisAwards as it’s known, celebrates women’s important contribution to the business world in Wales. Llais Cymru’s Awards is a unique, national and bilingual celebration of women in businesses of all types and all sizes, an event for the whole family.

The event was founded by Heulwen Davies, Director of Llais Cymru, known for her incredible passion for supporting and empowering women in Wales. In 2017, she launched the bilingual blogzine Mam Cymru, to support mothers in Wales. In 2018 she published her book ‘Mam Croeso i’r Clwb’ for new parents, published by Y Lolfa. More recently she contributed her story and supported Cylchgrawn Cara with ‘Menopositif’, the first Welsh book about the menopause.

Heulwen said; “As a mother of an 11 year old daughter and being raised in a family and community of strong women, empowering and helping women in every way I can is really important to me. Running a business is difficult for everyone, especially now, but I believe it’s even harder for women. Why? Menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, without mentioning the expectations of society. The fact that women still go ahead to build and run businesses, and create opportunities for others, is something that needs to be celebrated. This is exactly why I founded these Awards – to give a voice and platform for all the women who do amazing things in our Welsh communities.”

The support has been incredible. For the fourth consecutive year, the Development Bank of Wales is the main sponsor;

“We are very proud to be supporting Heulwen once again, who works tirelessly to spotlight and celebrate the achievements of women in Welsh businesses. The Llais Awards provides a platform for role models and leaders to share their experience on how they have overcome barriers to entrepreneurship and played an important role in creating an inclusive Welsh economy. Here at the Development Bank, we are extremely passionate about our commitment to supporting women in business throughout Wales. Around a third of the businesses we support have women directors, a figure we are determined to continue to impact positively.” Beverley Downes, Marketing and Communication Director, The Development Bank of Wales.

As an organisation who wants to see more businesswomen in Wales considering a wider market, the Department for Business and Trade is proud to support Llais Cymru Awards for the first time this year;

“The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is the department for economic growth. The growth of successful female-led businesses is critical to the economy and our future. That is why we are excited to be part of this year’s Llais Cymru’s Welsh Women in Business Awards, celebrating women’s business growth, innovation, and success in Wales.” Tony Taylor, Department for Business and Trade, Wales.

For the first two years, the event was held online, but 2023 saw the first ever in person #LlaisAwards, thanks to the support and partnership with Canolfan S4C Yr Egin. Following last year’s successful evening, which was also live streamed on YouTube, the Awards will be returning to the Egin once again this year;

“It’s a pleasure to welcome Wales’ businesswomen to the Egin once again this year for these incredibly important Awards. Last year’s evening was an unforgettable celebration of the wide variety of businesses with passionate and ambitious women at the helm. The Egin is a business hub and home to over 16 businesses. We are proud to be supporting the event in 2024.” Carys Ifan, Director of Canolfan yr Egin.

Once again, there are categories that recognise the contribution of women from various fields, from science, engineering and technology to unique categories like ‘Mum in Business’. A new category this year is ‘Menopause Champion’, something Heulwen herself is very passionate about;

“As someone who’s experiencing the perimenopause, I can confidently say that this is the biggest challenge I have ever faced in my personal and work life. We need to break the stigma, normalise the conversation, especially in the workplace. So many women have to give up their career because of the lack of support during this period. That’s why I’ve launched this new category, to champion those employers who do support women through the menopause and to encourage more business owners to do this. This category is open to businesswomen who support staff through the menopause and also those women who succeed in maintaining a business during the menopause.”

In 2023, the Awards received an incredible 4,328 nominations! The nominations for #LlaisAwards 2024 will be live and open on www.llaiscymru.wales from the 8th of March – International Women’s Day and Llais Cymru’s 4th birthday! The closing date for nominations is the 8th of June, with the shortlist, made up of the women who receive the most nominations, being published in July. The two women who receive the most nominations in each category will be invited to the Awards evening in the Egin in September.

The Awards Categories for 2024 are;

New Business (less than 12 months old)

Mum in Business

Green Business

Under 25’s

Menopause Champion

Retail Champion

Social Enterprise

Food & Drink

Use of the Welsh language

Health, Fitness & Wellbeing

Science, Technology & Innovation