Julianne Ponan MBE named as the ‘woman with edge’ at the 2024 Women of the Year Awards

Award-winning businesswoman and allergy campaigner Julianne Ponan MBE has been named as The Freeths Woman With Edge at the 2024 Women of the Year Awards.

Julianne’s journey is one of resilience and innovation. This was recognised by the judges who said Julianne is a women in business who is 'challenging the status quo and making a difference beyond traditional boundaries’.

She said: “To be recognised in this way is humbling. For me and for future women in business seeing is believing. With a staggering 80 per cent of 11-18-year-olds unable to name a single female entrepreneur, it feels incredible to be part of the movement working to flip that negative. We need to be seen and heard.”

In 2023, Julianne was awarded an MBE for Services to Business, Exports, and People with Allergies, an accolade she received from The Princess Royal, Anne, at Windsor Castle.

Julianne founded Creative Nature, which is a leading light in providing food products, including snack bars, confectionery, savoury snacks, baking mixes and superfoods, which are free from the top 14 allergens. Julianne has serious and life threatening allergies and anaphylaxis.

Under her leadership, Creative Nature has become a trailblazer in the industry, offering products that are not only free from the top 14 allergens but also vegan-friendly, lower in sugar, and packed with superfoods.

The Women of the Year Awards, now in their 42nd year, are renowned for celebrating the exceptional achievements of women across the UK. The judging panel, which included representatives from core sponsors such as Aldermore Bank, Freeths LLP, and previous award winners, gathered in Manchester recently to reveal their three winners. Alongside Julianne, the other winners were Figan Murrey OBE named The Emmeline Pankhurst Woman of Achievement and Roni Savage FREng who was named Business Woman of the Year.