ENTREPRENEUR Tara Zutshi is one of only 20 business women to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Venus Business Awards at Birmingham’s ICC.

Ms Zutshi, a business coach who lives at Crowle, near Worcester, runs Beacon Women Ltd, with business partner Joanna Barker. She worked with companies like Mars Confectionery and Bass Brewers before leaving to pursue her dream. Now through Beacon Women she supports other talented women get to the top of business by using, not losing, their inherent feminine traits.

Ms Zutshi said: "Too many women leave large organisations because they struggle to get noticed and receive the promotions they deserve. However, I grew up with Maggie Thatcher, and inspired by her success in a man’s world, I always knew I could run a sales team just as well as any man could. And I could do it in a different way. Then we set up Beacon Women so that other women can achieve this too."

To run Beacon Women, Ms Zutshi qualified as an executive coach and with Ms Barker set about educating top companies to benefit from the talents of their women executives. This pioneering work has led to her recognition at the Venus Awards.

" Beacon Women work with companies who want to create gender-balanced organisations," she added. "We say it’s not about changing the women, it’s about changing the culture of the organisation."