The founder of Cheshire-based hair and beauty brands Beauty Works has been named Best Business Woman in Hair and Beauty at the 2020 Best Business Women Awards.

Penelope Cheshire founded Beauty Works in 2010, before selling part of the business to US company BIG for £50m in 2019. The company is now a hugely successful beauty brand, providing hair extensions to more than 4,000 professional salons worldwide, as well as retailers such as ASOS, Pretty Little Thing and Lookfantastic. Beauty Works products are stocked in over 180 countries and the brand has won multiple awards, including New Hair Styling Hero at The Beauty Awards 2020 with ASOS.

Employing more than 60 people, Penelope is renowned for providing opportunities for young women seeking to break into the industry, and is also the founder patron of HideOut Youth Zone, helping underprivileged children in the Manchester area. In 2020 she launched The Penelope Cheshire Foundation, through which all her charitable work is filtered. 

Martin Williams, Beauty Works operations manager, says: “We are extremely proud of Penelope in achieving an award of this stature, and in such a competitive field. Penelope is the very finest ambassador for the industry, she has taken Beauty Works to stratospheric heights, is ‘giving back’ through her charity work, and has provided countless opportunities for young women eager to progress through our organisation.  She is ticking every box in terms of what, I believe, a good entrepreneur and female business leader should look like.  Penelope is the ultimate ‘all-rounder.”