AS years go, you might say that Rachel Mallows of The Mallows Company has just enjoyed something of an annus mirabilis!
In December, the Bozeat businesswoman was thrilled to be invested with her MBE by HRH The Duke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace at which he revealed his interest in two of her passions – local food and business development.
That presentation followed hot on the heels of Rachel’s discovering she had secured a major contract from the Food and Drink Forum via the FEAST project (Food Enterprise Advisory Support Team) and sees funding coming from the European Regional Development Fund programme which will allow the company to extend the role of its Made In Northamptonshire group in supporting food and drink businesses in the county and take that into the wider SEMLEP area, which the contract also covers.
And that success came just days after the culmination of the successful eighth year of the Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards – a glittering dinner in November attended by Michel Roux OBE (details of which you read in our December edition).
Rachel’s MBE was awarded not only for her work within the food sector but also for her other business support projects, including Enterprise 4 Kettering which offers coaching and mentoring to enable entrepreneurs to grow and develop.
And while such varied business activity prompted the gong, her efforts in supporting those who are unemployed through the National Careers Services – which sees the company engage with approximately 2000 clients a year, of which some 40 per cent then enter training or find a job – might be equally deserving of national plaudits.
It’s certainly something which brings her just as much satisfaction, as she explained: “We recently helped a chap from Wellingborough who’d been unemployed to completely re-write his CV and through that, and the confidence he gained from talking with one of my advisors, he’s now back in work.
“For me, helping individuals to better themselves as well as watching local business flourish because of our input is just as exciting as hobnobbing with royalty – although chatting with Prince William is certainly something I will never forget!” she enthused.
With Rachel’s passionate support for her home county also seeing her named as a Deputy Lieutenant for Northamptonshire earlier in the year, who knows what 2017 has in store.
Find out more about The Mallows Company at www.rachelmallows.com