Business owner Shirley named ‘One to Watch’

The programme celebrates the inspiring leaders behind some of the UK’s most successful and fast-growing medium-sized companies.

Selected from a pool of 600 nominees and 150 interviewees, Shirley, who lives just outside Ballymena, is the only business owner from Northern Ireland to be named in the ‘Ones to Watch’ list, and indeed the only one from Northern Ireland in the overall LDC programme, which showcases the leaders behind tomorrow’s mid-sized firms and growing businesses that are making a big impact.

Shirley has led a very successful career to date, working for nearly 20 years in the private equity sector in London before setting up ShirleyPalmer.com, a consultancy focused on Conscious Leadership and Mindset Mastery. During the outbreak of the pandemic, she created The Simple Series, a consultancy firm which aims to help entrepreneurs and company owners based around the globe to get the most out of their business. With The Simple Series, business owners and entrepreneurs can avail of a plethora of services and programmes covering business strategies, business mentoring, leadership,, marketing and sales strategies and more.

Shirley said: “I am absolutely honoured to be named as ‘One to Watch’ in LDC’s Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders programme. To be listed alongside some of the most successful and ambitious business leaders in the whole of the UK, and to be the only one from Northern Ireland to have made the ‘Ones to Watch’ list, is a fantastic achievement and one that makes me feel very proud. I set up The Simple Series with the desire to assist businesses, regardless of size or sector, to achieve their fullest potential.”

Shirley returned to live in NI in 2019, and earlier this year she teamed up with business enterprise agency, LEDCOM to launch the Seed Formula with funding from Ulster Bank. The Seed Formula is a 12- week programme geared towards guiding and supporting women from rural communities across NI, to start a business in their chosen field. The programme is currently ongoing, and Shirley hopes that it will have a profound effect on the number of female entrepreneurs in rural communities.