Lopa Patel
Lopa Patel, MBE, is a digital entrepreneur.[1] Her parents were shopkeepers who arrived in Britain as refugees from Kenya in the 1970s. After graduating BSc from UMIST in 1986 and pursuing a graduate traineeship at ICI, Patel took over a printing business which she developed into the database management and direct marketing company DMS Direct.[2] She went on to found Redhotcurry.com (a recipe-sharing site that developed into a South Asian lifestyle portal) and the online shopping site TheRedhotshop.com. She is also the founder and CEO of Diversity UK, a think tank that studies and promotes diversity in Britain. In 2009 she was appointed to the board of Becta (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency).[3] In 2014 she set up the online news and lifestyle publisher New Asian Post.[4]
Patel was one of eight media experts appointed to a panel to advise on a review of the BBC Charter in 2015.[5]
Awards
Patel won an Asian Woman of the Year Award in 2005 for her work as a new media entrepreneur, an achievement showcased in a Department of Work and Pensions report to Parliament on equality of opportunity.[6] In 2009 she was awarded an MBE for "services to the creative industries".[7] In 2015 she became the first Asian woman to receive the Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion.[8] She was also a finalist for Businesswoman of the Year in the English Asian Business Awards.[9]
In 2017 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by The Open University "for her exceptional contribution to diversity in the STEM sector".[10]
References
- ^ Lynsey Barber, BBC charter review panel: Meet the eight people deciding the broadcaster's future, City A.M., 12 July 2015. Accessed 22 November 2015.
- ^ Andrew Bounds, "Queen’s Awards for Enterprise Promotion 2015 winners", Financial Times, April 21, 2015. Accessed 22 November 2015.
- ^ "Three New Board Members for Becta and Reappointment of One Existing Member".
- ^ "DueDil".
- ^ Jasper Jackson, BBC Charter Review: What the panel members have said in the past, The Guardian, 12 July 2015. Accessed 22 November 2015.
- ^ Department for Work and Pensions, Opportunity for all: Seventh Annual Report (Presented to Parliament, 2005), p. 91.
- ^ Honours: Order of the British Empire, Civil - MBE, The Independent, 12 June 2009; updated 23 October 2011. Accessed 22 November 2015.
- ^ #Honour: Lopa Patel becomes first Asian woman to receive Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion, UK Asian, 23 April 2015. Accessed 22 November 2015.
- ^ High flyers are announced for the prestigious English Asian Business Awards[permanent dead link], Asians UK Magazine, undated. Accessed 22 November 2015.
- ^ Christine Drabwell (29 September 2017). "OU honours digital entrepreneur for encouraging diversity in science and technology". The Open University.
External links
- Personal website: http://lopapatel.com