Jump to content

User:32MJR/sandbox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 32MJR (talk | contribs) at 15:03, 1 February 2017. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Debbie Wosskow is a British entrepreneur who lives in London, UK. She is CEO of LoveHomeSwap, a subscription-based home exchange business, and is co-founder and chair of Allbright, an investment fund for female entrepreneurs.[1] Wosskow is also an influential advocate of the sharing economy and is currently chair of Sharing Economy UK.[2]. In 2016 she was awarded an OBE for services to business.[3]

Early Life

Wosskow was born in Sheffield, UK. Wosskow’s father ran his own law firm and her mother owned a printing and packaging business. Aged 15 Wosskow won a Young Enterprise award for a business that sold scrunchies. Wosskow studied Philosophy and Theology at the University of Oxford, before completing an MA and getting a job at Oliver Wyman, an American management consultancy firm.[4]

Entrepreneurial Success

By the age of 25 Wosskow had co-founded Mantra PR with Lawrence Dore.[5]. In 2001 she was selected as one of Management Today’s 35 Women Under 35, while Mantra was sold to the Loewy Group for several million dollars in 2007.[6] [7] In 2008 Wosskow co-founded Maidthorn Partners, an investment and advisory firm aimed particularly at assisting media and tech companies.[8]

In 2011 Wosskow launched LoveHomeSwap, which is now the world’s largest home-exchange platform.[9] After an unsatisfactory hotel-based holiday with her two young children, Wosskow watched The Holiday, starring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz, and was inspired to create a business that would enable subscribers from across the world to exchange their homes.[10]. An investment of £7.5m from Wyndham Worldwide, along with the acquisition of 1stHomeExchange and HomeForExchange, have helped LoveHomeSwap to grow exponentially – its website now features more than 100,000 homes from 160 countries.[11].

Supporting Female Enterpreneurs

As an Angel Investor Wosskow has frequently backed female-founded companies and is outspoken about the need to improve gender imbalances in entrepreneurial activity as a way of creating greater equality and unlocking new sources of economic growth.[12] In 2016 she teamed with Anna Jones, the then CEO of Hearst Magazines, UK, to found Allbright, a venture capital fund that invests exclusively in female-founded businesses and also provides support networks to encourage female entrepreneurship. Wosskow is currently chair of Allbright.[13]

Advocate of the Sharing Economy

In 2014 the British government commissioned Wosskow to compile a 60,000-word report, entitled ‘Unlocking the Sharing Economy,’ for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.[14] [15]

In 2016 Wosskow launched Sharing Economy UK, “a self-appointed and member-funded trade body” that seeks “to support and monitor businesses working within the nascent industry”.[16] SEUK’s members include Airbnb, Zipcar and Liftshare.[17] As chair of SEUK Wosskow is also working with Oxford University and PricewaterhouseCoopers to develop the world’s first trustmark for the sharing economy.[18]

Wosskow also currently sits on the Mayor of London's Business Advisory Board.[19]

  1. ^ Urwin, Rosamund (January 11, 2017). "The march of the female founders". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  2. ^ Russell, Josh; Seery, Natalie (July 11, 2016). "Love Home Swap's Debbie Wosskow is Sharing the Love". Elite Business Magazine. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  3. ^ Quinn, James (June 10, 2016). "City financiers knighted among business leaders recognised in Queen's Birthday Honours". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  4. ^ Russell, Josh; Seery, Natalie (July 11, 2016). "Love Home Swap's Debbie Wosskow is Sharing the Love". Elite Business Magazine. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  5. ^ Russell, Josh; Seery, Natalie (July 11, 2016). "Love Home Swap's Debbie Wosskow is Sharing the Love". Elite Business Magazine. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  6. ^ Glazarev, Edward (October 28, 2013). "Airbnb is just the start: Love Home Swap offers another way for travelers to save big bucks". New York Daily News. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  7. ^ Russell, Josh; Seery, Natalie (July 11, 2016). "Love Home Swap's Debbie Wosskow is Sharing the Love". Elite Business Magazine. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  8. ^ Law, Katie (February 2, 2015). "We've never had our clients using houses for brothels or, God forbid, burning them to the ground". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  9. ^ Smith, Oliver (December 17, 2015). "How To Boss It Like… Debbie Wosskow, CEO Love Home Swap". The Memo. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  10. ^ Law, Katie (2015-02-02). "'We've never had our clients using houses for brothels or, God". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  11. ^ Smith, Rebecca (December 14, 2015). "Love Home Swap acquires rival in boost to global ambitions". Management Today. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  12. ^ Maja, Ti (April 1, 2016). "Trust in the sharing economy". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  13. ^ Urwin, Rosamund (January 11, 2017). "The march of the female founders". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  14. ^ Wosskow, Debbie (November 2014). "Unlocking the sharing economy: An independent review" (PDF). gov.uk. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  15. ^ Law, Katie (2015-02-02). "'We've never had our clients using houses for brothels or, God". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  16. ^ Burn-Callander, Rebecca (June 3, 2015). "UK sharing economy will take a decade to hit its stride". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  17. ^ Burn-Callander, Rebecca (June 3, 2015). "UK sharing economy will take a decade to hit its stride". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  18. ^ Maja, Ti (April 1, 2016). "Trust in the sharing economy". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  19. ^ Barber, Lynsey (2016-11-28). "The London mayor's ploughed £2.5m into startups since Brexit". Retrieved 2017-02-01.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:32MJR/sandbox&oldid=763140145"