The annual awards invite entries from all industries and Newbould (pictured) is delighted to be flying the flag for the market research sector. Winners will be announced on 18 November at an awards dinner in London.

The accolade is described as “recognition of Newbould’s excellent stewardship of the agency she founded almost 20 years ago”. Over the course of the past three years, Newbould has added a successful and growing quantitative function to the agency and rebranded under a new name and proposition.

Flume head of research Andrew Jerina commented: “Debbie is a fantastic and inspirational leader for the Flume team and an exceptional business woman.

“The market research industry has a better record than most where female founders and women in senior positions are concerned, but even so it wasn’t the norm to have a female founder 20 years ago.

“Debbie bucked that trend and is a great role model for women in research and women in business – her nomination for this award is the least she deserves by way of recognition.”

Newbould added: “I was delighted to hear that I’m a finalist for this award. I founded Flume at my dining room table surrounded by my three young children almost 20 years ago. There have been lots of challenges along the way, but with the support of a great team we’ve continued to grow and evolve, especially over the last three years.

“I have always seen myself as a business person rather than a business woman and I would encourage other young women to feel the same – if you’re thinking about founding something yourself, do it. I did and so can you.”