Lee Elizabeth Thomas, founder and director of Aesthetics Event Staff Ltd, has been shortlisted for 'Business Woman of the Year', at the highly-regarded Women of the Year Luncheon and Awards 2023.

Established by Lee in 1996, Aesthetics Event Staff was launched with a sole focus on providing staff to the events industry.

The company has now evolved with two targeted offerings for the events sector; a professional event management service business that supplies a high standard of event personnel to a range of venues and events across the UK, and the development and supply of event management and enterprise resource planning software to the events industry.

Through Aesthetics Event Staff, the she has delivered teams for high-profile events such as the Women's and Men's Euros, numerous royal events, the UEFA Champions League, Wimbledon Tennis Championships, the G8 Summit, and the Pope's Visit to name a few.

"I was delighted to be shortlisted for the awards," she said. 

"Whilst I started my business 27 years ago from scratch, the last two years have been the most challenging. 

"Guiding the business through a pandemic, dealing with rapid growth whilst diversifying into new sectors means as a business, we are now stronger than ever.

"I personally have achieved more than I could ever have hoped for. It has been an incredible journey and I feel privileged to have survived the highs and lows, I'm a living example that through sheer hard work, determination, and belief anyone can achieve their dreams."

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Lee came from a working-class background, leaving school in Coventry at the age of 15 with one O-level in art and a handful of CSE's. 

Her self-employed career started in 1987 with a small grant from the Prince's Trust; and now she has led two successful businesses, turning over 15 million each in 2022 at the height of the pandemic by diversifying into providing Covid support staff.

At the age of 40 and after driving the business to success, Lee then returned to education and graduated with first-class honours in Business Management in 2015, described by Lee as "one of my proudest achievements to date".

Ahead of the Rugby World Cup in 2015, Lee launched Aesthetics' own bespoke online training programme where everyone was given their unique login to be able to complete modules on everything from how to welcome guests through to managing difficult situations; eight years on, more than 4,000 staff have completed the programme.

She is a proud board member for the Coventry and Warwickshire Children's Charity helping raise over £3 million for children suffering abuse.

Taking place on Friday 13 October at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, the Women of the Year Luncheon & Awards is a celebration of achievement which promotes positive female role models who provide inspiration across all areas of society and the business community.

To find out more about the prestigious event or to book tickets, visit the website.