2005 First Woman of Tourism & Leisure
Julia Hands, Chairman and CEO, Handpicked Hotel
With no experience in the hotels industry, she has been a first-time success, building the UK`s number one independent country house hotels group.
The judges said: "you can`t ignore Julia Hands` achievements as a novice in the industry: she had the vision, developed it and is now reaping the benefits of scale without compromising on the individual character of her hotels and quality of service.
2005 Shortlist
Gaynor Coley, development director and deputy CEO, The Eden Project Ltd
Julia Hands, chairman & CEO, Hand Picked Hotels
Daniela Wagner, international managing director, OctopusTravel.com
