Every Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award winner since 1972

Created to honour the
trailblazing founder of Veuve Clicquot, Madame Clicquot, the French Champagne house has been celebrating women in business for almost half a century.

More than 300 women in 27 countries have been honoured at the annual Business Woman Award.

"Now in its 48th year, the awards celebrate ambitious women and their achievements, as well as shining a spotlight on them as role models to inspire the next generation of businesswomen," Moët Hennessy UK Marketing and Communications Director Julie Nollet says. "Every year, we ask the public to put forward those female business leaders who have inspired them; those who embody the trailblazing attitude and success that our founder Madame Clicquot achieved in disrupting Champagne production."

Every year, judges look for the quality attributes held by the Maison’s founder. Madame Clicquot established herself as a leading business figure – and was quite possibly the first female in public relations in the world.

The widowed single mother smashed through glass ceilings in the early 1800s, creating the prestigious Veuve Clicquot company still a stand-out today.

Skip Capital Principal Kim Jackson was crowned the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award winner for Australia 2019. Following the beautiful event, The CEO Magazine takes a look back through time at every winner since 1972.

Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award winners

1972
Giselle Picaud
The French construction engineer was the first to be crowned the prestigious title.

1973
Stella Brummel

1974
Alice Coleman

1975
Zofia Sas

1976
Audrey Head

1977
Sarah Sammon and Gillian Lewis

1978
Vera Randall and Andrée Grenfell

1979
Elisabeth Manley and Ann Burdus

1980
Angela Collins O’Mahony and Jean Tyrrell

1981
Elizabeth Alexander, Lenie De Beus, Peggy O’Farrell, Gisela Burg

1982
Penny Carl, Wendy Macdonald, Carol Moffett, Nicole Beijer-Keulers, Verity Lambert

1983
Jacqueline Huie, Annette Roux, Loes Nijhuis, Debbie Moore

1984
Jeannine Guillevin, Marie-José Bobet, Ursula Wiegand, Joan Lawlor, Edna Kavanagh, Anita Roddick

1985
Catherine Painvin, Marlis Blohm-Harry, Sylvia C Toth, Maria Mumenthaler, Patricia Grant

1986
Lise Watier, Monique Fieschi, Mylène Galhaud, Rosemarie Fischer, Gerda Gerda MJ Voorbij, Kerstin Sirvell, Jenifer Rosenberg

1987
Gilberte Beaux, Ingeborg Behr-Hoyer, Johanna Saar, Annick Van De Geest-Vogelaar, Fides Baldesberger, Sophie Mirman

1988
Suzanne Leclair, Marion Vannier, Erika Bischoff, Freda Hayes, Bertha Verhoeven-van Lierop, Mair Barnes

1989
Bodil Nyboe Andersen, Evelyne Prouvost, Petra Reum-Mühling, Margaret Cahill, Carry Geerts-Veen, Birgitta Almstedt, Doris Rieder, Ann Gloag

1990
Helle Bechgaard, Brigitte de Gastines, Eva-Maria Roer, Marie Broughan, Marjoleen Vreekamp-van den Berg, Prue Leith, Nancy Sanders Petterson

1991
Ruth Rasmussen, Annette Winkler, Rei Kawakubo, Anne Öian, Beatrice Wehrhan-Bianchi, Patty Dedominic, Françiose Nyssen, Mairead Sorenson, Aleid Rensen-Oosting, Kajsa Jansson, Phyllis Cunningham

1992
Hilde Umdasch, Jette W Knudsen, Bettina Mühlenberg-Lange, Yoshiko Shinohara, Unni Olav, Patsy Bloom, Cosette Alves, Dany Breuil, Martha O’Byrne, Elsa Magdalena Denneboom-Frank, Gudrun Sjödén, Muriel Siebert

1993
Maria Pfeiffer, Geneviève Lethu, Motoko Ishii, Ingrid Wiik, Jan Fletcher, Rose Salvida, Dagmar Alberti, Irene Schreuder-Tjoa, Jane Royston

1994
Elisabeth Gürtler-Mauthner, Nicole Bru, Liavan Mallin, Jet Creemers, Patricia Vaz, Lise Friis, Helga Hess, Aiko Okawara, Eva Husby

1995
Ingeborg Hochmair, Odile Jacob, Michèle Vreeswijk, Inga-Lisa Johansson, Janet Holmes Court, Elisabeth Stryhn, Claudia C Rehberg, Anne Carine Tanum, Helaine Canepa

1996
Martina Pecher, Reichardt Waltraud, Børrea Schau-Larsen, Catherine Neressis-Jollu, Sawako Noma, Nicola Foulston

1997
Elisabeth Bleyleben-Koren, Birgitta Jaeggle, Sachiko Suno, Randi Kvissel Haugen, Nicola Thibaudeau, Elsebeth Budolfsen, Moya Doherty, Yolanda Eijgenstein, Margaret Barchan, Marjorie Scardino

1998
Herma Fürnkranz, Loumia Amarsy, Silvia Troska, Marike van Lier Lels, Anne Wood, Cristiana Arcangeli, Shama Hiridjee, Minako Imada, Gunn Wærsted

1999
Joana Woo, Michèle Cassegrain, Susan Spence, Lia van den Berg-Horst, Vicky von der Lanken, Nikki Becket, Dorthe Amoldi, Helga Schuler, Eiko Kono, Grete Roede, Helen Bucher

2000
Almut Nele Graefe, Helle Kruse Nielsen, Innegrit Volkhardt, Anne-Marie Rakhorst, Dianne Thompson, Vania Ferro, Marie Bejot, Eiko Kono, Anna Synnöve

2001
Angelika Kresch, Monique Moullé-Zetterström, Martina Hübner, Shoko Ikeda, Åse Aulie Michelet, Catharina Maulbecker Armstrong, Barbara Cassani, Ieda Corrêa Gomes, Ann-Charlotte Pasquier, Darina Allen, Scarlett Kwekkeboom, Marianne Brismar, Barbara Staehelin

2002
Inge Correll, Ingrid Hofmann, Illja Van Haaren, Anna Carrfors Bråkenhielm, Claudie Ossard, Chiyono Terada, Inger-Ellen Nicolaisen, Dawn Gibbins

2003
Regina Prehofer, Stine Bosse, Bernadette Dodane, Louise Kennedy, Inger-Ellen Nicolaisen, Graziella Zanoletti, Eneida Bini, Barbara Roos, Ingeborg Schwenger-Holst, Jeannette van den Ingh, Mai Persson

2004
Claudia Oszwald, Karen Simonsen, Colette Robert, Yoshimi Ogawa, Hilde Midthjell, Naja Munthe, Päivikki Palosaari, Betty Yuen, Mariette Barnhoom, Linda Bennett

2005
Wendy Erhart, Bia Aydar, Annie Famose, Michelle Guthrie, Nicoletta Fiorucci, Yvonne Swaans, Gabriela Manser, Margarethe Reitbauer, Anne-Catherine Berner, Sybill Storz, Anne Heraty, Izumi Kobayashi, Linda Bernander Silseth, Chey Garland

2006
Sarina Bratton, Adeline Lescanne, Marisa Lisi Melpignano, Esther Raats-Coster, Elby Kwok Drewsen, Mette Bock, Vanessa Kullmann, Hiroko Nakanishi, Gunvor Ulstein, Vivienne Cox

2007
Suzannah Vaughan, Maria Regina Yazbek, Patricia Tartour, Vivienne Tam, Pina Amarelli, Britt-Marie Stegs, Golnar Abivardi, Anja-Kristin Frey-Wnkelbauer, Johanna Ikäheimo, Karoline Beck, Norah Casey, Mariles Dekkers, Haleh Abivardi, Rosaleen Blair

2008
Elizabeth Macgregor, Brigit Aagaard-Svendsen, Elisabeth Laville, Federica Guidi, Julie Christie, Carolyn McCall, Christa Wagner, Tuija Rajamäki, Dagmar Fritz-Kramer, Francine Houben, Liv Berstad

2009
Mandy Foley Quin, Leena Niemistö, Lavinia Biagiotti, Annah Stretton, Babette Keller, Caroline Hilliet Le Branchu, Katerina Pantok, Caroline Mitanne, Meiny Prins, Marlène Sandberg, Gail Rebuck

2010
Sarah-Jane Clarle, Lene Tranberg, Alexandra Knauer, Marlies Van Wijhe, Laura Tenison, Heidi Middleton, Sophie Grégoire, Angela Vettese, Cathy Quinn

2011
Dr Karin Exner-Wöhrer, Anne-Dominique Toussaint, Thecla Bodewes, Tarja Rantanen, Colette Twoney, Michelle McDowell

2012
Maryanne Shearer, Christiane Germain, Ute Leube, Anya Hindmarch, Jacqueline Zuidweg, Fany Péchiodat, Bea Petri

2013
Heleen Dura van Oord, Catharina Stackelberg, Hélène Boulet-Supau, Kathryn Parsons, Andrea Pellegrini, Ute Leube, Anna May McHugh, Zaha Hadid

2014
Selma Prodanovic, Chantal Andriot, Dr Contance Neuhann-Lorrenz, Harriet Green, Cora Tsouflidou, Céline Lazorthes, Ria Joosten-van Djick, Jenny Dawson

2015
Stéphanie Wismer Cassin, Teresa Kemppi-Vasama, Danny Hollestelle, Emily Brook, Stacey Brewer, Sarah Rose Bloom, Katherine Garrett-Cox, Sarah Sammon, Alice Zagury

2016
Bianca Monley, Vivienne Van Eijkelenborg, Caroline Hilliet Le Branchu, Anaïs Barut

2017
Sarah Lavoine, Jess Hatzis, Bree Johnson, Barbara Lax

2018
Mikaela Jade

2019
Kim Jackson