AN inspiring female entrepreneur from Otley is celebrating a major milestone this month, having been one of just 200 businesses invited to the House of Lords by Small Business Britain to champion sustainability and reducing carbon emissions within local communities.

Rachelle Atkin, who delivers results-driven brand and marketing solutions that empower local SME’s and their teams, was invited to the prestigious London event on November 6 to celebrate the completion of the BT Sustainability for Small Business Programme in collaboration Small Business Britain. The programme offered vital training on new and exciting topics, whilst helping over 1,000 small businesses across the UK to understand the incredible growth opportunities that being a sustainable small business can bring.

Following the completion of the course all participants receive a CPD certified qualification, which can be used to shout about their sustainability commitments to customers and clients.

Rachelle, 54, has over 24 years in the marketing industry working alongside high street brands such as Tu at Sainsbury’s and Debenhams. In 2012, following redundancy after having her son, she decided to follow her passion of supporting small business owners who either don’t have a dedicated marketing resource in-house, or who have team members juggling the marketing role but struggling to get results. Offering strategic direction and mentoring, tapping into over two decades of experience, she has contributed to the bottom line of many local businesses and helped provide support to young team members who are starting their marketing careers.

Rachelle supports SME’s both locally and nationally, and has also worked with Otley Business Improvement District (BID) managing their Brand Marketing & Communications to over 500 local businesses since it’s launch in 2013.

Usually the one championing others, Rachelle jumped at the chance to not only celebrate completing the programme, but also discussing how all small businesses can get involved in becoming more sustainable.

She said: “One of the biggest learnings from the programme is that we cannot be sustainably perfect. But if we all aim to make better choices, these small changes can make a big impact. My plan is to now develop a Sustainability Plan for The Yorkshire Marketing Company, and to also introduce learnings to my clients. By sharing my new-found knowledge, I’ll be helping more local and Yorkshire-based businesses make better sustainable choices, and by working together we can all reduce our carbon footprint across the whole region”.

Rachelle also took the opportunity to invite local MP, Katie White, who said: “It was fantastic to meet Rachelle who has also been involved in Otley Business Improvement District (BID) for the last 11 years. I really enjoyed discussing the opportunities that sustainability can bring small businesses across Leeds North West and beyond. Thank you to Small Business Britain – Business for Good organising!”