Joanna Knight
Joanna Kathryn Knight, OBE (born Joanna Kathryn Swash on 9 October 1972) is a British businesswoman. She has been group CEO of Moneypenny, a UK-based provider of answering services, since 2018,[1] after joining the family-owned business in 2005. She received an OBE[2] for services to the economy in the 2024 New Year Honours.[3]
Early life
Swash was born in Wrexham and educated at Allan School Comprehensive in Mold, Flintshire.[citation needed]
Career
Knight joined Moneypenny, a UK-based provider of answering services, in 2005, and became CEO in 2018.[4] Under Knight’s leadership, Moneypenny has grown rapidly, successfully entered the US market, securing private equity from ECI Partners and acquiring three further businesses: VoiceNation, Alphapage,[5] and Sunshine Communications in the US, leading to the creation of a state-of-the-art headquarters in Duluth, Atlanta.[citation needed]
Knight's leadership style is based on the power of people.[6] Her straight-talking, open approach has earned her a place as one of the leading voices in the press[7][8] and for business reform at government level, working under the Boris Johnson’s Prime Minister's Business Council.[9] This approach has also resulted in Moneypenny being continuously recognised as a Great Place to Work.[10][11]
Knight has featured in several thought leadership books: Celebrity Service by Geoff Ramm, The Nowhere Office by Julia Hobsbawn[12] and Employee Experience by Ben Whitter,[13] and is a regular guest on BBC Radio 5 Live Wake Up to Money.[citation needed]
While Moneypenny is a global business, Knight is passionate about her and the business' responsibility to the local area, lobbying for greater investment and recognition. Knight headed the consortium backing an Investment Zone for Flintshire and Wrexham[14] which received UK Government backing worth up to £160million as well as acted as Chair of the City of Culture 2025 Bid[15] that saw Wrexham receive £125,000 as a close runner-up to the winner Bradford.[citation needed]
She has been recognised with the following accolades: IOD Director of the Year, Corporate Responsibility; Management Today CEO of the Year; Cranfield School of Management, Women to Watch; Giving Something Back Award from The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For.[citation needed]
Knight is a governor of her former school, Allan School Comprehensive.[citation needed]
References
- ↑ "Moneypenny: Answering Services from the World's Leading Provider". www.moneypenny.com.
- ↑ "Moneypenny CEO 'surprised and honoured' to have received OBE". The Leader. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ↑ "New Year Honours List 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ↑ "Moneypenny: Answering Services from the World's Leading Provider". www.moneypenny.com.
- ↑ "Moneypenny acquires Alphapage - ECI Partners". ECI Partners - UK private equity firm. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ↑ "A woman of substance | Feature". Research Live. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ↑ "Lessons in Leadership from Joanna Swash, group CEO of Moneypenny". Harper's BAZAAR. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ↑ "The Importance of Finding Your Purpose". Headspring Executive Development. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ↑ "PM assembles new cohort of business leaders to turbocharge UK economy". GOV.UK. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ↑ Dutton, Adam (23 June 2022). "Inside the coolest office in the UK with tree house meeting room and its own PUB". The Mirror. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ↑ Work, Great Place To. "Moneypenny". Great Place To Work®. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ↑ Hobsbawm, Julia (2022). The nowhere office: reinventing work and the workplace of the future. London: Basic Books. ISBN 978-1-5293-9652-2. Retrieved 17 June 2024. Search this book on
- ↑ Whitter, Ben (2023). Employee experience: develop a happy, productive and supported workforce for exceptional individual and business performance (Second ed.). New York, NY: Kogan Page. ISBN 978-1-3986-0770-5. Retrieved 17 June 2024. Search this book on
- ↑ Wales, North (24 November 2023). "Investment Zone in Wrexham and Flintshire Receives Boost from Chancellor". Business News Wales. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ↑ "UK City of Culture 2025". GOV.UK. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
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