Make me a Million winner launches new venture

Travel insurance will soon be available for people wishing to have cosmetic, medical or dental treatment abroad, thanks to Leila Wilcox, founder of children’s toiletries company Halos n Horns and winner of Channel 4’s Make Me a Million.   Her latest business venture, Angelis Insurance, was developed after she decided to get medical treatment abroad but could not find a travel insurance policy suitable for her needs.   Angelis Insurance will offer travel insurance for the medical tourism market – a first in this sector.    

This is Leila’s second business venture created out of frustration at not being able to find a solution to a problem.  Her first business, Halos n Horns was developed after she was appalled by the chemical concoctions in her son’s shampoos and bath washes. Having developed the concept with Ivan Massow (her mentor from the Channel 4 programme Make Me a Million) the company’s shampoos and body washes are now stocked in all the leading supermarkets. Thanks to a partnership with distribution specialists Ceuta Healthcare, the brand is expanding abroad in Ireland, Malta, New Zealand and Australia. 

Leila will be calling for more women to grow bigger businesses when she speaks at the launch of Mission Growth in Oxfordshire on 24th September.  Mission Growth is the latest service from Mission Possible, the Oxfordshire based company that specialise in business support for women entrepreneurs.  It will bring together groups of women entrepreneurs whose companies have annual turnovers between £75,000 and £500,000 to address their business issues on a monthly basis.  The service has been developed in response to Mission Possible’s research that highlighted many women running businesses of this size feel they have outgrown traditional networking groups and would prefer more focused peer support.

The UK Government wants to encourage more women to grow businesses to a greater size as it is critical for the future development of the economy.  Currently almost 2 million women are involved in some sort of entrepreneurial activity in England and the latest Prowess report suggests that women owned businesses may require distinctive treatment as they are intrinsically different. This is because women often they assume the childcare or caring responsibilities within a family as well as running their business.   The report states that they have the potential over the longer term of being at least as efficient and productive as their male counterparts.

At the Mission Growth launch Sue Stockdale, founder of Mission Possible will explain how Mission Growth can help women to grow their businesses. More information can be found at http://www.missionpossible.co.uk/oxfordshire/local_events/local_events.php?content_id=185