INSPIRATEES

( 1st )

Catherine Devereux

The Headlight Project & Knights

( 4th )

Sharon Lane

Tees Components

Smiles - Sharon Lane receives her certificate from Jessica Gwaringa of event sponsor Moonrise .

Sharon Lane said she felt privileged to feature in the top five of the region ’ s most inspiring business leaders for a third successive year .

Managing director of heavy engineering firm Tees Components , Sharon ’ s second place spot represented her highest position in a poll that Tees Business has been running since 2016 .

She has been in the top two most inspiring women in each of the nine years we have run this poll .

The 2019 Tees Businesswoman of the Year , Sharon joined her parents ’ East Cleveland-based family firm in 2004 but , wanting to prove she could stand on her own two feet , she left to make her way with another firm , studied for an MBA and returned at the age of 26 .

Sharon told Tees Business . “ To have your peers acknowledge what you ’ re doing , it ’ s a real privilege . You look at the list and you ’ re in such good company .

“ Quite a few of the people in the top 30 , I ’ ve learned so much from . They ’ ve supported me , particularly through Covid . There ’ s a lot of people here who started from nothing , and I ’ ve never done anything like that .

“ I just had a real privilege in that I got to take over the family business , and I treat it as being the current custodian of a really special company with really special people .

“ I ’ m really flattered . It ’ s about a celebration of our business community here on Teesside , because we ’ re trying to lead with integrity .

“ We ’ re trying to look after our bottom line and our customers , but we ’ re also trying to do the right thing , and we ’ re in really good company here .”

Leading light - last year ’ s winner Catherine Devereux .

Having last year been voted by her peers as just the second female winner after Professor Jane Turner ’ s 2021 success , Catherine Devereux retained a place in the top three this time around .

Her position again reflected the admiration she attracts from across the business community and beyond for her stoic and inspiring response to the loss of her husband , Russ , who took his own life six years ago .

The mum-of-three girls , a highly respected solicitor with her own consultancy as well as being an employment partner with Stockton-based Knights , remains a trustee of the Headlight Project , the charity she founded .

The charity helps children to cope with mental health issues and reduce the number of suicides in our region , with Catherine speaking bravely about the impact suicide had on her life and raising the issue of mental health within the workplace .

Speaking after her award last year , Catherine said : “ I firmly believe that we have a duty to children to make sure they grow up with good mental health , to have resilience and to be able to cope with life ’ s struggles .

“ We ’ ve got a duty to inspire the next generation and we can ’ t inspire them if they ’ re not resilient , healthy human beings . A huge part of that is your mental health .

“ Life is tough – no one has a perfect life – so we need to equip them with the tools to be able to get through life and to cope and to not end up in the position that Russ did where he felt there was no other option .”