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Hayley Parsons

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hayley Parsons
Born (1973-11-22) November 22, 1973 (age 50)[1]
Cwmbran, Wales
OccupationBusinesswoman
Known forFounded Gocompare.com

Hayley Parsons OBE (born 22 November 1973) is a Welsh entrepreneur and investor, most notable as the founder of British financial services comparison website GoCompare.

Early life

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Born and brought up in Cwmbran South Wales, Parsons began working in the insurance sector aged sixteen after leaving school.[citation needed]

Career

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In 1992 she began working for Cardiff based Admiral Group and where she launched price comparison site Confused.com.[2]

In 2006 she left Confused.com to found Go.Compare.[2]

In 2014, Parsons joined the Entrepreneurship Panel for Wales to advise the Welsh Government on the development and promotion of entrepreneurship in Wales.[3] She is a key figure in the BeTheSpark movement, which promotes entrepreurship in Wales.[4]

She is a member of the Inspire Growth Wales investment consortium, which invests in and mentors technology-focused start-ups and businesses in Wales.[5]

Awards and recognition

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Parsons was winner of the 'Woman in Business' award at the South Wales Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2009.[6] She also won the Western Mail's 'Welsh Woman in Innovation Award' in 2008, and the 'Business Leader' category in the Inspire Wales Awards 2010.[7] The awards, which are organised by the Institute of Welsh Affairs, recognise the role that Welsh residents play in encouraging active citizenship and in promoting their communities on a local, regional, national and global scale.

Parsons was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the economy in the 2012 New Year Honours.[8][9]

References

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  1. ^ Companies House
  2. ^ a b WalesOnline (29 January 2010). "Gocompare Hayley's in a league of her own". walesonline. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  3. ^ Barry, Sion (8 January 2014). "Leading entrepreneurs appointed to advise Welsh Government". walesonline. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  4. ^ "The story so far". Be The Spark. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Home | Inspire Wales". www.inspirewales.com. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  6. ^ Barry, Sion (11 September 2009). "Best business brains receive their awards at celebration of local talent". walesonline. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  7. ^ Hutchinson, Clare (15 June 2010). "Awards recognise active citizenship". walesonline. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  8. ^ "No. 60009". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 31 December 2011. p. 12.
  9. ^ Dunkley, Jamie (1 July 2012). "Go Compare founder Hayley Parsons nets £3.2m dividend". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 10 March 2018.