Inspire UK
For impact focused female entrepeneurs and founders
Inspire UK is a mission-driven organisation that's true to it's values, and we're looking for an army of like-minded women to work with us to create the future we all aspire to.
Will you join us?
Inspire UK: The Story
We’ve changed and grown a LOT over the years, and as part of our 2022 rebrand, we’ve fully reviewed how we’re sharing about our values, ethos and who we’re here to help because we want the right people to join us!
Here’s our story if you’d like to read it.
How we started
Inspire UK has a legacy of more than 12 years serving female entrepreneurs in the UK.
Founded in 2010 and originally known as The Inspire Network, we are one of the longest-standing women’s business networks in the country.
Originally based in the North-East, The Inspire Network was sold in 2020 to Nikki Tapley, our CEO, a business investor with a heart for empowering female entrepreneurs, and 15 years of business ownership experience. She had grown her own successful business network from scratch, so felt she could handle the task.
The handover happened days before the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nikki had already planned to make the group national and predominantly online, so forged ahead with her plan but had to cancel her plans to hold in-person meetings alongside.
She rebranded the organisation and chose a dandelion and lightbulb combo which is highly symbolic as a metaphor for her vision for the group.
How we grew
The Covid years were tough, and not everyone was ready for the changes that it necessarily caused, such as becoming on online-only and national community, and working hard to be welcoming to all.
Many welcomed the changes and The Inspire Network grew and blossomed under Nikki’s committed leadership. We expanded by several thousand members in a short space of time and became national, with thousands of talented women within our communities from across the UK; from start-up sole traders through to well-established company owners/directors.
During the pandemic, Inspire pivoted to become an online network. Nikki extended the offer to members significantly.
So we rebranded again in November 2021, and our new name, Inspire UK, reflects that we are now much more than a network. We are a movement, a community. #WeAreInspire.
And now…
2022 saw a slight revision to our branding as we sought to simplify it to enable us to reflect the heart-led nature of our organisation.
Nikki asked our designer to add a heart in the centre of the P, reflecting that her heart for women is front and centre of the community, and this is much more noticeable now we’re removed the “sparks” from around our name.
Nikki intends that Inspire should be special and different to business networks in the way that it focuses on people connecting “heart to heart”. Post-pandemic, Nikki felt it right to look to simplify the online Inspire offering, with a major decision in early 2023 to offer just one, ultra low cost membership, suitable for all, which we encourage women, whose values align with ours, to join.
The simplicity and affordability of Inspire’s networking is designed to make it simple and easy for women to access and our new logo represents this in it’s own simple yet impactful design.
Meet Nikki Tapley:
CEO of Inspire UK
Nikki’s an experienced business owner, professional business mentor, award-winning entrepreneur, business investor, networking community builder, and founder and Chair of Trustees of a new charity, called “Free to Fly”; a domestic abuse charity.
She’s helped hundreds of people grow their own businesses over the past 5 years as their mentor, and she’s grown (and led) several powerful networking communities online and offline, locally and nationally, helping thousands of people grow their businesses as a result.
She’s worked with scores of people on a 1:1 basis, in addition to group programmes, running her own large (and small) networking events, masterminding events, both online and offline… and everything in between!
Nikki’s no longer taking on 1:1 clients except in very special circumstances, as she is currently investing in several other projects that are scaling.
She’s a specialist mentor who’s trained to work with autistic people and is neuro-divergent informed with personal lived experience, so she’s well-equipped to work with people with awesome ND brains.
She values kindness, respect, integrity, and authenticity, and is a very focused person, but always puts family and relationships first. She’s also a shameless flamingo fan and lover of all things pink, a happily married mum of two girls (plus two fur babies) and has a big heart to serve others. She’s a woman on her own mission to change the world, and her focus and vision, ambition and drive are not to be underestimated.
Her businesses and charity work are all about making a difference in the lives of other people and making what she calls “an infinite impact”, creating a ripple effect that occurs by helping those who go on to help and serve others. She’s therefore committed to, and passionate about, enabling and empowering those who share this aspiration in common as a priority. You can visit her website here.
“it’s my honour and privilege to help women to grow in business, but also beyond their business, supporting them to ensure they’re living life in a way that’s fulfilling at the deepest level, as the leader of Inspire UK. It makes me happy to see how much our members get out of it!”
Our Core Values:
Belief
That business is a powerful force for good
Mission
To empower purpose driven women to grow in business and beyond, and increase their impact
Vision
To inspire female business leaders to think bigger and become inspirational change-makers
Idea
Together we rise
Together we are stronger
Together we grow
Values
Kindness, fairness, integrity, gratitude, realness, trust and respect
Promises
To cultivate a culture of reciprocity so we succeed together. To put people before profit, always
Spirit
Philanthropic and abundant
Meet Team Inspire
Helen Haswell
Community support in our free Facebook group and mod in The Inspire Network
Helen helps people discover beautiful fragrances that make your home smell lovely at Helen’s Scentsational Scents.
Nikki Tapley
CEO of Inspire UK, Mentor, Consultant
Nikki is passionate about helping women to prosper and thrive. She leads Inspire to help you connect and collaborate on your journeys.
Judith Healy
Community support in our free Facebook group and mod in The Inspire Network
Judith is a VA who helps landlords and property companies manage their administration and time at JH Admin.
Increasing your impact
We’re on a mission to help purpose-driven women to increase their impact, by facilitating connection and collaboration and creating opportunities for growth within their businesses and beyond.
Sound interesting?