by Jane Grimshaw

Created on: November 03, 2011   Last Updated: November 06, 2011

Karren Brady said that she would never date a footballer, but then she ended up marrying one and hasn’t looked back since. Born on 4 April 1969, Karren was brought up in Edmonton by her Irish father, Terry, and Italian mother, Rita. She has a brother, Darren, who now lives in Monaco and works in telecommunications. She attended a convert school in Hertfordshire, before moving on to a boarding school in Elstree. From school, at the age of 18, she began her successful career in the world of business by working for Saachi and Saachi.

Karren was always very entrepreneurial as a child, and so was her brother Darren. They were very competitive children and this brought about many arguments. They always had lots of money-making schemes on the go that included things like washing cars. Karren can even recall the time that she put up posters advertising manicures, pedicures and massages. Her mum, Rita, was not best pleased when a string of men started coming to the front door asking for massages! The family were, however, very close and Karren claims that her great upbringing made her the confident and successful business woman she is today.

Karren’s career went from strength to strength, and soon after starting work with Saachi and Saachi she moved on to work for the London Broadcasting Company as a sales executive. She then managed to make her mark on the world of football by becoming Managing Director of Birmingham City Football Club in 1993. She became known as the first woman in football and turned the club’s fortunes around by increasing the average gate of the club from 6,000 to over 30,000. In January 2010, she became Vice Chairman of West Ham United football club.

As well as being successful in the world of business, Karren has managed to become a bit of a celebrity with her numerous appearances on the TV. She is probably best known for her appearances on BBC 1’s Apprentice, where she now works alongside Alan Sugar as his right-hand woman after the departure of Margaret Mountford. During a celebrity version of the show, which was held for comic relief, Karren’s team managed to make over £750k for charity. Karren has also done a BBC 1 documentary ‘Inside Story - The Rea Life Manageress,’ as well as hosting various TV shows, including Loose Women, Live Talk and Central Weekend Live.

Karren also enjoys writing columns and writes for the Sun newspaper and Woman and Home magazine. In February 2008, she even launched

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