Sally champions innovative talent at Torbay Business Awards

Sally Allen-Gerard is an award-winning businesswoman with a highly successful background and a wealth of experience in marketing, sponsorship, retail, publicity, e-commerce and international event origination and management for blue-chip organisations, governing bodies and brands. 

She has an enviable and diverse contact list in entertainment, sports, leisure, politics and showbiz.

As a seasoned entrepreneur, Sally continues to develop new businesses while working as a highly experienced business consultant, an independent journalist, a business mentor, and an occasional speaker.

After originating a boat business in Barbados, which she operated for three years before selling it to a local, Sally became the first female executive in cricket as financial controller at Lord’s for four years.

She then created a sports sponsorship, marketing and PR agency with Roy Mantle. After five very successful years with Allen Mantle International, Sally formed Compass PR & Marketing, which was set up to provide a broader service to clients, including creating marketing and communication initiatives for brands and services through sports, the arts, leisure, education, and charity. This also proved a highly successful venture.

From 1997, Sally worked as an independent consultant through her agency Unique Strategic Promotions Ltd (USP), offering specialist skills to blue-chip companies, the media, political and trade organisations, charities, sport governing bodies and the entertainment industry. During this time Sally was solely responsible for raising the sponsorship money (over £3m) to enable the building of the NatWest Media Centre at Lord's cricket ground.

In October 2009, Sally was responsible for bringing President Bill Clinton,  founder of the William J Clinton Foundation, to London to speak at a charity event. Hosted by her great friend, Sir David Frost OBE, in aid of The Lady Taverners, this event raised a considerable amount of money to help give young people, particularly those with special needs, a sporting chance.

Sally’s clients have included: 

Guinness, where she was retained for over 25 years to manage their involvement in the Rugby World Cup, Soccer World Cup, Aintree, Soccer 6, Ireland’s football and rugby teams, and motor racing. 

NatWest Bank/Marylebone Cricket Club — created the original sponsorship package for the MCC, then secured and negotiated the deal for the original sponsorship of the Media Centre at Lord’s.

Mitsubishi Motors — negotiated their supplying numerous vehicles to the MCC gratis. 

HarperCollins — retained for over five years to develop their business in the sports arena. 

Mirror Group Newspapers — marketing  their sports writers’ agency, Hayter’s. 

Associated Newspapers (Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, YOU Magazine) – developed promotions to increase circulation.

Sir John Mills CBE —  to manage the release and promotion of Moving Memories, the last film he made, working with his best friend Lord Richard Attenborough, director Marcus Dillistone and a considerable number of his A-list friends, culminating in a star-studded event in the Painted Hall at Greenwich.

Francois Pienaar — former  South African World Cup winning captain. Managed his career in the media with ITV and his best-selling book deal, Rainbow Warrior, plus his speaking engagements in the UK.

Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare — created and negotiated a deal for the first building to be sponsored in the UK — the Playhouse Theatre, owned by Lord Archer.

Sandals Caribbean Resorts —  to build their international profile; managed the PR and press for the West Indies cricket tour in 1995 of the UK.

Buxton Water — negotiated a sponsorship deal for them to sponsor youth cricket with the MCC.

The Football Association — negotiated sponsorship for England to play against Cameroon and the first united Germany team after the Berlin Wall came down. Followed by a dinner with the two finalist teams of 1966, England v Germany, as special guests.

The Football League — handled all the press for the third and fourth divisions.

Highland Spring — created and managed a model competition in association with Storm Model Management, Sir Richard Branson, Kate Moss, GMTV and the Daily Express, which ran for five  years. 

Daewoo Cars — created and managed Daewoo Lady Driver of the Year competition, filmed by Sky, to help launch the car manufacturer into the UK market.

Laurent Perrier Champagne — created and managed an intensive radio campaign with Henry Kelly and Classic FM.

Wines From Spain — created and managed the launch of Cava in the UK using the Stars of the Russian Ballet tour of the UK and launched a Rioja Vintage Club with Monserrat Caballe and Jose Carreras with 3 concerts to entertain the trade at the Royal Albert Hall and the Festival Hall.

Hertz — introduced them to the Lord’s Taverners to develop a special club for renting their cars using a loyalty format.

Imperial Tobacco — retained by them for lobbying in the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Madeline Albright — launched her autobiography and arranged book signing and interview events for her with Sir David Frost.

Sally also worked with Richard Briggs and HRH Prince Michael of Kent to raise the money to enable the building of the Queen Mother Gates at High Park Corner.

In 2002, Sally changed direction and decided to open a fashion business. Initially, she created, designed and manufactured her own jeans brand, Wizard Jeans. This led to the development of Sally Allen Fashion with numerous other designs.  

On moving back to her hometown, Torquay, in 2012, Sally continued her very successful e-commerce fashion business but also opened two outlets for the public. 

In 2022 Sally’s brother Michael became terminally ill, and so she dedicated all her time looking after him, and when he passed in October 2023, she decided that good should come out of bad and so gave all her stock to Rowcroft Hospice, who had helped her brother  in his final months.

Now in 2025, Sally has her business mojo back and is developing a new range of innovative skincare products with a leading consultant dermatologist. The range should be ready to hit the market in 2026.

Sally is delighted to be sponsoring the Torbay Weekly Innovation Business Award, particularly as she believes that “without innovation there is no business. Creativity and innovation are at the heart of what makes commerce tick, as clearly there is no need for any support industries without the trailblazers carving out new ideas, technology, and products”.

How to enter

Interest in the Torbay Weekly Naturally Inspiring Business Awards 2025 is already gaining momentum — and we want to make it as easy as possible for businesses to enter or to be nominated.

Entries are now open  for this year’s awards, with a date of Wednesday, June 11 already set for the glittering finals night at the Riviera International Centre in Torquay.

The awards have grown in size and stature since being launched three years ago. Now we are keen for even more businesses and their people to be saluted and recognised.

As before, you can enter a category as a business yourself.  But now you can also nominate a business —  and we will do the work for them. You nominate them  and a member of the Torbay Weekly  team will make contact with them to help with the application process. Just go online to  torbaybusinessawards.co.uk to enter or nominate.

We also have two more categories for you to consider. South Devon building supplies firm Inter-Line are on board again with their Apprentice of the Year category and we are also delighted to welcome  Torquay United FC to the awards. They will be sponsoring a new Sport and Health and Wellbeing category.

To enter, go online to the website  torbaybusinessawards.co.uk where you will find out how to enter or how to nominate businesses for the awards, the categories and their criteria. Entries will close at midnight on Friday, April 25. A judging panel will sit to choose the shortlisted finalists of each category. 

The finalists will be announced online and in paper on Thursday, May 15. They will go forward to the finals night.

This year’s sponsors

Torbay Council (headline sponsors and Overall Winner); Wollens (Best New Business); Newton Abbot Racecourse (Best Marketing Initiative); Stagecoach (Greener Futures award); English Riviera Bid Company (Tourism Company of Year); Princess Theatre (Rising Star Award); South Devon College (Inspiring Employer of Year); Police and Crime Commissioner  Alison Hernandez (Commissioner's Business Community Champion);  Torbay Business Forum (Small Business of Year); Majestic Holidays (The James Wright Award for Inspirational Leadership, or ‘Jimmy Award’); Sally Allen (Innovation); Inter-Line (Apprentice of the Year); Torquay United FC (Sport and Health and Wellbeing Business of the Year).

 The Torbay Weekly Lifetime Achievement awards for contribution to business and the community will be announced on the final's night. The Overall Business of the Year will be chosen from across the category winners on the finals night and is not a category for entries.