Natalie Burkinshaw Archives - Destination Chesterfield

Chesterfield business owner highly commended as Female Entrepreneur of the Year

19th December 2024

A Chesterfield entrepreneur has been presented with a ‘highly commended’ award at a ceremony which celebrates female business leaders.

Last month, local design agency Crush’s Founder and Creative Director, Natalie Burkinshaw, attended 2024’s prestigious Novi Awards, having been shortlisted as a finalist for Female Entrepreneur of the Year.

As an awards programme dedicated to ‘championing female business leaders who are breaking barriers across the business world’, being recognised by the Novi Awards has been especially significant for Natalie and the Crush team.

A female-owned and founded design agency, in an industry where 97% of creative directors are male, Crush has been working on branding, design and website projects for over two decades from their Chesterfield-based studio.

Having already been over the moon to have been shortlisted in the first place, Natalie came away from this year’s Novi Awards with a special prize of Highly Commended, just missing out on top spot.

The judges noted her 20 plus years of business leadership and innovation within the design sector as a significant achievement that they felt shouldn’t go unnoticed, along with her charitable activities outside of the workplace.

Since the beginning, Natalie has led Crush to be an agency that provides businesses – both local to Chesterfield and across the UK (and indeed globe) – with an honest and relationship-led approach to their creative projects. Whether it be a corporate brand development for engineering superpowers like Briggs of Burton and Ziemann Holvrieka, a website build for the famous Ministry of Sound, or even a pro-bono rebrand for The Clothing Bank charity, Crush dedicates itself to helping organisations thrive.

Natalie commented: “I am blown away with winning this accolade from Novi. The awards day was absolutely energising, an experience like no other for female business leaders. I had the privilege of meeting some awe-inspiring women who came from every walk of life. ”

Crush supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 200 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Chesterfield design agency nominated as finalists for prestigious business awards

4th October 2024

A Chesterfield-based design agency has recently been shortlisted for two prestigious awards, in business and entrepreneurship.

Led by Natalie Burkinshaw (Founder and Creative Director), Crush is a design agency that works to support local businesses through to global corporations with impactful branding, design, website development and marketing support.

This month, the agency has been shortlisted for the regional East Midlands Business Awards, under the category ‘Creative and Media’, whilst the agency founder, Natalie, has been shortlisted for the national, female-championing Novi Awards, under the category ‘Female Entrepreneur’.

As an independent agency working in an environment of 25,000 other UK agencies, these awards prove to be a testament to Crush’s expertise and experience within the creative sector.

From rebranding Chesterfield Borough Council to building the new Ministry of Sound website, Crush’s ethos centres around their motto of ‘Global reach, Local love’. This ethos, too, is reflected in these awards themselves, as an agency nominated for both a regional business award, and a national award honouring the impact of female leadership, innovation and entrepreneurism in business.

Taking place in October this year, the East Midlands Business Awards is an annual event that brings together inspirational business leaders from the local region, recognising shared business success. With several categories, including Creative and Media, the awards aim to unite organisations from across a wide range of different sectors and specialisms to come together in a celebration of excellence in business.

On the other hand, The Novi Awards are specific awards aimed at celebrating female leaders and championing change in business. A 100% female-owned, global community of women, Novi recognises women amongst a variety of categories such as entrepreneurs, leaders, rising stars, mentors and many more. The Novi Leadership Summit and Awards takes place in London later this year.

Natalie Burkinshaw, Founder and Creative Director at Crush said: “I am exceptionally proud of the whole team. They each bring a unique quality to Crush and it’s a genuine delight to see what they create and deliver for our clients. Entering awards is not something we have ever done before but this year I wanted to really celebrate the team’s hard work and dedication. Becoming finalists in our first two submissions is an absolute honour, not to mention a terrific surprise.”

Crush supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 200 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.