Leading Ladies - Inspiring Leadership

Date & Time

Tuesday, Jan 22, 2019 at 16:00 - 18:30

Our Leading Ladies masterclass series will inspire and engage attendees in a variety of topics. We'll be covering Inspiring Leadership, Innovation, Developing People and much more. We kick start the series with Ann Johnson from Blaze Manufacturing Solutions.

(This series of events is open to everyone)


After years of working for large scale energy companies in Aberdeen, Ann Johnson founded Blaze Manufacturing Solutions with her husband Howard in 2006 growing the business from a garden shed operation to a global business. The company began life in the garden shed and quickly grew, taking in a contract worth £1.1m in its first year.

Originally from Manchester, Ann started her career in the printing industry before moving to Aberdeen with Howard in 1989. Before establishing Blaze, Ann worked for oil and gas operator ConocoPhilips for 15 years, holding several positions including a buyer role. Within Blaze, Ann holds the role of Finance Director and has responsibility for representing the company externally. Ann provides a mentoring role to the local school and to businesses in the local community, sits on the Board of Youth Enterprise Scotland, is active with the CBI and is Vice Chair of the Supply Chain Forum for Oil and Gas UK. Ann is a regular speaker at industry events and a supporter of Women’s Enterprise Scotland and Women Connect.

Blaze is very much a family business with Ann working not only with her husband but also her two sons. Blaze provides technical safety and loss prevention solutions in the oil and gas, renewable energies, mining, commercial and industrial sectors and in 2017 was named as one of the top 1000 UK Companies to Inspire by the London Stock Exchange. In 2018, Blaze was named Company of the Year at the EIC awards in London.


Leading Ladies Masterclass, sponsored by Hillcrest Housing Association 

Woring with our Enterprise Partners, the Leading Ladies mastercasses will bring a series of events to our members covering a variety of topics to help you and your business grow.

You can find out about Hillcrest Housing Association and the work they do within the region on their website.

Our thanks go to them for their continued support.