Entrepreneur with an eye for a challenge

PRIDE nominee Nicola Jeffery-Sykes

Nicola Jeffery-Sykes is an entrepreneur who thrives on new challenges and, true to her sales background, is always on the look-out for a new opportunity.

She is currently the managing director of two online companies — Claridata Limited (trading as EUHealth.net) and Reminder Time Ltd, based in Uppermill.

Nicola began her career in IT sales working for such market leaders as IBM and ICL before deciding to go it alone by setting up her own telemarketing business in the early 1990s.

Following the sale of her business to Dun and Bradstreet in 1995, Nicola sought out new investment opportunities before becoming involved with the successful Manchester software procurement business, Search and Match.

A strategic decision to split the business in 1999 led to Nicola acquiring and developing the healthcare planning company Blackwell Masters.

Nicola’s vision was to use the swiftly maturing web to provide access to NHS planning documents which, until this point, had been available only on CD Rom or as hard copy.

As another aspect of healthcare supply services began to rise to prominence — that of providing and maintaining contact data within the NHS for suppliers to healthcare organisations, such as pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment manufacturers and specialist services providers — Nicola’s vision was to provide an online repository of opted-in medical professionals.

The industry was keen to be kept informed of products and services that were relevant to their particular areas of focus.

EUHealth was established on perhaps the most notorious date of the 21st Century September 11, 2001. Despite this infamous start, EUHealth has now been providing continually updated, and accessible online, data relating to medical personnel, not only in the UK but across the 27 countries of the EU, for almost 10 years.

The nomination was made by business colleague John Curley, who said: “Outside of her business life, Nicola is a mother to a daughter, a keen amateur dramatist and heavily involved in charity work on both a local and national level. She has sat on her local parish council and has been involved in both the Prince’s Trust and the NSPCC. Nicola and her colleagues and friends took part on the television quiz show “Eggheads”, but as the show has not yet aired, the results cannot yet be disclosed.”

On a personal note, Nicola has recently faced up to and is in the process of overcoming major health obstacles. Having been a chronic asthmatic for most of her life, in late 2009 Nicola was also diagnosed with breast cancer and has had several operations and some harrowing radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment.

Following a successful conclusion to her breast-cancer treatment, evidence of colon cancer was found. This meant more operations and more treatment, all the while continually hampered by her ongoing asthma condition.

Nicola remains buoyant and positive, motivating and inspiring not only her colleagues but friends and family as well.