First ever ‘MP HERoes’ Award for Northamptonshire business owner is presented at Westminster to Jessica Pilkington

Jessica Pilkington, owner of Pilkington Communications, was nominated for the award by Mike Reader, MP for Northampton South and collected her award from Westminster Palace this month.

In her new role as an MP HERo, Jessica now attend year-round activities at Parliament and be called upon to champion female entrepreneurship in the UK.

She said: “This is a huge honour. I am particularly proud as this is the first year a Northamptonshire person has been selected for this award.

"This is all about building a talent pool of local role models, successful business owners with ambition to grow, who lead the way for other women. I am passionate about this and proud to be in such incredible company.”

The MP HERoes programme, now in its third year, champions successful women business-owners all across the country. It is a Savvitas programme, run in partnership with NatWest, which links each MP with a successful woman business owner in their constituency to encourage, celebrate and support female entrepreneurship across all sectors and industries.

Mike Reader MP said: “Jessica and her team demonstrate how local businesses can make a real difference in our community. Their work making high-quality marketing services accessible to charities and social enterprises helps amplify the impact of vital organisations across Northampton. As the first person to have ever been nominated for this award from Northampton South, I'm honoured to be supporting her.”

Pilkington Communications, a PR and marketing agency founded in 2013, with offices in Delapré Abbey, Northampton, has a specific focus on working with charities, social enterprises and not for profits.

Clients include Groundwork Northamptonshire, Deafconnect, Community Law Service, Brackmills Business Improvement District, Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust, 60 Miles, Made With Many and Commsave Credit Union.

The company is also a supporter of Northamptonshire Community Foundation, donating monthly to the charity’s Corporate Giving Network – which provides essential funding for local groups in need.

Jessica added: “Our team are driven by the belief that everyone deserves access to great marketing and communications support. In the charity and wider not for profit sector, budgets might be restricted, but ambitions rarely are. I passionately believe that brilliant, clever and creative comms should be available to all. Making a difference to these organisations is incredibly rewarding.

“A huge thank you to MP Mike Reader for nominating me for this career highlight. I am incredibly proud and committed to championing female founders and entrepreneurship.”

Outside working hours, Jessica is a trustee of Northampton Community Spaces. She is also a founding member of a charitable fund which provides bursaries for secondary schools with neurodiverse challenges. Harry’s Fund was launched earlier this year by Jessica and her husband and Pilkington Communications co-director David Chadwick – in memory of their son Harry who died six years ago at the age of 19.

Meet all of this year’s MP HERoes here.