Caroline Plumb OBE

Caroline Plumb OBE is an entrepreneur and businesswoman. She studied Engineering, Economics and Management at St John’s (1996) before starting her first business aged 21. She built and sold businesses across professional services and software, and is now Chief Executive of Gravita, a rapidly scaling accounting firm. Her businesses have won multiple awards and have been three-times listed in the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Small Companies to Work For.

Caroline writes a monthly column for The Times focused on small business, and is a Non-Executive Director at Mercia Asset Management, a specialist asset manager focused on early-stage and regional investment. She has a long-standing passion for supporting entrepreneurship and growth particularly in under-invested locations and groups. Caroline was previously an Independent Member of the Regional Growth Fund, on the Department for Business’ Small Business Forum and National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship.

She served as one of the Prime Minister’s Business Ambassadors for eight years, representing the UK, in the Professional and Business Services sector. Caroline was awarded an OBE for services to Business and Charity in the Queen’s 90th Birthday Honours List in 2016.