Emma scooped a top honour last night at the First Women’s Awards which honour notable achievements women have made in business.

She shared the Public Service award with Caroline Shaw a former midwife and now chief executive of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

As founder of A4e Emma was noted to have made a significant contribution in the Welfare to Work Industry having worked tirelessly to help unemployed people improve their lives. Her contribution to fundraising with the NSPCC and now as founder of the Foundation for Social Improvement means her work was recognised to have had a positive impact for those working within the Third Sector to help individuals who remain socially excluded.

The awards, which were founded six years ago to recognise women at the top of their professions, were held in association with Lloyds Banking Group and supported by the CBI.

Diana Brightmore-Armour, chief of corporate banking at Lloyds, said: “This year's winners are a tremendous example of the breadth of female talent now operating in business and public service - they also send the vital message to young women across the UK that with hard work and determination, they too can succeed.”

More than 450 guests attended the ceremony held in Grosvenor Square last night.

The other winners were:

Lifetime Achievement – Dame Mary Perkins, Founder of Specsavers.

Media - Annabel Karmel, children's cookery author
Retail - Sally Bailey, White Stuff chief executive
Manufacturing - Michelle Rushbrook, head of commercial at BAE Systems
Business Services - Johanna Dow, finance director of Scottish water supplier, Business Stream
Science and Technology - Angela Strank, geologist and technology vice president at BP
Finance - Marion King, chief executive of international payments transaction specialist VocaLink
Property - Michelle McDowell, chair of civil and structural engineering at urban design firm BDP
Tourism and Leisure - Kristine Landon-Smith and Sudha Bhuchar, joint artistic directors of theatre company Tamasha