Karren Brady began her career at LBC when she was 18 years old and moved swiftly onto Saatchi & Saatchi as an Account Handler. She joined Sport Newspapers in 1988 and became a Director within a year.
Karren Brady is now known as the first woman in football. She was Chief Executive of Birmingham City Football Club 1993 until 2009 and turned the Club’s fortunes around. She took over Birmingham when it was in liquidation, and in her first year at the helm, the Club recorded a financial trading profit. In 1996 the Club made an overall profit for the first time in modern history, and in February 1997 the club launched on the stockmarket valued at the time of float at £25,000,000 and she was the youngest Managing Director of a PLC in the UK. As a result Birmingham City FC is now one of the best-run clubs in the Premiership, having regained promotion in 2009.
In 2010 Karren Brady was appointed Vice-Chairman of West Ham United FC.
Karren Brady made many constructive changes at Birmingham City Football Club and her community projects; such as ‘Kids a Quid’ scheme, the Family Stand, the Community Classroom and other similar initiatives have been emulated and copied elsewhere. The Club now offers the most comprehensive range of services from Financial to Personal (mortgages, insurance, loans, credit cards, petrol cards, saving accounts, and training services).
Karren Brady has attracted much media attention as the highest placed woman in football. She has hosted her own TV show Brady Bunch, and presented both Loose Women and Live Talk on ITV, she has also presented Central Weekend Live. In 2009 she was appointed as an advisor to Lord Sugar on the BBC series "The Apprentice".