Celebrities and sports stars named as UK’s most influential black people – but trailblazing businesswoman takes top spot
Sir Lenny Henry, Stormzy and Michaela Coel are among those to have been named on a list of the UK’s most influential black people – but a history-making female businesswoman has taken the top spot.
The Powerlist, which has been published annually since 2007, identifies the UK’s most powerful people of African, African Caribbean and African American heritage.
The 2023 list includes actors Sir Lenny, 64, and Idris Elba, 50, actress and screenwriter Coel, 35, 29-year-old rapper Stormzy, UK Cyber Security Council chief Simon Hepburn and footballer Marcus Rashford.
But The Powerlist 2023 has been topped by chair of the John Lewis Partnership Dame Sharon White.
Sir Lenny Henry was also recognised
Dame Sharon, 55, who is the first ever female chair of the department store chain, said: “It is an incredible honour to have been chosen to receive this year’s Powerlist Award – particularly given the outstanding contributions of the other nominees.
“My hope is that we can take the serendipity out of social mobility – everyone should have the chance to be who they want to be in life, with their background as a source of pride, not a disadvantage.”
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Also featuring in The Powerlist top 10 is podcast host and Dragons Den star Steven Bartlett.
Organisers of the list say it was launched “to showcase black role models to young people”.
Many of those on the newly announced compilation, such as former professional footballer and sports presenter Alex Scott and Get Out actor Daniel Kaluuya, have also featured in previous years.
Sports star and TV presenter, Alex Scott. Pic: Associated Press
Raheem Sterling
Among those featuring for the very first time are the Bank of England’s chief financial officer Afua Kyei and its senior advisor Tangy Morgan, as well as chair of the UK Cyber Security Council Dr Claudia Natanson.
Raheem Sterling, Edward Enninful, David Lammy, and Munroe Bergdorf are also on the list.
The Powerlist is selected by an independent panel of judges led by chair Dame Linda Dobbs, a judicial commissioner and former High Court judge.
‘Huge impact’
The judging panel also included businessman and winner of the first series of The Apprentice, Tim Campbell.
Michael Eboda, chief executive of Powerful Media who published The Powerlist 2023, said it was “the leading showcase, acknowledgement and reminder of the amazing individuals of African, African Caribbean and African American heritage we have in the UK”.
He added that Dame Sharon was an example of “true excellence”.
“She has been able to have a huge impact in one of the top retail companies in the UK, which is truly remarkable. I applaud the great work she is doing.”
More plaudits
Sir Lenny was also honoured at this year’s Ethnicity Awards.
He was named alongside Sir Mo Farah, 39, who won the Sports Trailblazer Award for using his platform to speak out against discrimination after he revealed earlier this year he was trafficked to the UK when he was eight.
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Mo Farah on being trafficked: ‘I would lock myself in a bathroom and cry’
Sir Lenny, 64, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for championing racial equality and standing up for communities across his long career as an actor, broadcaster and comedian.
Olympic runner Dina Asher-Smith, 26, was awarded Sports Personality of the Year for opening up about her experiences of racism and Alison Hammond, 47, was given the host of the year prize.
Emeli Sande, 35, received the Music Artist of the Year Award for “fighting discrimination and equality”, while Azeem Rafiq, 31, was presented with the Media Impact Award for speaking out about the racial abuse and bullying he experienced at Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
Entertainment
Creatives having to be even more creative as National Theatre overhauls how it stages productions
The National Theatre is overhauling how it stages productions – as its ambitious climate targets mean creatives are having to be even more creative.
After setting itself the goal of achieving net zero as an organisation by 2030, off-stage quietly radical changes are under way.
Pic: Reed Watts
Sky News was invited to see how the theatre, based in Southbank, central London, has gone about overhauling its approach to staging productions, meeting with some of those who’ve worked on its adaptation of the much-loved children’s classic Ballet Shoes.
While critics have been full of praise for the visual spectacle on-stage, how the whole look was created required a fundamental shift in approach.
“All of the team have had to be on board with reinventing, recutting and reimagining items rather than just making them from scratch,” costume designer Samuel Wyer said.
A new resource they had to work with was the National Theatre Green Store in Bermondsey, southeast London.
The warehouse has more than 131,000 items of costume and almost 22,000 props now housed under one roof so that designers can repurpose items from previous productions to try to cut their carbon footprint.
It’s a surprisingly satisfying challenge.
Mr Wyer said they were able to “dip and cut clothes… which meant I was finding things even outside my imagination that were more perfect than I could have drawn on a piece of paper”.
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Trying to lead by example, the theatre hopes to demonstrate how the industry needn’t take a fast fashion approach to making sets, props and costumes from scratch.
“I think if it’s demonstrated that we can do things in this way that helps all of us imagine a world where we can use what we’ve got rather than new, new, new, because we need that balance,” Mr Wyer said.
“Theatre is where we come to imagine who we could be.”
Pic: Reed Watts
‘Every piece has its own little quirks’
Last year, the National set itself targets of 50% of the materials used in its productions having had a previous life, and 65% being repurposed at the end of each production.
For set designer Frankie Bradshaw, hitting those targets has meant working with a lot more repurposed furniture.
“Lots of second-hand cabinets, bookshelves,” she said. “Ordinarily [carpenters] would have been used to building from scratch following a drawing and this has been quite different.
“Every piece has its own little quirks, and they’ve had to adapt their processes to fit that way of working.”
While it’s by no means straightforward, the process is proving rewarding.
“It requires everyone to be a little bit more flexible, a little more patient, but it does mean you can end up with a product you’re a lot more proud of,” Ms Bradshaw added.
Ballet Shoes runs at the National Theatre until Saturday 22 February.
Neil Young has been confirmed as a headliner at this year’s Glastonbury – despite saying he was dropping out due to the BBC’s involvement in the festival.
The 79-year-old Canadian musician wrote on his website earlier this week that both he and his band, The Chrome Hearts, were pulling out because the BBC’s involvement was a “corporate turn-off”.
He has now said in a statement that this decision was down to “an error in the information I received”.
Emily Eavis, the organiser of the Glastonbury Festival, posted on Instagram on Friday: “Neil Young is an artist who’s very close to our hearts at Glastonbury.
“He does things his own way and that’s why we love him.
“We can’t wait to welcome him back here to headline the Pyramid in June.”
Glastonbury, which takes place at Worthy Farm in Somerset in the summer, has worked closely with the BBC – its exclusive broadcast partner – since 1997.
Posting on Neil Young Archives, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer wrote in his initial statement: “The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all-time favourite outdoor gigs.
“We were told that BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in.
“It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being.”
Young performing at Glastonbury in 2009. Pic: AP
Young, who headlined the festival’s Pyramid stage in 2009, added: “We will not be playing Glastonbury on this tour because it is a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be.
“Hope to see you at one of the other venues on the tour.”
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In an updated statement, he wrote: “Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury festival, which I always have loved.
“Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!”
Young, who is married to US actress Daryl Hannah, was booked to play Glastonbury in 1997 but pulled out after cutting his left index finger while making a ham sandwich.
Glastonbury, one of the UK’s largest music festivals, is set to take place between 25 and 29 June, with Sir Rod Stewart booked for the Sunday teatime legend slot.
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