‘The culinary queen’ – Sophie Wright, 24

‘Sophie showed amazing potential when she was at Westminster Culinary Arts
College and now dazzles us all with her professional skills,’ says Ready
Steady Cook chef, Brian Turner CBE.

‘The start-up innovator’ – Kirsty Henshaw, 25

Kirsty pitched her business plan for a healthy, allergen-free alternative to
ice-cream, while creating recipes at home for her son, Jacob, on BBC show
Dragons’ Den last year, and won joint backing from Peter Jones and Duncan
Bannatyne.

‘Kirsty identified a real gap in the market and the customer feedback has been
fantastic,’ says Peter Jones.

‘The wordsmith’ – Caroline Bird, 24

Caroline is an award-winning poet and playwright. She won the

Simon Elvin Young Poet Of The Year award for the first time aged 13, and then
again the following year. She has twice been short-listed for the Dylan
Thomas prize for young writers,

‘Caroline is an original, captivating and spellbinding voice. She’s dangerous
and witty, too, with a rare quality of imagination,’ says poet and author
Lemn Sissay MBE.

‘The fashion self-starter’ – Samata Angel, 28

Samata launched her own label, Samata’s Muse, in 2007.

‘Samata never fails to inspire with her energy and creativity,’ says Clare
Tristram of the London College of Fashion. ‘Her dynamic business mind and
genuine warmth has touched a younger generation.’

‘The rising star’ – Michelle Dockery, 29

What they’re saying: ‘The quality that marks Michelle apart from the merely
beautiful and talented – although she is both – is her ability to play
several different emotions at once,’ says Julian Fellowes, creator of
Downton Abbey.

‘The X-Factor survivor’ – Alexandra Burke, 22

She shot to fame after winning The X Factor in 2008. To date, she has notched
up three number-one singles, and a number-one and double platinum-selling
album.

‘As well as being able to pull off the singing and the dancing, and all that
other stuff pop stars should be able to do – but rarely can – Alex has an
infectious enthusiasm for what she does. She sometimes seems overwhelmed by
her own passion for her music, and it’s a passion that bursts out in her
fun, up-tempo songs,’ says Peter Robinson, editor of Popjustice.

‘The Financial high-flyer’ – Alice Goddard, 26

Alice was the youngest person to appear in the Financial News Top 100 Rising
Stars list

‘Alice possesses a winning combination of drive, intelligence, strong
interpersonal skills and the desire to succeed,’ says Rebecca Manuel, global
head of loan syndicate, RBS.

‘The accessories queen’ – Lucy Hutchings, 29

‘Unique, exotic, glamorous, edgy, earthy, wild and fantasy-tastic: Lucy
Hutchings’ jewellery does it all. With a white T-shirt and cut-

off jeans at the beach to the red carpet, it runs the gamut. Not to mention
she’s hot, young, beautiful and British!’ says Brix Smith-Start, owner,
Start.

‘The funny girl’ – Josie Long, 28

Josie began her career with a bang when she won the BBC New Comedy Award at
17. A favourite on the UK stand-up comedy circuit and a regular on TV shows
like 8 Out Of 10 Cats, she’s gone on to notch up numerous awards, including
Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2006.

‘Josie is amazing and hilarious, the perfect stand-up, in that you spend an
hour with an idiosyncratic, tangential, passionate brain and slowly you
realise there’s an enormous subterranean world of wit, thought and absurdity
informing everything she says,’ says Jonny Sweet, actor and writer.

‘The master builder’ – Hana Loftus, 30

Hana co-founded architectural practice Hat Projects, near Colchester, with her
partner, Tom Grieve, in 2007.

‘Hana has strong design sense and a passionate commitment to the social
importance of good architecture,’ says Professor Robert Mull, dean of the
faculty of architecture, London Metropolitan University.

‘The red-carpet dresser’ – Olivia Rubin, 29

Cheryl Cole, Fearne Cotton and Jaime Winstone are all fans of Olivia’s
designs.

‘She makes beautiful, feminine clothes and the bold prints make them edgy,’
says Fearne Cotton.

‘The fashionista’ – Briony Whitehouse, 28

Creator of the blog A Girl, A Style

‘Every piece of writing Briony turns in for LLG needs less editing than most
copy I receive from some well-known writers in the industry,’ says Sasha
Wilkins, LibertyLondonGirl.

‘The food fanatic’ – Lizzie Mabbott, 24

‘Unlike many food bloggers, Lizzie can really write and, more importantly,
self-edit. Her posts are punchy, informative and funny. Not only does she
capture the essence of the restaurants she visits – far from all the usual
suspects – but her cooking posts can have you licking the screen,’ says
Marina O’Loughlin, London Metro restaurant critic.

‘The political animal’ – Ellie Gellard, 22

Ellie’s profile was raised further when she was chosen

to introduce Gordon Brown’s manifesto at the 2010 Labour conference.

‘Ellie shines out as one of the most impressive of a new breed of young women
in the Labour Party. She is as feisty as she is committed and is just what
British politics needs,’ says Harriet Harman MP, deputy leader

of the Labour Party.

‘The prima ballerina’ – Lauren Cuthbertson, 26

Lauren has starred in productions including Cinderella, Swan Lake and The
Nutcracker and is currently taking centre stage in a new production of
Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland at the Royal Opera House.

‘Lauren is a true 21st-century ballerina: elegantly confident and deeply
moving in her classical repertoire, as well as being

a choreographer’s dream in new work,’ says Wayne McGregor CBE, resident
choreographer at The Royal Ballet.

‘The water baby’ – Keri-Anne Payne, 23

Keri-Anne has an impressive medals tally: silver in the 10K marathon swim at
the 2008 Olympics, gold at the 2009 World Championships, and bronze at the
2010 Commonwealth Games.

‘Keri-Anne is hard working and deserves so much success in her swimming
career,’ says Rebecca Adlington, Olympic swimmer.

‘The sprinter’ – Christine Ohuruogu MBE, 26

Christine is a world-class 400m running champion. Christine has already been
named British Athlete Of The Year – twice – in 2007 and 2008. Her MBE for
services to sport came when she was just 24.

‘Christine is a true champion in every sense of the word. She has the ability
to raise her game when it counts and saves her best for the major
championships,’ says Ricky Simms, director of PACE Sports Management.

‘The fast tracker’ – Victoria Pendleton MBE, 30

A British Olympic and world champion track cyclist, Victoria (won her first
World Championship six years ago in 2005. She was named the Sunday Times’
Sportswoman Of The Year in 2007.

‘Vicky is a fantastic role model and an inspiration to the younger riders. She
manages her on- and off-bike activities in an exemplary fashion,’ says
Dave Brailsford, British cycling performance director.

The full list can be viewed here.

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