Monmouthshire Building Society’s Marian Evans among top ten ‘Trailblazing Entrepreneurs’ of 2025
Monmouthshire Building Society’s Marian Evans among top ten ‘Trailblazing Entrepreneurs’ of 2025
Subscribe to the Businessin Wales daily newsletter for FREE here.
Marian Evans, the recently appointed Chair of Monmouthshire Building Society, has been named by Microsoft’s MSN as one of its “Top Ten Trailblazing Entrepreneurs to Follow in 2025,” marking a high-profile accolade early in her tenure.
Evans took up the Chair position at the start of the year, building on her experience as a board member since 2021.
The software giant praised Evans for her work founding Elevate BC, the executive coaching practice she established to support senior leaders in achieving peak performance.
The business has rapidly built a reputation for high-level mentoring, contributing to Evans being named by Disruptors magazine as one of the UK’s top 20 business coaches. She is also a contributor to Forbes business magazine.
Her coaching expertise has become increasingly visible to the public. This year Evans featured on the S4C business programme Busnes Bwyd, where she and a panel of experts worked with six Welsh food and drink entrepreneurs, offering strategic guidance and putting them through a competitive process for a £5,000 grant and ongoing mentorship.
Alongside her coaching career and board responsibilities, Evans is also a seasoned property investor. Her longstanding commitment to supporting businesses earned her a British Empire Medal earlier this year, recognising her voluntary work during the pandemic, when she provided free resilience mentoring to more than 2,000 companies navigating unprecedented challenges.
Reacting to the MSN recognition, Evans said: “It was such a shock and so lovely to receive this recognition. I am proud of my roots and hope my journey shows that with determination and self-belief you can overcome expectations.
“Entrepreneurship teaches us that success is about taking risks, backing yourself, and pushing forward even when others underestimate you – especially when you don’t fit the mould. If my story proves anything, it’s that where you start doesn’t define where you can go. Stay grounded, work hard, and believe in what’s possible.”
Her achievements have also been celebrated internally at Monmouthshire Building Society. Will Carroll, the Society’s CEO, welcomed the news, noting the positive impact Evans has already had on the organisation.
“Marian’s excellence is evident in everything she does. It is great that Microsoft have recognised this – I experience her professionalism and impact every day in our working relationship,” Carroll said.
“Her vision, her leadership, and her ability to see clearly what we as a business need to achieve our strategic goals is inspiring and I’m so pleased that a global giant such as MSN acknowledged Marian in this way for her commercial aptitude and ability to inspire others to achieve over and above what they thought was possible.”
Want more from Businessin Wales? Why not follow us on our socials
Listen to the Businessin Wales podcast
