North West Christmas convo: Anne Jackson of North West Cancer Research

Christmas is almost upon us and it’s been a well and truly exciting year for the North West business community.

With many of the region’s businesspeople no doubt looking forward to grabbing a glass of wine and putting their feet up, allowing themselves to slip into a post-roast dinner snooze while pretending to listen to the kids, at Bdaily we thought we’d bring you closer to the personalities behind some of the North West’s most exciting enterprises.

Today’s festive catchup is with Anne Jackson, CEO of cancer charity North West Cancer Research.

What did your business achieve in 2015?

One of our main achievements as a charity this year was being able to announce that we have committed to funding more than £11.2m to research in the North West over the next five years.

What were some of the bigger challenges you faced this year?

The negative press surrounding the harsh and aggressive marketing techniques adopted by some charities. This has a knock-on effect on all charities and we have to work that little bit harder to reassure donors that we operate within the standards set out by the Fundraising Standards Board and we never share our data with other organisations.

We also do not employ paid fundraisers who target shoppers in city centres for standing order donations.

Does your business have anything exciting planned for 2016?

Our major event, Canter for Cancer at Aintree Racecourse on March 6 2016. It’s a 5k race while wearing novelty horses heads, it’s going to be a lot of fun and we’re hoping as many people as possible sign up and help us say ‘neigh’ to cancer.

Do you find any other North West businesses or their owners inspiring? If so, who?

Natalie Haywood, founder of LEAF. By combining her passion for tea, cafe culture and event space, Natalie has brought a venue to Liverpool that rivals some of the best you will find in top European cities.

Give us one tip for a budding entrepreneur

To succeed you must have passion for what you do. It can be a highly overrated term in business but I genuinely believe that if you don’t have passion for what you do, how can you expect others to get ‘passionate’ about it?

Where’s your favourite village/town/city in the North West, besides where you live?

It would have to be Liverpool. Even though I’m a scouser born and bred, I no longer live here but enjoy the fact I still get to work in this amazing city every day.

What would be your dream job?

If I could bring my (unruly) Border Terrier to work with me every day, then I can honestly say I would be doing my dream job!

Do you have a favourite Christmas song?

I Wish it could be Christmas Everyday by Wizzard

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