The boss of a leading global provider of intravenous (IV) therapy and vitamin injections worth £100m has revealed the shocking discrimination she received due to her Northern accent when trying to launch her career in the 海角视频 - and that she ultimately had to leave to pursue her ambitions.
Sarah Lomas, founder and CEO of med-tech firm Reviv, whose global headquarters are now based in Manchester, has spoken exclusively to BusinessLive.
Since the coronavirus crisis, Sarah, who contracted the disease herself, has led her firm to switch to non-profit, creating a support network among other initiatives.
The trend of IV has grown over recent years, and involves vitamins and other substances being administered directly into the blood. Firms promoting IV say it can cure hangovers, boost the immune system and bring skin benefits.
Set up in 2013, Sarah said it always her aim for Reviv to become the consumer choice in preventative health - however it's not been an easy ride.
Sarah, from Denton, left school at age 16, starting out her career as an apprentice in financial services, working in quality control.
"It wasn't a huge role but it gave me access to board meetings at a very young age. I would have to attend them to give updates.
"But I was told very early on by a head of department that if I wanted to progress my career, I would need elocution lessons.
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"It then became that I was not able to speak at board meetings unless I was spoken to - and that continued throughout my career.
"And it's not just the accent, it's also the class system. The discussion around the table would be fine wines, and what is in your wine collection. I had never afforded to be able to drink wine. I wouldn't know the difference between the grapes, and you are also judged based on that."
Hardship hit when Sarah's father died when she was just 18, before she fell pregnant age 21, and began life as a single parent.
She soon began consulting for financial services firms as she began to reestablish her career.
"Being a single mum and having no degree from an accredited university meant I struggled in poverty.
"I lived on inflatable furniture because I couldn't afford the real thing."
With "every bank based in London", Sarah knew she needed to progress her career in the south, however came up against obstacle after obstacle.
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"That became a huge hindrance. I applied for roles and I was always very confident in my own capabilities, but just kept getting rejection after rejection, even though I knew that I had the skills.
"That changed when I took a bold decision to leave the country.
"I didn't want to go for elocution lessons or change who I was. I didn't want to suppress my personality, and I was proud that I was working class.
"I analysed the situation at that point and thought 'what can I do differently?'
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"I can go to a country where nobody really knows the difference between a northern accent and a southern accent, where it's not wealth or class-related. You are British and that is the only hurdle."
Sarah left to work in Belgium first, and then the Netherlands - soon leading a team of 600 people, becoming vice president for international sales at a Dutch bank.
With her day to day life involving a significant amount of travelling, Sarah soon developed an interest in IV therapy and its benefits, which motivated her to set up Reviv.
Sarah said her vision was to create a company that provided elective therapies for those interested in vitamins, hydration and preventative healthcare.
After securing funding in the US, Reviv now has over 50 clinics around the world, a medical infrastructure in 41, "world-class" Swiss laboratories, and is the leader in IV therapy and genetic analysis for health and wellbeing.
She said: "It's been an incredible journey, to take a company from a concept in 2013 to our latest capital raise where we have a value of £100m."
Sarah said that she was "disappointed" at how "conservative" the 海角视频 still was, and that since coming back to the country and basing Reviv's headquarters in Manchester, she has seen 53 rejections for capital and funding in the 海角视频 - and zero elsewhere.
Despite that, she said the northern city has "flourished".
"At the start of this journey, I could not get investors to come and visit Manchester. I tried, but they found it too unattractive.
"When I left Manchester, I never envisaged that I would come back. It had changed. It was different, vibrant, multicultural and creative, with a lot of talented people here.
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"We have board meetings here now, with people attending from around the world.
"It's my mission to make people see that Manchester is not a poor, poverty-stricken city that's full of factories. People had no idea that there's wealth and a thriving economy here."
Sarah still "carries the scars" of how she was told to get elocution lessons and judgement about her accent.
She said: "When I'm not in the 海角视频, I'm completely fine. When I'm here, I will avoid media, TV requests and being on camera because I cannot bear the thought of the other person on the other end of the phone hearing and judging the northern accent.
"It's a double edged sword, because I am proud to have a Manchester accent, but at the same time I'm still very nervous that it can have that impact."
Coronavirus response
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the firm has mobilised its global operations by switching from commercial to non-profit, creating a support network to address the challenges of the pandemic.
That includes a free medical support service for people struggling to get through to the NHS, a concierge service of vitamin therapies to the most vulnerable, and recovery packages for businesses incorporating virus testing.
Its new app will risk-profile employees and give access to not-for-profit antibody tests for the 'lab price' of £30 - far cheaper than is being generally offered.
Sarah said: "I contracted the virus when travelling back from Texas, that was one of the core drivers behind this move.
"It was a very frightening experience, because at the point it hit the lungs, I could hardly breathe. I was thinking 'would I wake up tomorrow morning?'
"My immediate thought was that there were thousands of people trying to get through to 111, but they might just want someone to talk to because they are afraid.
"We have 750 medical professionals across the world, so we thought 'what's the best way we can help?'
"It was just to be there as medical professionals and to help guide people."