Mia Drennan: ‘I used to be handed up for promotion – now my enterprise is value £1bn’

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Your assist makes all of the distinction. Learn extra W hen the monetary crash hit in 2008, Mia Drennan wasn’t scared – she noticed a chance to construct one thing new. Up till the market collapse, huge corporations had been handed loans and had the phrases negotiated and upheld by banks. As belief in these establishments faltered, Drennan dreamed up GLAS (International Mortgage Company Companies), an neutral, dependable, white-glove debt administration service that might deal with the intermediary duties and paperwork for big money owed.

She and her enterprise associate took a leap in 2011 and invested £6,000 into the concept – 15 years later, GLAS has 14 workplaces throughout the UK, US, EU, Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai and is valued at a minimal of £1bn, with Drennan’s share value roughly £230m. Drennan is EY’s 2025 Entrepreneur of the Yr and can compete for the worldwide title this 12 months.

I wished to be a fighter pilot, however within the Eighties, girls weren’t allowed to fly. So, I studied artwork and design at college, didn’t get a level, and shortly realised I wouldn’t get a job. I handed out my CV within the Metropolis and began workplace temping. Ultimately, I landed a job at KPMG, which was an actual turning level for me. Quickly, I used to be operating a workforce of auditors within the capital markets workforce. After that, I acquired a job on the legislation agency Simmons& Simmons, the place I learnt about debt repackaging. I used to be recruited by Citibank within the late Nineties and, firstly of 2000, the Financial institution of New York [Mellon] requested me to arrange their structured finance enterprise in Europe, which I became a multi-million greenback income line in 5 years.

My first enterprise enterprise launched as a result of I had the hump. In 2005, I used to be handed over for a promotion I used to be promised on the Financial institution of New York. I assumed, ‘Should you don’t need me, any person else will, and I began in search of one other job. A really area of interest US legislation agency was trying to open an workplace in London and requested me to assist them. I mentioned sure and arrange a little bit workplace for them referred to as Sq. Mile Connections. That enterprise remains to be going right now. After a number of months, the workforce that employed me left, however I’d been requested by the trustee market to assist them discover individuals for numerous positions. So, I pivoted and have become a headhunter. However after the monetary crash, I wished to get again into transactional work.

We began GLAS with £6k and I put my half on a bank card. I didn’t have any financial savings as a result of we’d simply been by the crash – everybody was mortgaged as much as their eyeballs. However I knew I didn’t wish to work for anybody else ever once more and there have been a lot of damaged loans from corporations that had borrowed a great deal of cash in the course of the crash and wanted to be restructured. My associate, Brian Carne, was a magic circle legislation agency associate in search of a brand new job. He’d come to me due to the headhunting enterprise, however I satisfied him to assist me with the GLAS as an alternative. Thanks to the Financial institution of New York for giving me that chance.

It took 400 conferences in 4 months for us to land our first deal. I had a little bit little bit of earnings, as a result of I used to be nonetheless the proprietor of Sq. Mile. So, I used to be capable of assist my constructing of the brand new enterprise. We began to get some inexperienced shoots, however no one wished to be the primary to offer us a deal. It lastly got here round June 2012, when two distinguished legislation corporations wanted somebody to type a selected German transaction; they might solely consider GLAS. That was the primary one they usually’re nonetheless a consumer right now. As soon as we had one deal, we have been mandated on deal after deal.

One notably dangerous second from the early days was when any person from a really giant American financial institution mentioned they have been going to ship a person spherical from their company workforce to take a look at our techniques, processes and procedures. We didn’t have all of them in place but as a result of we have been busy doing the advertising. Me and my enterprise associate checked out one another and sprinted again to the workplace and began attending to work. Actually, it was a very good factor as a result of we spent the time getting correctly arrange. The person from the company by no means did flip up – however they did us a favour by threatening to.

I used to be on vacation in Portugal when GLAS made its first £1m in 2014. I couldn’t consider it. It was nice validation. We celebrated each deal by ringing a bell within the workplace – but it surely was ringing so typically it began annoying the individuals doing the work! We’re going to get a gong for giant milestones as an alternative.

It’s necessary to determine early whether or not your corporation is for way of life or legacy. A way of life enterprise is completely high quality for those who pays your self a very good earnings and have a pleasant residing and a balanced life. However if you wish to flip your corporation right into a legacy firm and ultimately exit and switch it right into a listed firm, then you definately’ve acquired to have a really totally different mindset. So, reply that query earlier than you begin.

<img src="https://static.the-independent.com/2026/01/12/11/02/EOY_Celebration_Dinner_2025_476_2808.jpg" srcset="https://static.the-independent.com/2026/01/12/11/02/EOY_Celebration_Dinner_2025_476_2808.jpg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.the-independent.com/2026/01/12/11/02/EOY_Celebration_Dinner_2025_476_2808.jpg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="The entrepreneur started out office temping in the City before she landed a job at KPMG" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

The entrepreneur began out workplace temping within the Metropolis earlier than she landed a job at KPMG (Mia Drennan) Solely 144 girls have constructed companies over £50m. Fewer have ever constructed companies over £100m and even fewer than that over a billion. Girls are sometimes not given the finance they should begin a enterprise. Even simply making an attempt to get a £20,000 overdraft was actually arduous when beginning my first enterprise. However girls beginning out now ought to know that there are much more organisations on the market to assist. There’s the Spend money on Girls taskforce, there’s The SuperScalers – and there’s extra schooling out there, too. If feminine founders wish to scale a enterprise, they will and they need to.

It’s necessary to offer your concept an opportunity. Simply attempt to make it occur and see the place it takes you. The worst-case state of affairs is that you simply fail – a lot of individuals do. However keep in mind, in America, for those who’ve had 5 or 6 startups, that’s really a very good factor, as a result of it’s expertise. Should you’ve acquired imaginative and prescient, it doesn’t must be an unique concept, It simply must be higher than no matter else exists on the market.

Lucy Goff is a champion of FFinc Ahead Sooner Accelerator 100 – a UK-based enterprise accelerator programme designed to assist female-founded corporations scale their development quicker, which was launched in September 2025. For extra data, go to