- Manchester City and Buy Women Built join forces to inspire the next generation of founders and footballers as part of a joint International Women’s Day campaign
- The campaign will culminate in an event for local young people, which will include panels and activities designed to support them to reach the top of their game
- Inspirational content from both men’s and women’s players and Buy Women Built will be published across both Manchester City and Buy Women Built social channels in the run-up to International Women’s Day on Saturday 8th March
Manchester City has launched an International Women’s Day collaboration with Buy Women Built to inspire the next generation of founders and football.
The campaign, which launches across both social channels from today, features content designed to champion female founded businesses and demonstrate that everyone has the potential to achieve great things on or off the pitch.
The collaboration will culminate in a unique event in Manchester, which will give young people the opportunity to take part in empowering workshops, meet female founders from well-known brands and hear from Manchester City Women’s legends.
The campaign content includes inspirational conversations between women’s Club Captain Alex Greenwood, Lauren Hemp and founders Polly McMaster (The Fold) and Tajinder Banwait MBE (Urban Apothecary) who discussed their personal journeys. Women’s players Vivianne Miedema and Jess Park and men’s players John Stones, Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish will also share advice and personal stories that demonstrate the parallel traits and journeys of footballers and founders.
In celebration of the collaboration, City x Buy Women Built will be featured at the Manchester City Women’s match vs Liverpool on Sunday 16th February. Several Buy Women Built food and beverage brands will also be available at the Joie Stadium.
Commenting on the launch of the collaborative campaign, Chief Marketing and Fan Experience Officer for City Football Group, Nuria Tarré, said: “Manchester City is delighted to be collaborating with Buy Women Built on an International Women’s Day campaign designed to inspire the next generation of footballers and founders.
“The campaign explores the similar experiences of those who have found success on and off the pitch to encourage young people to dream big, whatever their future ambitions. Together with Buy Women Built, we’ll be hosting an event in Manchester, and we’re delighted to be able to give young people the opportunity to hear from our women’s legends alongside Buy Women Built founders who will be joining us to share their experience and expertise.”
Sahar Hashemi, Founder of Buy Women Built, added: “Too often, women hesitate to take that first step into entrepreneurship, held back by confidence rather than capability. But when they do, the results speak for themselves.
“Just like in football, success in business requires resilience, determination, and belief – qualities that define both incredible founders and incredible athletes. By bringing together great businesswomen and players side by side, this collaboration aims to show young people that their dreams are within reach, whether on the pitch or in business.
“Through sharing real stories of perseverance, we hope to break down barriers and inspire the next generation to take bold steps toward their dreams. Our shared work with Manchester City Football Club, will give young people the chance to learn from women who have built remarkable businesses and players who have reached the highest levels of the sport. Because when we see it, we begin to believe that we can be it too.”
The Manchester City X Buy Women Built International Women’s Day event will take place at Diecast on Saturday 8th March from 10.30 – 2.30pm and has been designed to inspire young people aged 16- 24 years old to achieve their ambitions. To register to attend visit: mancity.com/internationalwomensday2025
Following International Women’s Day, Buy Women Built will also be hosting an online webinar featuring leaders from Manchester City. To register to participate visit: mancity.com/internationalwomensday2025
-ENDS-
About Manchester City Football Club:
Manchester City FC was initially founded in 1880 as St Mark’s West Gorton and officially became Manchester City FC in 1894. Situated on the wider Etihad Campus, the Club’s footprint includes the 53,500 capacity Etihad Stadium, the 7,000 capacity Joie Stadium and City Football Academy, a state- of-the-art performance, training and youth development facility home to the Club’s men’s, women’s and academy teams.
Ranked as the Most Valuable Football Club Brand in the Premier League by Brand Finance, Manchester City FC is currently developing a best-in-class fan experience and year-round entertainment and leisure destination at the Etihad Campus. The Club is committed to operating in a sustainable and socially responsible manner and ensures that equality, diversity and inclusion is embedded into its decision-making processes, culture and practices.
For more information, please visit www.mancity.com
About Buy Women Built:
Buy Women Built is a consumer movement shining a light on female founders’ brands, showing who they are and why buying from them creates a stronger, fairer economy, inspiring future generations of women.
Behind the consumer movement, there is a growing community of 2,000 female founders with a combined revenue of ~£2.5 billion and a shared Instagram following of over 50 million.
Buy Women Built is dedicated to shining a light on female entrepreneurs by addressing the critical findings from the Natwest Rose Review*, which reveals that the UK has 30% fewer female founders compared to the US, and the Santander research**, indicating that 77% of children aged 11 to 18 cannot name a single female entrepreneur. These insights highlight the need for greater visibility and representation of women in business, as role models play a vital role in inspiring the next generation of female leaders; you can’t be what you can’t see.
The Buy Women Built kitemark has been adopted on the packaging across hundreds of female founded brands in the UK. It is a powerful symbol that shines a light on how many well-known products that are women-built and allows consumers to easily identify and support these businesses.
*Rose, Alison. The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship. HM Treasury, 2019. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-alison-rose-review-of-female-entr epreneurship page 8
**Santander. Young Entrepreneurs: The Next Generation of Business Leaders. 2021. Available at: https://www.santander.co.uk/about-santander/media/press-releases/2021/young-e ntrepreneurs- the-next-generation-of-business-leaders
