Young Business Person of the Year, Alumni Business Person of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year and Start-up Business of the Year entrant – Vanessa Fuller and Coaching by Vanessa

Young Business Person of the Year, Alumni Business Person of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year and Start-up Business of the Year entrant – Vanessa Fuller and Coaching by Vanessa
Posted on 05.06.25
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Young Business Person of the Year, Alumni Business Person of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year and Start-up Business of the Year entrant – Vanessa Fuller and Coaching by Vanessa

University of Staffordshire alumna Vanessa Fuller has overcome significant life challenges to launch and run a series of businesses.

She is currently a partner in successful chartered tax advisor firm, Premier Tax Solutions, and the owner of a fledgling coaching business specialising in coaching women who also face challenges and barriers to their career aspirations.

Vanessa attended Birches Head High School and went on to study law and business at University of Staffordshire with aspirations to become a lawyer. However, after discovering there were very few legal training contracts in North Staffordshire, she changed to studying accountancy and business.

After graduation she got a contract with a top 10 accountancy firm and was given experience in the tax department. She loved the work which was a mix of law and accountancy and decided that she had found her vocation.

Vanessa switched from the chartered accountant exams to the taxation technician exams. After a few years in practice, she moved into industry as a nuclear safety advisor at Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria.

Difficult personal circumstances meant Vanessa returned to Stoke-on-Trent in 2014 with her four-year-old daughter, no job and no home.

She got a job in retail to pay the bills and at the same time set up a tax specialist business, Premier Tax Solutions, which had to fit around school hours.

Not content with just one business challenge, Vanessa set up a used car business with her new partner in 2016. This business grew year on year to a seven-figure turnover. However, by her own admission, Vanessa did not have the same passion for selling cars as she did for tax, so she exited in 2022.

Premier Tax Solutions was continuing to grow until 2023 which Vanessa calls a ‘pivotal year’ which changed her life.

In the January, her business partner, Emily, was hospitalised with a heart condition which led to immediate surgery and a long period of recovery. In the February Vanessa fell pregnant and was classed as ‘high risk’.

Premier Tax Solutions made a loss that year as neither Vanessa or Emily were able to spend much time working.

Vanessa gave birth to a healthy boy in October 2023 and while on maternity leave she had time to think about everything that had happened over the past decade and how this had impacted on the decisions she had taken. She wanted to be able to help other women business owners to make a success of their business whilst coping with hurdles such as relationship problems, childcare, caring for relatives and bereavement.

In February 2024 she set up a brand-new business, Coaching by Vanessa. Her model was to work with clients for six months after which time they can retain Vanessa’s coaching on a month-by-month basis.

Her first client was a young businesswoman who had just set up a marketing agency. With Vanessa’s guidance and coaching she has gone from zero to a six-figure turnover, employing five staff, in the first 12 months.

Another client was an accountant whose husband was ill which meant she was having to work long hours whilst juggling caring duties. Vanessa worked with the client for six months and helped her to re-focus the business to fit around her caring requirements and continues to coach her over 12 months later.

Vanessa has always been an active networker both in person and on social media.

Her latest career milestone was being asked to speak at the Festival of Accountancy and Bookkeeping, organised by Accounting Web, at the NEC in March. There Vanessa spoke about running a successful accountancy practice whilst also prioritising family and personal wellbeing.

Vanessa is now firmly back in control with her two business interests flourishing. Premier Tax Solutions is back to where it was before 2023. She now has a supportive partner and can spend lots of time with her two children.

Vanessa said: “My entrepreneurial story is evolving but my can do attitude and determination to come back stronger from some very dark places put me in a great place whilst giving other women the belief and the tools to do the same.”

Vanessa Fuller has entered the Young Business Person of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year of the Year and Alumni Business Person of the Year categories of University of Staffordshire Business Awards and has entered Coaching By Vanessa into the Start-up Business of the Year category.

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