On the evening of 5 November 2026, Seema Flower attended the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards 2026 as a finalist in the Breaking Barriers Award, sponsored by Barclaycard Payments. Blind Ambition was named alongside seven other businesses working to dismantle barriers across communities and industries. For a behaviour-change consultancy founded and led by a registered blind entrepreneur, being in that room was recognition in its own right.
The Breaking Barriers Finalists
Eight organisations were shortlisted for the Breaking Barriers Award. They were: African Voices Platform, Auzi, Be The Change Youth Project CIC, Black Women Rising, Blind Ambition, Inclusive United, Recite Me and SignWow. Each business was recognised by Barclays for the work it does to challenge and remove systemic barriers.
To be placed in that company — businesses doing serious, grounded work in inclusion, accessibility and equity — is something Blind Ambition is genuinely proud of. Recognition from an institution of Barclays’ scale signals that accessibility is understood not as a charitable concern but as a business priority.
An Evening of Remarkable Company
Seema had the opportunity to meet several senior Barclays leaders during the evening, including Abdul Qureshi, Head of Business Banking at Barclays; Amy Morgan, Head of Spinouts and Life Sciences at Barclays; and Vim Maru, Chief Executive of Barclays UK. These are conversations that matter — not just for Blind Ambition as an organisation, but for what they represent: a blind-led business taken seriously at the highest levels.
The keynote was delivered by Touker Suleyman, Dragons’ Den investor and serial entrepreneur. His central message was straightforward and grounding: in business, you cannot win every time. What matters is winning some of the time, and not winning on a given night does not mean you will not win tomorrow. That is a message that resonates deeply with how Blind Ambition operates — and with how blind and partially sighted people navigate a world that is rarely designed around them.
Not Winning Is Part of the Journey
Blind Ambition did not take home the award on the night. We say that plainly, and without deflection, because it is true — and because pretending otherwise would contradict everything we stand for. Touker Suleyman’s message landed because it is real: persistence, not a single victory, is what builds something lasting.
Seema has built Blind Ambition on exactly that principle. Every training session delivered, every conversation with a client who starts to genuinely change behaviour, every delegate who moves from awareness to embedded practice — that is the work. The award nomination is recognition of that work. The work continues regardless.
“Being in that room as a finalist told me something important: a business led by a blind woman belongs on the same stage as anyone else. You don’t win every night, but you keep turning up, keep proving it, and keep opening doors for the people who come next.”
— Seema Flower, Founder and Managing Director, Blind Ambition
Momentum Building Into 2027
The Barclays nomination follows a significant recognition in October 2026, when Seema received the Outstanding Contribution Award at the Department for Transport Special Recognition Awards, presented at Strictly Highways (LCRIG) in Blackpool. Two major recognitions in the space of weeks is not coincidence — it is a reflection of consistent, credible work over time.
Both awards sit in the same frame: organisations and bodies with real influence are recognising that disability inclusion, delivered properly, changes outcomes. That is precisely the argument Blind Ambition makes to every client.
Why This Matters for Behaviour-Change Training
Blind Ambition’s approach to training is not about awareness days or one-off briefings. It moves organisations through a clear progression: Awareness, then Understanding, then changed Behaviour, then Embedded Practice. The credibility of that model comes directly from Seema’s lived experience as a registered blind business leader operating in mainstream commercial environments every day.
When Barclays creates an award category called Breaking Barriers, it is acknowledging that barriers are real, that removing them requires deliberate effort, and that businesses doing that work deserve recognition. That is the same case Blind Ambition makes to transport operators, retailers, public sector bodies and professional services firms across the UK.
Accessibility is not a compliance exercise. It is a competitive and reputational asset. The organisations that understand this earliest will be best placed as the regulatory, demographic and commercial landscape continues to shift.
What Happens Next
Seema returns from the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards 2026 with a clearer sense of where Blind Ambition sits in the national conversation about inclusion. The consultancy’s training programmes, its frameworks, and its insistence on behaviour change over box-ticking are increasingly visible — and increasingly valued.
If your organisation is ready to move beyond awareness and build the kind of embedded practice that makes a genuine difference to blind and partially sighted people, now is a good time to have that conversation.
Talk to Blind Ambition about behaviour-change training for your team. Call Seema on 07747090877, email support@blindambition.co.uk or visit blindambition.co.uk.
About Blind Ambition: Blind Ambition is a behaviour-change consultancy led by Seema Flower, who is registered blind. Our training goes beyond awareness to build the confidence, skills and embedded practices that create lasting change for blind and partially sighted people. To book a session: support@blindambition.co.uk | blindambition.co.uk
