Hayley Parsons (born 22 November 1973) is a Welsh entrepreneur and investor, most notable as the founder of British financial services comparison website
GoCompare
GoCompare.com Limited, trading as Go.Compare (formerly GoCompare from 2017 until 2022, and GoCompare.com until 2017, styled as GO.COMPARE) is a Welsh financial services comparison company based in Cardiff, Wales. Its website provides compariso ...
.
Early life
Born and brought up in
Cwmbran
Cwmbran ( ; , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales.
Lying within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was ...
South Wales, Parsons began working in the insurance sector aged sixteen after leaving school.
Career
In 1992 she began working for Cardiff based
Admiral Group
Admiral Group plc is a British financial services company headquartered in Cardiff, Wales. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, and markets the ''Admiral'', ''Bell'', ''Elephant'', ''Diamond'' and ''Vey ...
and where she launched price comparison site
Confused.com
Confused.com is a UK based financial services comparison platform launched in 2001 and specialising in comparison of insurance and financial services, including car insurance, home insurance, energy, van insurance and life insurance. Confused.com ...
.
In 2006 she left Confused.com to found Go.Compare.
In 2014, Parsons joined the Entrepreneurship Panel for Wales to advise the Welsh Government on the development and promotion of entrepreneurship in Wales. She is a key figure in the BeTheSpark movement, which promotes entrepreurship in Wales.
She is a member of the Inspire Growth Wales investment consortium, which invests in and mentors technology-focused start-ups and businesses in Wales.
Awards and recognition
Parsons was winner of the 'Woman in Business' award at the South Wales Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2009. She also won the Western Mail's 'Welsh Woman in Innovation Award' in 2008, and the 'Business Leader' category in the Inspire Wales Awards 2010. The awards, which are organised by the
Institute of Welsh Affairs
The Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) () is an independent charity and membership-based think-tank based Cardiff, Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Ir ...
, recognise the role that Welsh residents play in encouraging active citizenship and in promoting their communities on a local, regional, national and global scale.
Parsons was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE) for services to the economy in the
2012 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2012 were announced on 31 December 2011 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand,