Slimming World founder recognised in Top 100 Influential People 2025 Awards
The founder and chair of the UK and Ireland’s leading weight management organisation Slimming World, Margaret Miles-Bramwell OBE, has been honoured in the prestigious Top 100 Influential People 2025.
The Top 100, established to shine a spotlight on individuals who impact society and make the world a better place, recognises people from a broad range of sectors and was announced on 15th January 2025.
Margaret is recognised due to her commitment to helping people to lose weight and live healthier, happier lives. Her dedication spans more than five decades since she founded Slimming World in 1969 at her kitchen table in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, just a few miles from Alfreton, where the organisation is still based.
Margaret says: “I’m truly honoured to be recognised in this way. Having struggled with my own weight from a young age, I was aware of the lack of support available, and I was left feeling lectured to, judged and humiliated whenever I tried to seek help. I knew there had to be a better way to help people like me.
“I know how it feels to be burdened with your weight – not just the physical weight, but the burden of shame and guilt too."
I built Slimming World not just to support people to lose weight without ever having to go hungry, but to be a place of compassion and empathy which empowers members and helps them grow in confidence and believe in themselves again.
Since 1969, Margaret has supported millions of people – and their families thanks to the healthy habits members take home – to lose weight with a revolutionary, generous, nutritionally balanced and flexible eating plan, and a highly-developed group support system to facilitate healthy changes in behaviour for long-term success.
Margaret hopes her recognition on the list will enable her to reach more people with her message that if they’re looking to lose weight this January, they do not need to resort to weight loss injections.
Margaret continues: “There’s so much in the news at the minute about these so-called miracle weight loss drugs. I can understand why some people, those desperate to lose weight, will want to find a quick fix. Medication isn’t the answer though.
“They may help people to lose weight in the short-term, but drugs won’t help a person change habits of a lifetime. They won’t help them embrace a healthy balanced diet and they certainly won’t promote the importance of physical activity for long-term weight maintenance and lasting healthy habits.
“There’s no one simple medical solution to the complex problems of obesity. These drugs are just a distraction, and they are preventing the Government in taking any real action to help the millions of people who need support to lose weight now.”
Margaret’s vision for Slimming World extended beyond weight loss – she has also developed a business model that offers opportunities to people who have lost weight with Slimming World themselves, creating a network of thousands of small businesses in local communities run by Consultants, all fully trained in Slimming World’s methods.
Margaret says: “This recognition is not just for me, but for the thousands of dedicated Slimming World Consultants across the UK and Ireland who know exactly how their members’ feel and support them 24/7.
“And I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today without our incredible members who have not only committed to making healthy changes to their own and their family’s lives, but support Slimming World in our many charity endeavours, helping us to improve the lives of even more people.”
Margaret's philanthropic efforts are remarkable. She established SMILES, her charitable foundation in 1997, which has so far raised £29 million for worthy causes, and currently supports Cancer Research UK, the Irish Cancer Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK. Margaret also continues to give substantial financial contributions to ground-breaking cancer immunotherapy research, a cause close to her heart.
Of the recognition, the judging panel from the Top 100 Influential People 2025, commented: “It is inspirational to read about Margaret’s journey and her achievements, showcasing resilience and a commitment to positive change. Margaret’s work in setting up and developing Slimming World is legendary.”
Slimming World, founded by Margaret Miles-Bramwell OBE in Derbyshire in 1969, is the UK and Ireland’s leading weight loss organisation. Each week, more people choose to attend a Slimming World group than any other weight loss programme. Our tried, tested and trusted evidence-based approach has helped millions of people to lose weight and keep it off long-term. We support 700,000 people weekly through our community weight-loss groups, run by 3,500 highly trained self-employed Consultants, and digital service.
Our founding principles make us unique:
• Our support system is built on a deep understanding of the guilt and stigma people living with overweight and obesity experience. We always treat people with genuine care, empathy, respect and understanding. When members join Slimming World, they become part of a community, in group and online, and each week we inspire and motivate people to make positive mindset changes and develop new, lasting healthy habits around food and activity using effective, sustainable behaviour change techniques.
• Our healthy eating plan, Food Optimising, liberates members through our concept of Free Food. Members fill up on foods that are naturally lower in energy density (calories per gram) and are highly satisfying while limiting foods that are highest in fat and sugar and are less satisfying. They can lose weight without ever feeling hungry or deprived, all without weighing, measuring or counting everything they eat.
• Our physical activity support programme, Body Magic, helps members overcome any barriers they face regarding exercise. Members choose when and how to start, setting their own pace and finding activities they enjoy until regular physical activity becomes an unmissable part of their daily routine.
We proudly work with the NHS, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, The Royal College of Midwives, Diabetes UK and others to help shape the future of weight management in the UK and Ireland. We also fundraise for Cancer Research UK, Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Irish Cancer Society through our charitable foundation SMILES (Slimmers Making It a Little Easier for Someone).
We developed and launched our Slimming World Free Food range, available exclusively in Iceland, The Food Warehouse and Dunnes Stores in Ireland, and introduced our Slimming World Kitchen recipe box service. These help members to continue making healthy choices, even when they’re short on time.
For more information about Slimming World’s approach, visit slimmingworld.co.uk or slimmingworld.ie and for more information about Slimming World Kitchen, visit slimmingworldkitchen.co.uk
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