45. Christine Braddock, Sutton Coldfield/Matthew Boulton College

Lancaster-born Christine Braddock is one of the country's leading college principals and earlier this year was made a CBE for services to further education.

She is credited with saving Matthew Boulton College from closure and overseeing its transfer to a national flagship state-of-the-art new building in Birmingham city centre.

The college is soon to merge with Sutton Coldfield College, creating one of the biggest further education institutions in the country with 33,000 students.

Ms Braddock started her career at Lancaster Education Authority during the 70s, where she was responsible for co-ordinating the educational rehabilitation of prisoners.

Her first job in a college was as a senior lecturer at Blackpool and the Fylde College where she became a departmental manager.

Ms Braddock's shift to the Midlands came following a Home Office appointment to the Midland regional prison service after which she moved to Dudley College.

In 1998, she was appointed to head Matthew Boulton College which, at the time, was struggling with debts of nearly £4 million.

Its fortunes have since turned round and one of Ms Braddock's biggest achievement was to secure funding for Matthew Boulton College to move from its former dilapidated premises to a new £40million building in Eastside.

It is now viewed as a benchmark for new colleges. It won the RIBA and LSC Further Education Design Award for 2008 and has been visited by 275 of the country's 440 further education leaders.

Ms Braddock is a board member of the Birmingahm and Solihull Chamber of Commerce, the regional CBI Council, deputy chair of Midlands Heart, sits on the Quality Improvement Agency board and leads the Prospectus Steering Group of the Connected City.

She juggles a demanding professional life with raising three children, including one who is disabled, and lives in Rock, Worcestershire.