Women in Enterprise

Our ambition in the East Midlands is to unleash the economic potential of women to achieve sustainable economic development, through increasing the number of women starting and growing enterprises, to match the level of men.

East Midlands Women of Worth awards 2008

The achievements of entrepreneurial and inspirational women from across the East Midlands have been recognized at the 2008 ‘Women of Worth’ awards which took place at Pride Park recently.

The East Midlands ‘Women of Worth’ competition was funded by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the aim was to celebrate the achievements of entrepreneurial, forward-thinking business women from across the region.

Marking the end of the ‘East Midlands Women in Business Conference’ that had welcomed a host of inspirational guest speakers, the East Midlands ‘Women of Worth’ awards recognise the talent and success of some of the regions most entrepreneurial women.

The awards were a huge success and we would once again like to congratulate the winners who scooped the prestigious awards in spite of many outstanding applicants.

‘Business Woman of the Year’ – The main award was won by ‘Rachael Chambers’ of the Ferrers Gallery in Ashby de la Zouch and Fg2 in Quorn Leicestershire.  Rachael’s galleries promote the work of regional artists and in addition, she also provides marketing and business training for companies in the sector and is also an editor of Craft and Design Magazine.
 
‘Young Business of the year’ was presented to ‘Lian Britchford’, Managing Director of Encompass Print Solutions. Based in Ilkeston, Encompass is a company which provides a range of print and print management services. Operating in what she describes as ‘a man’s world’, Lian has built a very successful business which has secured a number of prestigious contracts with clients across the UK.

The ‘Most Innovative Business’ award went to ‘Debra Charles’ from Novacroft. Based in Northampton, Novacroft specialises in data processing and management in the transport ticketing market. The company produces photocards for Transport for London (TfL), the Association of train Operating Companies (ATOC) and the Scottish Government.

A special judges' award for being an ‘outstanding inspiration’ was also presented to Gail Elizabeth Liley. A successful business woman, sadly Gail lost her son in 2006 to the rare ‘ALD’ disease. Soon afterwards, she and her husband purchased the Durham Ox in Orston, Nottinghamshire, running this alongside their existing businesses. The pub is hugely successful and all profits are now donated to an ALD charity called ‘Olivers Army’. To date, Gail has donated £176,000 to the charity.

Laura-Jane Franklin, emda’s Business Support Diversity Manager explains why the Women of Worth awards are so important: “There are lots of very successful women in business and social enterprises across the East Midlands who are making a significant contribution to the regional economy in terms of both job and wealth creation.

“Through supporting these awards, we have been able to recognise the entrepreneurial talent of women in the region. These individuals are an inspiration to others who start up in business. This year, the standard of entries was extremely high and it was difficult to select the finalists and winners, but I would like to congratulate all of those that entered and look forward to celebrating their continued success in the future.”

UK Female Ambassadors Programme

Inspirational people in the East Midlands are being asked to step forward and join a UK network that will provide support to those budding female entrepreneurs who want to set up their own business. In February 2007, Margaret Hodge MP, Minister for Industry and the Regions, announced that she wanted to recruit a 1,000 strong network of inspirational women entrepreneurs to help and inspire more women to set up their own businesses. Each Regional Development Agency, including East Midlands Development Agency (emda), has been tasked with the recruitment of 100 ‘ambassadors’ in their region to reach the target of 1,000 network members. To submit an expression of interest in joining the network, please download the application form below.

[ Click here for Expression of Interest ]

Women's Enterprise 2020

Women's Enterprise 2020 is our action plan to boost women's enterprise in the East Midlands. This document outlines our strategic priorities to achieve our vision, which have been identified as:

[ Click Here for Action Plan ]

East Midlands directory of business support for women

The directory of business support for women is full of information and contacts to support women setting up in business. The directory covers region-wide and county based business support organisations as well as tips and advice from women successfully running their own business.

To download a copy of the Directory please [ Click Here ]

Alternatively, if you would like to receive a hard copy of the directory please contact Business Link on 0845 058 6644