Wednesday, February 24, 2010 5:15:54 AM
Elaine Owen Managing Director of Designated Associates & Designated Design was personally invited by Gordon Brown to Global Investment Conference on Monday 22nd February.
Gordon Brown, commented on the conference,
“I have convened this Conference, to bring together a unique mix of though-leaders, investors and decision-makers from around the world to debate the issues that will influence business and investment in the years to come, and discuss how we can ensure that international investment continues to play a vital role in the new global economic landscape”.
In attendance were, Prime Minister, Lord Mandleson, Lord Davies, Alistair Darling Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lord Drayson.
Speakers included Jonathan Ive Senior Vice President Apple, Lord Sebastian Coe and Angela Ahrendts CEO Burberry.
Elaine said,
“It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with international business leaders, the whole day was extremely valuable and stimulating”.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 5:17:00 AM
At the personal invitation of his Royal Highness the Duke of York, KG, Elaine Owen Managing Director of Designated Associates & Designated Design was invited to attend the reception at St James Palace on Monday 22nd February.
Elaine said,
“To attend the palace was an inspirational and most enjoyable opportunity and to network with like minded business leaders was fabulous. No Photos were allowed unfortunately, but it is a memory that will stay with me forever”.
Friday, February 19, 2010 7:46:47 AM
Although women-owned businesses are on the increase there still aren’t enough female role models, is the claim of the leading women’s organisation, Women on Their Way.
Most people still think that the majority of businesses are run by men due to the stereotypical images that we see all around us. That’s why Elaine is delighted to be short-listed for the prestigious National Women on Their Way Awards 2010 for Outstanding Contribution to Women’s Leaning and Development Award.
Women are equally qualified to run businesses as men but also need more opportunities to connect and do business together.
The competition this year has been particularly tough so it’s a huge honour for Elaine to be short-listed.
Elaine is an enthusiastic, very approachable business owner & leader, who has a very strong passion & an impressive track record for encouraging & mentoring women into business and into enterprising behaviour. Elaine’s Wirral based business Designated Associates is a private commercial organisation that has socially responsible aims & objectives to support women in business & encourage and enable enterprising behaviour & skills.
There are four short-listed candidates for each award and the winner will be announced on Friday 19th March at the Women on Their Way Annual Awards Lunch taking place at Aston Villa Football Club, Birmingham from 11.00 to 15.00.
The awards event is in its second year and aims to connect women through the UK, to inspire and to increase their self belief.
The Women on Their Way Awards is the brainchild of former Apprentice Candidate Jo Cameron and her Co-Director Lisa Ibbotson.
Jo Cameron added,
“We are delighted that Elaine has been shortlisted. There are so many amazing women in the UK who don’t always recognise the impact they have made and it is my absolute privilege to be inspired by so many incredible women. We are very much looking forward to announcing the winners in a few weeks time”
This year the judges include Gill Fielding and Caroline Marsh of TV’s Secret Millionaire and other esteemed women from both the public and private sectors. They will be judging the shortlisted candidates over the coming weeks.
Thereare twelve awards this year including Start Up and High Growth Businesses, Online Business, Woman in Finance, Law, Transportation, Construction/Engineering, Woman in The Community, Public office, The outstanding contribution to Women’s Learning and Development, Young Woman in Business, Outstanding New Product and Woman’s Advocate.
This year the coveted prize for the overall Woman on her Way is a weekend away for two included flights and accommodation to Milan.
Tickets are priced £65+VAT each or £600 +VAT for a table of ten places. With up to 500 guests it provides opportunities for networking and to meet other leading and aspiring women.
Last year’s winner of the Legal Award, Laura Kearesley added,
“I was thrilled to win the Women in Law award last year; it was a real honour. It was a fabulous day, where I made some really good contacts. Since winning the award and the subsequent publicity I have also been approached by other potential business partners, so it has been really positive for me personally and for business!”
For more information on the awards click here
Thursday, February 18, 2010 4:06:00 AM
Eight business support organisations across the Northwest have been awarded a new quality standard for women’s enterprise.
The Women’s Business Centre (WBC) Standard, funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and developed by Prowess, the independent voice of women’s enterprise in the UK, has been developed as a framework for providing world-class support services to budding and established female entrepreneurs.
Organisations which have achieved the WBC Standard have been officially recognised as putting women’s business support requirements at the forefront of their service. They understand and embed the needs and aspirations of their women clients into the very fabric of their organisation; focusing on establishing and maintaining a long-term relationship with their client and providing support through the whole lifecycle of their business journey.
Awarded at the Northwest Women in Business Awards 2010 on the 29th January at Ribby Hall, Lancashire, the first 8 organisations across the Northwest to achieve the WBC Standard are:
Lancashire:
• Bolton Business Ventures
• Enterprise4All
• Hyndburn Enterprise Trust
Liverpool:
• Blackburne House
• Blue Orchid
Cumbria:
• Furness Enterprise
• University of Cumbria
Greater Manchester:
• Rochdale Borough Women’s Enterprise Network
Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the NWDA, said:
“Women are currently significantly under-represented in business in the Northwest and the UK and it is vital that we work to address this imbalance – it has been estimated that if women started businesses at the same rate as men, the UK would see 150,000 more businesses per annum.
It is therefore vital that the right business support, advice and guidance are available to ensure female entrepreneurs can achieve their potential. The WBC standard is a clear symbol of the quality of female-targeted business support offered by organisations in the Northwest, which we hope will create a step change in the number of women accessing support and ultimately starting up their own businesses.”
Elaine Owen, Chair of the Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum, said:
“We were very proud to announce the first 8 organisations to receive the Women’s Business Centre Standard (WBC). This pilot is a great example of the positive change happening in Women’s Enterprise and how mainstream business support can put women’s requirements at the forefront of their thinking. As the first and only international standard for women’s enterprise support, we also hope it will help to bring women entrepreneurs all over the world together, to learn from each other, share knowledge and promote their businesses.”
Monday, February 01, 2010 3:43:00 AM
Elaine Owen, Chair of the North West Women’s Enterprise Forum and Managing Director of Designated Associates, has been invited to No. 10 Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister and celebrate the success of Britain's small and medium businesses.
Elaine whose business is based on the Wirral says:
“I will be delighted to attend representing the business community and women in business specifically”.
Elaine is the current UK Business Mentor of the Year and has helped hundreds of local small businesses to start and grow, sharing her own experiences and lessons learned.
Monday, November 23, 2009 11:43:54 AM
On Saturday 21st November, Elaine Owen of the Liverpool based enterprise development organisation Designated Associates was named Business Personality of the Year at the Asian Business Federation’s 2009 Tiger Awards in Manchester.
The Tiger Awards is the North West’s leading multicultural business award event and nearly 500 delegates from across the region gathered at the to recognise the outstanding achievements of this year’s winners. In all, seven award categories were contested at the ceremony, which was sponsored by HSBC and took place at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester.
Elaine won the coveted prize despite intense competition from high flying finalists from across the North West. She received the award from Dominic Ashley-Timms, Managing Director of Notion Coaching, which was the official sponsor of this award category.
Designated Associates was founded in 1994 and operates as a commercial organisation with socially responsible aims. Under Elaine’s management, it seeks to support enterprise growth in the North West via Women in Business NW and by providing low cost or pro bono services to third sector organisations and fledgling businesses. Elaine has a strong passion for encouraging women into business and for raising the skill set of local people. Judges were struck by her willingness to give her time to inspire, educate and re-energise individuals, and by her down to earth approach.
Speaking shortly after the announcement, Dominic Ashley-Timms said: “Personality is an important driving force behind business success and, as an organisation that is committed to helping people to develop their full potential, Notion is delighted to be sponsoring the Business Personality of the Year award. All the finalists have shown great enthusiasm and commitment to their companies, so the standard has been very high and Elaine is to be congratulated on a very impressive achievement. ”
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 10:10:44 AM
Hi All
Well time is flying and as the summer draws to a close and autumn advances towards us so too does the next Women's Enterprise Ambassador Meeting!
As you know every other quarterly meeting is held within the sub-regions to enable you to meet on as more informal basis with ambassadors who live near you and they are hosted by our amazing Women's Enterprise Advocates.
You should have already received an email from your corresponding Advocate regarding the next meeting but please see below the dates and contact details for each of the sub-regions and drop them an email to let them know you'll be attending if you haven't already. If you are unsure which sub-region you fall into please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Lancashire - Sylvia Philips sp@bbvonline.net : Meeting Date - 29th or 30th September - Date TBC
These meetings, as with the main regional ones, are aimed at encouraging you to share your experiences and best practice with each other, provide feedback and also meet up with like minds in your area. Recently several ambassadors have been involved in the new National Enterprise Academy student interviews and I'm sure they'd be happy to tell you all about the experience!
Attending an Ambassador meeting also counts towards your ambassador activity as it enables you to take away knowledge and information pertaining to women in business which you can then share amongst your own business communities and networks.
If you know anyone who is interested in becoming an ambassador please send their details over to your advocate and they'll ensure they're invited along too.
I hope you are all well and I'll see you soon, cheers.
Best
Jo
Jo Cocker
Women's Enterprise Development Manager
Friday, September 25, 2009 10:33:46 AM
Elaine Owen is an award-winning businesswoman and an inspirational figure in the region’s women’s enterprise arena.
The mother-of-three runs her own IT and learning development company. In her role at the Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum (NWWEF), she is striving to unlock the potential of many other women so that they can follow in her footsteps.
Elaine left school at just 16 and while running her own business was not her first choice for a career, she was given the opportunity after being made redundant.
“Running your own business can be a lonely place, because not many of your peers are in the same position,” explains Elaine, “but the support is out there and women should trust in the fact that they have many qualities that make them excellent business people.“
Elaine, who is the current holder of the Prowess Award for Business Mentor UK, spent two years as vice-chair of the NWWEF before taking over as chair in April this year.
The NWWEF was established by the Northwest Regional Development Agency in 2004 and is made up of local female entrepreneurs and stakeholder representatives.
The forum gathers opinions from a range of different organisations to learn about the issues affecting women’s enterprise. This intelligence is used to push for change where it is needed.
Elaine’s vision is to drive the already successful forum forward, working with stakeholders to help its members to achieve their best.
“Women represent an amazing, relatively untapped, resource and could play a big part in driving the North West economy if many of the potential entrepreneurs among them are encouraged to take the first steps,” says Elaine. “Since the NWWEF was established, it has taken great strides in empowering women to become successful business people, but there is still more work to be done.”
Business Link Northwest is working hand-in-hand with the NWWEF to support women starting out, or in established businesses, help that that Elaine thinks is vital.
“Business Link has listened to the needs of female entrepreneurs and has responded accordingly,” says Elaine. “When I started out I wouldn’t have dreamt of approaching an organisation like Business Link, but now more and more women are taking up the service, which is testament to the good work that is going on.”
A key part of that work is encouraging women to see the value of networking and engaging with the plethora of support groups that are available.
“As well as providing networking opportunities, these organisations can be a great source of support for women and open up many opportunities. Times are changing and while once women rarely made it to director level, now more are standing shoulder to shoulder with men on the board. But the forum is not aiming to prioritize women’s needs over those of men; men and women can learn a lot from each other in business.”
For Elaine, the forum will have been a true success when it is no longer needed. She concludes: “That time will come when women are no longer a minority group in the world of business but are equal in every sense of the word. There is a lot of work to be done but I strongly believe it can be achieved and the North West economy will reap the benefits.”
To access the new dedicated women in business pages on the website log onto www.businesslinknw.co.uk/womeninbusiness
You can download the full article in Adobe PDF format by clicking here.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 10:13:14 AM
Elaine Owen attended Hope University to speak with young enterprise students who had a huge variety of questions to pose about business and enterprise experience. Elaine and a small selection of Women In Business NW women spoke of real life scenarios and gave first hand experience to all those who attended. Thanks to all the women who gave their time freely to invest in the enterprising women of the future.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 11:02:06 AM
Elaine Owen Chair of the newly formed Digital & Media Cluster helps to launch Wirral's virtual on line business network at Thornton Hall Hotel.
Vice Chair Sue McGann (editor of the Wirral News) and Elaine will be working with Invest Wirral to deliver regular cluster events around the Wirral.
www.businesswirral.co.uk
