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.”