News
Drop in FTSE 100 female directors The number of female directors of FTSE 100 companies has dropped from 12% to 10% according to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) annual report 'Sex and Power: Who runs Britain?' The report suggests that 6000 women are missing from 33,000 top spots in the workplace. The EOC says a lack of flexibility at the top of professions often drives women towards setting up their own businesses. Just over one million women in the UK are now self-employed and the number of self-employed women has increased by 18% in five years. Download 'Sex and Power: Who runs Britain 2007' at: http://www.eoc.org.uk/ £4.5 million for UK's first women-only venture capital fund The first Venture Capital Fund in the UK dedicated to investing in businesses where women have an influential role has successfully closed at £4.5 million. The fund will be fully invested within the next few months and Startgate Capital intend to start fundraising for the second Trapezia fund in the first quarter of 2007. Amongst the funds significant investors were Bank of Scotland Corporate. The business case for the fund is founded upon research in the US (Catalyst) and UK (Cranfield) which links gender diversity to financial performance. The UK research shows that companies with women directors on their boards have both a higher return on equity and stronger corporate governance. For further information visit: http://www.trapeziacapital.co.uk/homepage 25% increase of women in top business league For the first time women make up one in four on an annual list of the UK's Top 100 Entrepreneurs, representing a 25% increase since the list was first published by Management Today in 2004. Twenty-four female entrepreneurs make the list, led by Elena Ambrosiadou who founded one of the first hedge funds in London when she was just 33. The list indicates women are moving into non-traditional sectors, with businesses based in computing and technology. There is also a strong ethical dimension to many of the female owned companies. Download Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs 2007 at: http://offlinehbpl.hbpl.co.uk/misc/TM/specialissues/MT%20Top%20100%20Entrepreneurs.pdf Latest women's enterprise stats reveal the challenges The latest statistics from the Small Business Service show a 3% increase in the number of female-owned Small and Medium Sized enterprises (SMEs) up to 17% since 2004. This falls just short of the Governments target that by 2006 women will account for 18 - 20% of the UK total. The Annual Small Business Survey also reveals women-led businesses are less likely to aim for growth than 'all UK businesses' citing 'it costing too much' and 'fear of debt' as the main barriers to growth. No disparity is found in accessing business support between women-owned SMEs and all businesses. Female owned companies are less likely to have had any contact with government departments in the past 12 months; 61% of all companies had had contact and 53% of female-owned companies. For details of further findings visit: http://www.sbs.gov.uk/sbsgov/action/layer?topicId=7000000229&r.s=tl European Social Fund Future - Have your say The Government is currently consulting on the draft European Social Fund (ESF) Operational Programme for England and Gibraltar in 2007 - 2013. To have your say on how €2.75 billion should be spent over the next seven years visit: http://www.esf.gov.uk/_docs/Consultation.pdf The consultation period ends on 22 January. If you would like to feed your comments in to the overall Prowess response please email your comments to Jackie Brierton j.brierton@prowess.org.uk and Alice Kent a.kent@prowess.org.uk before Thursday 18 January. Record number of international delegates to attend Prowess conference With just a few weeks to go until the 4th Annual Prowess Conference booking forms are still pouring in. This year will see a record number of oversees delegates with small business experts attending from all over Europe (most notably Eastern Europe and Scandinavia) South Africa and the United States. All delegates registering before 17 January will be listed in the 'Who's Who of Women's Enterprise Development', a fantastic tool to help delegates make valuable contacts and available only to conference delegates. Conference places are restricted so don't delay and book your place now, click here to download conference brochure and booking form: http://www.prowess.org.uk/conference/backingwinners.htm Invisible women in Science, Engineering, Construction and Technology (SECT) The first major survey of women who own SECT based businesses has been launched by Prowess and the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET to raise the profile of these innovative women and their businesses. We would like to hear from all women running SECT businesses (no matter how big or small) to take part in the survey for the opportunity to promote your business and influence Government and business support providers. To complete the survey which takes 5 - 7 minutes click here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=965282784641 |
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Prowess member's news
Women to champion enterprise across South East The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) has launched a Women's Enterprise Advocates Programme to inspire women throughout the region to start their own business. The advocates programme is part of SEEDA's target of creating 10,000 new women business owners in the region by 2010. For further information on the programme contact, Helen Cook, Women's Enterprise Manager, SEEDA on helencook@seeda.co.uk Top job for Bank of Scotland's Women in Business Director Clare Logie, the Bank of Scotland's Director of Women in Business has been appointed Chair of the Global Banking Alliance for Women - a 15 bank consortium geared towards the female business market. Commenting on the appointment Ms Logie said "I look forward to developing the reach, impact and value of the Alliance for all its members". http://www.bankofscotlandbusiness.co.uk/womeninbusiness/ Flagship programme goes from strength to strength Launched 3 years ago the Prowess Flagship programme continues to go from strength to strength. Five organisations have come through the 3-year re-verification process with flying colours indicating the sustainability of the sector. Two of the organisations - Bolton Business Ventures and Business Bolton Ethnic Minorities Business Service have mainstreamed the principles of women friendly business support and now hold the Flagship award for their whole organisation, not just their women's enterprise programmes. Prowess has trained 6 new flagship consultants to enable us to meet the growing demand for the DTI endorsed quality mark. For a complete list of organisations who have achieved the Flagship Best Practice standard for excellence in women's enterprise development and to find out how your organisation can obtain the award visit: http://www.prowess.org.uk/about/flagship-case.htm: http://www.prowess.org.uk/about/flagship-case.htm Business Link Surrey launch new training for women She's the Business is a new programme developed by Business Link Surrey to enable women to take the first steps towards launching a business. The programme will be run during the school term and in school hours and will feature dynamic workshops along with networking and advice sessions. For further information visit: www.businesslinksurrey.co.uk/shesthebusiness |
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Events
Prowess 4th Annual International Conference 'Backing Winners: the dead cert for an enterprising nation' Brighton Racecourse, 7 - 8 February. Join key players in policy and practice for the leading event in the women's enterprise calendar. This year the conference promises to be bigger and better than ever before and confirmed speakers include: Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Minister for Industry and the Regions, Mmabatho Matiwane - Head: Gender and Women's Empowerment Unit – DTI, South Africa, Pam Alexander - Chief Executive: SEEDA, Dr Katherine Rake, Director, The Fawcett Society, Polly Toynbee - journalist, author and social commentator and many more, Ruth Badger, Lynne Franks and many more! Book before 17 January to be featured in the Who's Who of Women's Enterprise Development; a fantastic tool to help you make valuable contacts and available only to conference delegates. For all attendance and marketing enquiries contact Ann Nicholls at a.nicholls@prowess.org.uk or call 01603 762355. http://www.prowess.org.uk/conference/backingwinners.htm
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For details of events aimed at women entrepreneurs taking place in your area click on the map below, members remember you can add your events to the Prowess online clickable map quickly and easily at no cost:
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Awards
The Prowess Awards 2007 Aimed at those paving the way for women starting and growing businesses in the UK. Nominations now open until 12 January. There are 8 categories including: Female Business Mentor of the Year, Business Support Professional of the Year and Outstanding Contribution to Women's Enterprise Development. The awards will be presented at the gala dinner during the annual Prowess conference on 7 February. For more information contact Julia at j.orourke@prowess.org.uk or call 01603 762355 or visit: http://www.prowess.org.uk/conference/Awards.htm
This section is restricted to Prowess members. For details of membership click here
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New Research
This section is restricted to Prowess members. For details of membership click here
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New Members
Centre for Growth in Women’s Enterprise www.cgwe.net Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and Industry www.norfolkchamber.co.uk
Click here for details of Prowess membership |
Prowess – The UK association of organisations and individuals who support women to start and grow businesses.Please send comments and news or information sources to a.kent@prowess.org.uk by the 28th of the month. If this newsletter has been forwarded to you and you would like to be kept informed about Prowess please e-mail your contact details to a.kent@prowess.org.uk . Let us know too if you want to be taken off the mailing list at any time. This newsletter is produced for information only. While we believe the content is accurate we can accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions. Prowess is happy for recipients to forward and redistribute items in this Ezine, however we ask that Prowess is credited as the source and that where appropriate there is a link to our website. © Prowess Ltd 2007. Lion House, 20-28 Muspole Street, Norwich NR3 1DJ Tel 01603 762355 Fax 01603 227090 www.prowess.org.uk - the UK-wide gateway to local women friendly business support |
