News

Female entrepreneurs better placed to survive recession

Women more optimistic about role of entrepreneur in economic downturn

Female entrepreneurs could be ‘shot in the arm’ for UK economy

Moves to strengthen regional economic development strategies

Call for more accessible government procurement opportunities

Support for national women's enterprise mentoring network

Women take the lead in working towards a 'poverty-free world'

Women at greater risk of redundancy during the economic down turn? 

...and finally Seasons Greetings to all our readers

Prowess Members' News

New women-only programme for high growth businesses

Success for Prowess member at Enterprising Women awards

Menta celebrates 25 years of local business support

Support for would be - eastern European business owners

Opportunities for your clients

Social Enterprise news

61% of Fair Finance business loans awarded to women

OTS call for contributions to third sector action plan

Social values even more important now says YouGov Survey

Events/New Members

News

Female entrepreneurs better placed to survive recession Female entrepreneurs may be better placed to survive the recession than their male counterparts because of the difference in their approach to debt, risk and the management and motivation of staff according to new research. 'Men are more likely to have taken on more credit and are now finding access to finance more difficult' said Rebecca Harding, Managing Director of Delta Economics. In recent research, undertaken by the economic consultancy firm, female business owners were found to be less concerned about barriers to finance and specific issues faced in the sector in which they operated. 'Female entrepreneurs are building on more robust foundations' says Harding adding 'It's cheap to motivate people and treat people well, but it can be very expensive to go out and take on lots of debt'. http://www.deltaeconomics.com/media/COGSexecsummaryfinal.pdf

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Women more optimistic about role of entrepreneur in economic downturn Sixty per cent of female business owners remain optimistic that entrepreneurship can help to address global issues, compared with 51% of male business owners, according to a new report from campaigning body 'Make Your Mark'.  Their report is based on a survey of over 185,000 business owners and is one of the first to compare male and female reactions to the credit crunch.  Female entrepreneurs voice more concern over a range of social issues including poverty, health, education, conflict and violence.  The survey also considers business expansion and shows women have more international contacts but remain significantly less likely to be considering expanding abroad. Download 'Entrepreneurs, British Business and the Credit Crunch ' at: http://www.makeyourmark.org.uk/publications/entrepreneurs_british_business_and_the_credit_crunch

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Female entrepreneurs could be ‘shot in the arm’ for UK economy  Women business owners have overtaken their male counterparts for 'growth ambition' according to a new survey of over 1500 small business owners carried out by everywoman. Eighty-eight per cent of women business owners predict growth over the next five years and they have the structures in place to achieve this with 55% of women working to a business plan compared to just 34% of men. Women were also found to be more likely to allocate specific revenue and profit targets to their business (47% vs 37%).  Only 14% of women said they were happy sustaining their businesses at the current level.  Download: ‘Hidden Growth in Female Enterprise’ at http://www.everywoman.com/ResourcesAdvice/Finance/?id=5253

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Moves to strengthen regional economic development strategies Regional Development Agencies and Local Authority Leaders' Boards will have joint responsibility for producing and implementing a single strategy to drive economic development and regeneration in their region. The plans were unveiled by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in their response to the sub-national review of economic development. Where there is disagreement between RDAs and the local authority respresentatives, Ministers will intervene to direct the process with the expectation that the RDA would then lead the strategy. The document 'Prosperous Places: taking forward the review of sub-national economic development and regeneration' also confirms that there will be a legal duty for local authorities to carry out an assessment of the economic strengths and weaknesses of their area. DCLG also outlines its intention to explore with the Office for National Statistics the feasibility of improving datasets tp support economic development. For further details see: http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/regional/sub-national-review/page40430.html

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Call for more accessible government procurement opportunities The Glover Review into SME procurement opportunities has recommended that all public sector contract opportunities over £20,000 should be accessible via a single online portal by 2010. The review has also recommended that qualification criteria not specific to a particular sector should be standardised so as businesses do not repeatedly need to submit the same information - this is thought to support time-stretched smaller companies. The government has welcomed and accepted all 12 recomendations made by the review. It is disappointing to note that the review omits all mention of women-owned businesses or any other under-represented group. Prowess has responded to an All Party Parliamentary Small Business Group (APPSBG) inquiry into SME procurement, calling for all public bodies to be required to collect gender and ethnicity disaggregated data on the ownership of the businesses they contract with.  Download 'Accelerating the SME economic engine through transparent, simple and strategic procurement' at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/glover_review_index.htm

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Support for national women's enterprise mentoring network There is strong stakeholder support for a national women's enterprise mentoring network according to a new report from the Prowess National Policy Centre (PNPC). 'Women's Enterprise Mentoring 2008' finds that there is strong support from existing providers for a service which adds value through 'marketing and signposting' and 'external endorsement'. Representatives from all nine RDAs are also supportive in principle of a national network which adds value to existing services in their region. The survey, commissioned by BERR, finds that there are currently 79 mentoring schemes operating in England, together providing mentoring to 39,693 individuals of whom 49% (19,423) are female. The survey also finds that mentoring provision varies across the English regions and that there is some evidence of a lack of stability in provision. BERR are currently considering the recommendations in the report and are working with Business Link to increase mentoring signposting. Download 'Women's Enterprise Mentoring 2008' at: http://www.prowess.org.uk/publications.htm

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Women take the lead in working towards a 'poverty-free world' They key role female entrepreneurs play in global social and economic development has been highlighted by Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate and pioneer of microcredit.  Yunus, who spearheads work to offer credit to the poorest people in rural Bangladesh for small business start-ups, reported that 97% of borrowers are women, and despite asking for no collateral the bank has a 98% repayment rate.  In a recent lecture at Oxford University, Yunus stated that the current financial crisis brings into focus the social failings of the current system, and calls for a social business approach which prioritises improving lives rather than profit. http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2008/081203_3.html

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Women at greater risk of redundancy during the economic down turn?  The Equality and Human Rights Commission has launched an inquiry exploring issues facing women in the current economic climate, including research into whether women are likely to be disproportionately affected by redundancy.  Inquiries will also focus on key sectors where evidence of discrimination has been recognised, including the financial services which have the largest pay gap between men and women in the private sector at 41%, as well as reporting high levels of sexual harassment.  http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/newsandcomment/pages/newshome.aspx

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...and finally Seasons Greetings to all our readers The Prowess team would like to wish all readers a very happy holiday season. This year in place of sending Christmas cards we will be making a donation to support global women’s enterprise through Kiva, the micro-lending website which delivers support directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.  Our support will help two entrepreneurs in Peru develop their businesses: Julia, who runs a used clothing business for the surrounding villages, and Adela who sells groceries from her home.  www.kiva.org

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Social Enterprise News

61% of Fair Finance business loans awarded to women The financial services social enterprise Fair Finance has revealed that 61% of its business loans are awarded to female run companies and that 37% of its loans go to black African business owners. Fair Finance disclose where and to whom their business loans go to through an interactive map on their website. Managing Director Faisel Rahman says he wants to encourage other financial institutions to consider disclosing this information. In 2000 the Social Investment Taskforce called for voluntary disclosure by banks, however follow up reports show there has been little progress. http://www.fairfinance.org.uk:80/disclosure.html

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OTS call for contributions to third sector action plan The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) is calling for contributions to help develop an action plan to support the third sector in the light of the economic downturn.  The action plan  is due to be published in the New Year. Any comments or ideas should be sent to actionplan@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk by December 31.  For more information visit: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector.aspx

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Social values even more important now says YouGov Survey The majority of people believe that the social and environmental values of a business are more important than ever as the credit crunch unfolds, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by the Social Enterprise Coalition. It shows that 71% of the 1,986 respondents feel values are more important now than they were before the economic downturn. For more findings see: http://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/

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Events

Risk and Reward, 6th Prowess Annual International Conference  Blackpool. Costs from £250 (early bird members rate) Join us...For the 6th Prowess Annual International Conference, the most informative, relevant and FUN event in the women's enterprise support calendar. This year we are focusing on 'Risk and Reward' to ensure female entrepreneurs are given the right support to come through turbulent economic times and excel on the enterprise journey. Book before 9 January to claim your early bird discount. For all the information you need to book your place and join other leading players - men and women - in business support policy and practice visit: http://www.prowess.org.uk/conference/

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The rest of this section is restricted to Prowess Members. For details of membership visit:

http://www.prowess.org.uk/about/apply.htm

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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