Female entrepreneurs are key beneficiaries of this week's Budget
Released 13 March 2008 | Released by Lynette Penney
The East of England is one of four region's that have been selected to pilot a new scheme to create Women's Business Centres, providing further support to female entrepreneurs, who are one of the key beneficiaries of this week's Budget.
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has successfully supported a number of programmes in the past few years aimed at encouraging more women to start-up their own enterprises and grow existing companies. These include the Enterprising Women's Network and the new £16 million region-wide Business Link East service.
EEDA now welcomes the opportunity to be one of just four Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), to pilot the new Women's Business Centre initiative. Whilst details and funding for the programme are still to be confirmed by Whitehall, it will essentially make enterprise support and advice more women-friendly and more easily accessible.
EEDA will also be progressing a number of other initiatives, which came out of the Enterprise Strategy launched during yesterday's budget. These include the creation of a Women's Enterprise Capital Fund - £12 million nationally - focused primarily on investing in women-led businesses to help them grow and develop.
EEDA will also be working with government, private sector agencies and the other eight RDAs to help establish a national mentoring network for women in business, which will recognise and support the distinctive nature of women's business start-up and growth. The new strategy proposes that better links are established between existing mentoring programmes and the business support network overall. EEDA is already active in providing mentoring for women, through its work with the Enterprising Women Community. Funding for this particular programme is due to end this month, but a new business women's support programme, which will develop this work further, is currently being developed.
Richard Ellis, chair of EEDA, said: ""The support for women's enterprise as part of the Budget in the form of a new £12 million fund to encourage higher levels of female entrepreneurship is very welcome news. The East of England, through EEDA's support, has been at the forefront of developing women's enterprise and the results have been excellent. Around 40 per cent of those accessing and using EEDA funded business support services in the region are women. This new support from the government fits with our plans to build upon our current success and develop a number of new and exciting women's enterprise programmes in the forthcoming financial year.
"The new 10 year Enterprise Strategy, published this week as part of the Budget package, endorses the work already being undertaken by EEDA, which every year helps 100,000 businesses in the region access a wide range of services and support."
The government also plans to extend and improve the RDA-led Train to Gain programme, which has been particularly successful in the East of England. Whilst it doesn't provide support to just women, to date it has helped a large number of women in business gain new skills to start up on their own and to grow existing enterprises.
EEDA is also supporting plans to establish a National Enterprise Academy, in the Greater South East, in partnership with entrepreneur Peter Jones. This will offer skills training and qualifications to budding young male and female entrepreneurs aged 16 to 19 years.
