26 January 2009

Northwest Women in Business Awards 2009 winners announced

The winners of the 2nd Northwest Women in Business Awrads, which showcased some of the region's best entrepreneurial talent, were revealed at a glittering awards ceremony in Warrington on 23rd January.

The event, which was attended by 260 people from across the region, was hosted by the Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum (NWWEF) and supported by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and Bolton Business Ventures.

There were 6 award categories each with a cash prize attached for both the runner up and winner. The award categories were sponsored by Business Link Northwest, Egerton House, Make Your Mark (affiliated to Enterprise Insight), Prowess and the NWWEF.

The winners included:

Business of the Year:

Winner – Liz Clarke, BikeRight! (Greater Manchester)

Runner up – Debbie Pierce, Bury Black Pudding Company (Greater Manchester)

Young Entrepreneur of the Year:

Winner – Kate Hughes, Merseyside Property Auction (Merseyside)

Runner up – Victoria Corcoran, The Small Animal Hotel/Rent-a-bod (Merseyside)

Business & Professional Services Sector Woman

Winner – Diane Pilling, Affordable Accounts (Greater Manchester)

Runner up – Jane Marshall, Jane Marshall Management Partnership (Merseyside)

Business start-up of the year

Winner – Libby Nightingale, Chromasia Training Ltd (Lancashire)

Runner up – Lisa Horne, Healthy Paws (Merseyside)

Growth Business of the Year

Winner – Liz Clarke, BikeRight! (Greater Manchester)

Runner up – Lula Braithwaite, LoveLula.com (Cheshire)

Social Enterprise of the Year

Winner – The Wool Clip (Cumbria). Representatives Pam Hall, Sally Seed and Marion Woolcott were present on the night to collect the award on behalf of rural cooperative business.

Runner up – Paula Gamester, Connector Media CIC (Merseyside)

Sylvia Philips Chair of the Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum, said:

“The winners and runners-up in all categories are great examples of female entrepreneurship; strong, dynamic, creative and resourceful. The aim of the Northwest Women in Business Awards is to help raise awareness of female business ownership and to help to showcase some of the inspiring female role models in this region. The evening was a spectacular success and we are also grateful to our supporters and sponsors who helped to make it an evening to remember.”

Vanda Murray OBE, NWDA Deputy Chair and Women’s Ambassador representative, said:

“Women are currently under-represented in the business world when it comes to owning and operating their own businesses, and are therefore a key target group for increasing enterprise activity across the region. The Northwest Women in Business Awards aims to inspire more women to consider enterprise as an option, as well as promoting the significant achievements of the region’s successful female entrepreneurs.” 

Lynne Wood, Regional Relationship Manager at Business Link Northwest says:

“The Northwest has many successful female entrepreneurs, and showcasing their achievements can motivate and support other women in the region to consider starting a business.  Given the current challenges of the economic climate, it’s more important than ever to celebrate local success stories and reward the women behind them with the recognition they deserve for their hard work and ambition.  Business Link Northwest is delighted to support this inspirational event and all that it represents.”

ends

Notes to editors

Photography from the event is available to download at http://www.nwwomeninbusinessawards.co.uk/

The winners and runners-up in each category stood out in part for their innovation and ability to seek out new markets:

Liz Clarke from BikeRight is a mum of four from Manchester whose drive and passion to teach her own kids how to ride a bike has developed into a fast growing business turning over ¾ of million. BikeRight! employs 23 full-time staff and 25 freelance instructors. BikeRight! is a leading UK provider delivering training to 11,000 young people each year and working with adults too.

Debbie Pierce of the Bury Black Pudding Company also received an accolade this year after successfully convincing Tesco’s that Bury Black Puddings are worth shelf space – her challenge this year is to produce 10 more tonnes of what she calls ‘Lancashire’s Black Gold’.

Kate Hughes, Merseyside Property Auction. MPA is just a year old – it offers a new take on property auctions, is independent and impartial.

Katherine’s first auction last autumn offered properties in excess of £1.3 million for sale.  

Victoria Corcoran, The Small Animal Hotel/Rent-a-bod. Her first company ‘Rent a Bod’, offers property maintenance from its HQ in Bowring Park, Liverpool - supplying a whole mix of professionally-vetted tradesmen to do a range of household jobs.  The Small Animal Hotel cares for pets such as guinea pigs and hamsters in true luxury while their owners are on holidays.

Diane Pilling, Affordable Accounts. It offers a personal and pro-active full accountancy service. She believes firmly in working as a team with those who buy-in her services. Using plain English, she teaches clients how to set up and operate their accounting systems properly and effectively on paper or, the computer.

Jane Marshall, Jane Marshall Management Partnership. JMMP offers practical consultancy support and advice in the areas of business planning and improving business performance, along with the facilitation of change and transformation programmes to businesses in the public, private and third sectors.

Libby Nightingale, Chromasia Training Ltd. Libby is a mum of seven who is selling training courses in post-production digital photography from her base in Blackpool and includes clients as far a field as the Middle East and the US.

Lisa Horne, Healthy Paws. Healthy Paws produces healthy, natural dog food and treats available wholesale, in shops and direct to dog-owners. The British Association of Holistic Nutrition and Medicine have given her their seal of approval.

Lula Braithwaite founder of LoveLula.com is a female entrepreneur from Chester whose organic beauty product website is attracting 5 million hits a month and challenging some of the high street giants in what is proving to be a very profitable and growing market. Lula’s success has also led to mentions in the National press from Vogue, The Times and The Telegraph to Glamour, New Woman Magazine and Red Magazine amongst others.

The Wool Clip: a cooperative of 14 women represented on the night by members Pam Hall and Marion Woolcott to collect the award on behalf of the rural cooperative business. Working as a co-operative - all of them farming and craftswomen – they based their idea on adding value to woollen products and raising awareness of the potential of wool as a creative textile material on a not-for-profit basis.  They set up in 2001 in the wake of Foot and Mouth.

Paula Gamester, Connector Media CIC - organises and manages events and conferences for corporate clients. The company’s values are equality, inspiration and education.  As a social enterprise it offers skills training in areas such as film and video, event management, photography and creative writing to some of the most vulnerable women in the sub-region. This supports their development and creates job opportunities; while allowing them to believe in themselves, step outside their traditional roles and contribute economically and socially to their families and the local community.

Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum

The NWWEF is the key policy advisory and strategic body responsible for the development of women’s enterprise in the Northwest. It provides strategic leadership and policy advice to the NWDA and other stakeholders in order to bolster support for women owned businesses, helping them to maximise their full economic potential.

For further information please contact Sarah Moston, Press Officer on 01925 400552 or 07810 528 471 or Sarah.Moston@nwda.co.uk  

For further information and to view all press releases visit us at www.nwda.co.uk/press     

The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) leads the economic development and regeneration of England's Northwest and is responsible for:

 

• Supporting business growth and encouraging investment
• Matching skills provision to employer needs
• Creating the conditions for economic growth
• Connecting the region through effective transport and communication infrastructure
• Promoting the region’s outstanding quality of life