THE brightest and best businesses run by women in the North East are being urged to enter the region's top awards for female entrepreneurs.
The Women Into the Network (WIN)'s North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, now in their 11th year, are kicking off across the region with a series of lunchtime events over the next week.
Women met at Durham’s Radisson Blu Hotel yesterday to find out about the entry process and what the judges are looking for. The Teesside event runs between 12pm-2pm today (Thursday) at the Crathorne Hall Hotel in Yarm and the launch for Newcastle and Northumberland women is at the Newcastle Gateshead Hilton from 7pm-9pm on Tuesday.
Di Gates, chair of the WIN board, said: “It’s a chance to find out about the WIN Awards and a chance to hear from previous winners. We also find there are still a lot of women are very nervy about entering awards.
“We do have some of the same people entering every year. Last year we had the highest ever number of entrants but we do want more and more each year.”
WIN, which was formally a Durham University organisation, rebranded last year as WIN Ltd, a not-for-profit company offering training and advice to help women develop their businesses.
Ms Gates said: “WIN in its new incarnation does seem to be engaging new types of businesses and new audiences.”
And she urged women not to be put off from entering by the difficult trading conditions many businesses have encountered during the recession. Business is going to be tough over the next few years. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t had the best year financially you’ve ever had,” said Ms Gates.
“Getting through and being shortlisted is an uplifting experience. If you run a business in any sector, of any size, shape or turnover, we want to hear your story. It doesn’t matter if you’ve just started or have been trading for years, there’s a category for you.
“A WIN award is a major accolade that could really open doors for your business, so please don’t be shy or put off your entry until next year. Just remember, you’ve got to be in it to WIN it.”
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