Women who want to start up their own businesses will now be able to draw upon the experiences of a network of a thousand successful female entrepreneurs. The network is the result of a government search for businesswomen who can act as role models and inspirations for other women who are facing the challenges of becoming their own bosses. Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Women’s Enterprise Ambassadors Network, Industry Minister, Margaret Hodge said: “We believed there was a demand for female role models in business. But even we are overwhelmed by the response; we’ve met our target of 1,000 women ambassadors in just two months.” The Minister added: “These ambassadors can encourage and support new female entrepreneurs, boosting the number of women in business - if we had the same rate of entrepreneurship among women in the UK as they have in the USA, we would have 700,000 more businesses in Britain today.” The aim of the network is to provide women with strong, successful role models and the confidence needed to start up their own enterprises. Ms Hodge continued: “Encouraging greater levels of entrepreneurship amongst women is a priority. Men are twice as likely as women to set up their own business; we know it is particularly important for women to have somebody in whom they can confide and with whom they can discuss their problems.” Many of the ambassadors were recruited through the Regional Development Agencies, the Make Your Mark campaign and the Small Business Forum. Their role will be to address a wide range groups, such as schools, colleges and universities, explaining how women can succeed in creating their own businesses and discussing the important contribution that women entrepreneurs have to make to the economy. Although the ambassadors are unpaid volunteers, they will have the opportunity to promote their businesses and to influence women’s enterprise policy at local, regional and national level. Date:26 June 2007
Content by: Made Simple Group
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