Document

Northwest Women’s Enterprise

Action Plan 2008

Northwest Women’s Enterprise Action Plan 2008

i

Northwest Women’s Enterprise Action Plan

INTRODUCTION

Increasing enterprise activity across the region is critical to the future of the

Northwest economy. Despite its strong economic performance in recent

years, the region has fewer owner-managed businesses than other parts of

the country, and encouraging more women to consider starting a business, or

to grow an existing enterprise, will play a vital role in improving both its

competitiveness and its ability to create more cohesive communities and

increased local wealth. In common with other parts of the UK, men are still

more than twice as likely as women to start a business - but we know that this

isn’t because women aren’t interested in enterprise. On the contrary, it is

estimated that more than 160,000 women1 in the Northwest have thought

about starting a business, but haven’t yet done anything about it.

The Women’s Enterprise Action Plan will help local and regional partners to

work together to encourage those women to take the first steps towards

business ownership, and, to provide assistance to women already running

enterprises and who have the capacity and desire for their businesses to grow

and expand, sharing their knowledge and experience along the way. The plan

will provide coordination and leadership across regional business, enterprise

and economic development activities to ensure that female-led enterprise is

promoted and effectively integrated within key activities such as business

support, enterprise education and skills development. It will encourage

effective partnership working across the public, private and voluntary sectors,

including the regional women’s business networks and associations.

The Action Plan is designed to follow on from the Northwest Enterprise

Strategy, published in June 2008, and from a national perspective, it coincides

with the roll-out of the government’s strategy, ‘Enterprise; unlocking the UK’s

1 Household Survey of Entrepreneurship 2005, BERR


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talent’, which identifies women’s enterprise as one of the key priorities in

developing a more enterprising culture and increasing the number of new

businesses across the regions. This Plan incorporates the national strategy’s

key actions for women’s enterprise development.

The release of this Action Plan2 puts the Northwest at the forefront of UK

women’s enterprise development, and the NWDA and its partners are

committed to ensuring that women across the region can access the support

and encouragement they need for business success.

Contents:

1. Why do we need a Northwest Women’s Enterprise Action Plan? ...1

2. Who is the action plan for? .................................................................4

3. What are the women’s enterprise priorities in the Northwest? ……9

4. What do we want to happen? ..…………………………………………15

5. How will we make the action plan work? .........................................22

6. How will we know it’s been successful? ..........................................22

Appendices:

i. Regional data/statistics

ii. Key partners and stakeholders

iii. Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum

iv. Women’s Enterprise Task Force

v. Regional Enterprise Strategy - Key Performance

Indicators

2 This document was produced by Prowess and authored by Jackie Brierton


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1. Why do we need a Northwest women’s enterprise action plan?

1.1 Encouraging more enterprise activity is essential for the future

economic growth of the Northwest region. This isn’t just about starting

and growing more businesses, but encouraging people and

organisations to think and act in a more enterprising or

entrepreneurial way. It’s particularly important to encourage women

to consider enterprise and business ownership as they are currently

much less likely than men to be involved in entrepreneurial activity.3

This isn’t because they are less entrepreneurial or less able to run a

successful business – but because of a complex set of issues which

often prevent women from taking the first steps. These can include:

accessing and acquiring finance; balancing caring and family

responsibilities; and, building and maintaining self-belief and

confidence. Although these are also issues for men, evidence shows

that they often affect women in a different way and can become

barriers to setting up and growing a business. Hence the need to

develop specific strategies to encourage and assist women’s

enterprise development. It is also important to recognise the

connection between the development of women’s enterprise and the

resultant opportunities which arise for increased employment and

higher skills levels in general, either through improved access to the

labour market via women-owned businesses, through improved

routes to self-employment or through the influence on the

unemployed of inspiring role models.

1.2 The regional enterprise statistics show that women are still

substantially under-represented within business ownership. Only 12%

of businesses in the Northwest are majority-owned by women with

the UK average 14%. Of working age women in the region, 4.2% are

self-employed (which represents around 27% of total self-employed).

However, regional comparisons show the Northwest to have the third

3 Early male entrepreneurial activity is more than twice that of female activity (7.32 and 3.42

respectively): GEM 2007


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highest level of female business starts behind London and the South

East.4

1.3 The importance of engaging more women in enterprise was

highlighted by the Government in its recently published enterprise

strategy, 'Enterprise; unlocking the UK’s talent’. 5 ‘Women represent

half the UK’s population, but are the largest under-represented group

in the UK in terms of participation in enterprise and offer a wealth of

untapped talent and economic opportunity.’ To address this issue, the

Government announced a number of initiatives to specifically target

women, including piloting women’s business centres, mentoring

provision and a new capital fund for women-led enterprises. In

addition, a national centre for policy and research on women’s

enterprise will be developed by Prowess. (See section 4 for more

details on the national Enterprise Strategy activities.)

1.4 Developing a formal action plan for women’s enterprise in the

Northwest isn’t about starting from a zero-base. It builds on valuable

work carried out across the region by committed individuals and

organisations for many years, which has resulted in a twofold

increase in female self-employment and women’s business

ownership.6 There is also a high level of expertise and knowledge of

women’s enterprise issues within the region and, with the publication

of the Northwest Enterprise Strategy, along with the new national

Enterprise Strategy, the time is right for highlighting the critical role

women’s enterprise will play in closing the productivity gap which

exists in comparison to other UK regions. Women’s entrepreneurship

is relevant to a number of strategic issues and to a range of regional

stakeholders, and this plan aims to provide a coordinated approach

for this activity to complement and assist implementation of key

regional and sub-regional strategic priorities .

4 State of Women’s Enterprise in the UK, 2007 (Prowess)

5 Available at BERR website: www.berr.gov.uk

6 Although starting from a low base, female Total Entrepreneurial Activity in the Northwest has

increased more than other English regions between 2002 and 2007 (GEM 2007 Report)


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1.5 The most important reason for developing a women’s enterprise

action plan is to ensure that women across the region are

encouraged and inspired to think of starting or growing a business,

and to access the support and assistance which is available to them.

It also aims to encourage existing women entrepreneurs to become

involved in the development and promotion of women’s enterprise

activity themselves, particularly through the Women’s Enterprise

Ambassadors Campaign.7

1.6 We also need an action plan to ensure that there is a

mechanism for influencing local, regional and national policy-making

and to ensure women’s enterprise doesn’t develop in a strategic

vacuum (i.e. not properly integrated with mainstream economic and

business development). In policy terms, women’s entrepreneurship in

the UK has developed over the last decade from being primarily an

equality and social justice issue. It is now clearly also a mainstream

economic and productivity issue with arguably the potential to change

the face of enterprise across the country. The language and

approach of this action plan therefore is upbeat and assertive and is

careful to avoid the idea that women are a ‘disadvantaged group’ in

need of special help. Instead, we approach this from the perspective

that women’s potential in enterprise is not being realised for the good

of the region and that we need to work with a wide range of

organisations and agencies to ensure that women are not being

unintentionally disadvantaged when seeking business start-up or

growth assistance, and that the positive differences they bring in

terms of ideas, creativity and ethos are valued for the economic and

social benefits they can generate.

7 Information on the Northwest Women’s Ambassador Campaign is available at:

www.nwda.co.uk/women


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1.7 Finally, we need an action plan to ensure that the full diversity of

women’s enterprise is championed and developed. Women from

minority ethnic communities and backgrounds across the region are

among some of the most entrepreneurial groups, but are also often

the least likely to seek formal business support and advice. There are

also many innovative female-led social enterprises which would

benefit from support and inclusion in enterprise networks. Older

women (50+) and disabled women are under-represented in

enterprise and, along with women in non-traditional business sectors,

for example in engineering, science, construction and technology

(SECT), provide a potentially valuable source of new ideas and

business potential. This plan aims to provide an inclusive but dynamic

approach to ensure that women anywhere, whether rural or urban-

based, and in whatever sector across the region can feel confident

that they will get the right kind of support and assistance at whatever

stage they require it.

2. Who is the action plan for?

2.1 The women’s enterprise action plan is aimed at anyone in the

Northwest region with an interest in enterprise development, but

particularly those organisations and agencies, in the public, private

and third sectors, which provide enterprise/business support or which

develop enterprise policies and programmes and need to ensure that

women are effectively targeted and reached. In addition,

organisations and agencies tasked with the development of areas

such as education, skills, training and regeneration will find many

cross-cutting issues and areas for action which will assist in achieving

their objectives.

2.2 The plan is also aimed at women entrepreneurs, and potential

entrepreneurs, to provide information and inspiration, and confidence

that their support needs will be taken seriously and their efforts

valued as part of the region’s economic and business development. It

is particularly targeted at women who are not currently economically


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active and who may be based in the less advantaged parts of the

region - but who, with the right kind of support and advice, can create

new enterprises and new lives for themselves and their families.

2.3 One of the challenges in creating a useful plan for a range of

audiences is the avoidance of unnecessary jargon, and the use

of language and terms which are understood by everyone and

not just by policy makers or academics. We have therefore tried not

to use unnecessary terminology, but unfortunately cannot

avoid using the many acronyms (or abbreviations) which exist,

particularly across the public and education sectors. A guide to

some of the key partner organisations is contained in Appendix ii.

2.4 Key Region-Wide Partnerships and Organisations

Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA)

The NWDA leads the economic development and regeneration of the

Northwest region. Its major responsibility is to ‘help create an

environment in which businesses in the region can flourish through

offering business support, encouraging new start-ups, matching skills

provision to employer needs and bringing business investment into

the region.’ It supports and champions women’s enterprise

development as part of the Northwest Enterprise Strategy8 and

through various actions highlighted in the 2006 Regional Economic

Strategy9 and it is committed to ensuring that the women’s enterprise

action plan is implemented over the next three years.

Key stakeholder groups supported by the NWDA, with a cross-cutting

interest in women’s enterprise, include:

8http://www.nwda.co.uk/publications/business/northwest-enterprise-strategy.aspx

9 http://www.nwda.co.uk/publications/strategy/regional-economic-strategy-200.aspx


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Northwest Enterprise Forum (NWEF)

Established by the NWDA in 2007 to develop, challenge and monitor

the success of enterprise activity across the region, the NWEF

provides strategic advice to the Agency, Business Link Northwest and

other regional partners. Its members are drawn from a number of

business representative organisations in the region and include the

Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum (NWWEF) – see below.10 The

members of the NWEF will support the delivery of the women’s

enterprise action plan and this will, in turn, assist the Forum to

achieve its enterprise objectives in the Northwest. The NWEF is

supported by a stakeholder sub-group comprising public sector

agencies, sub-regional partners and other relevant organisations..

The stakeholder group will ensure actions emanating from the NWEF

are coordinated and embedded at sub-regional and local levels.

Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum (NWWEF)

Established and supported by the NWDA to increase the number of

women starting up and growing their own businesses in the region,

the Northwest Women's Enterprise Forum aims to create an

environment in which enterprising women have the skills, confidence,

support and opportunities to make an equal contribution to economic

prosperity. The Forum is responsible for the implementation and

monitoring of the Northwest Women’s Enterprise Action Plan.

Ethnic Minority Business Forum Northwest (EMBF NW)

The EMBF NW is supported by the NWDA as the key policy advisory

and strategic body responsible for the development of sustainable

Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) business in the region. Its members

are drawn from the BME business community and individuals with

expertise from the public and voluntary sectors.11 Developing

successful women-led BME enterprises is a key objective of the

10

http://www.nwda.co.uk/areas-of-work/business/enterprise/northwest-enterprise-forum.aspx

11

http://www.nwda.co.uk/areas-of-work/business/enterprise/bme-enterprise.aspx


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women’s enterprise action plan and collaboration and co-working with

the EMBF NW will be important.

Other key region-wide organisations and partnerships include:

Business Link Northwest (BLNW)

BLNW provides a business support service to individuals and

businesses across the region.12 This is provided through its Universal

and Targeted teams which refer clients to the most appropriate

support organisations, including some which are particularly women-

focused, listed on the BLNW supplier/products database. BLNW and

its brokers are critical to the success of the women’s enterprise action

plan, and the development of quality standards for individual brokers

and gender-awareness training for business advisers are key actions

within the plan.

Northwest Universities Association (NWUA)

NWUA is the representative body of the fifteen Higher Education

Institutions (HEIs) in the Northwest of England. It provides a means

for the Northwest HEIs to identify and exploit opportunities for

collaborative action to enhance and maximise the HE sector’s

contribution to the social, economic and cultural life of the region.

This often involves facilitating joint activities across the region’s HEIs

and, where appropriate, working in partnership with other regional

stakeholders, including business, industry and public bodies.

NWUA, through its membership of the Regional Economic Strategy

(RES) Advisory Group, is committed to working with regional partners

to address the GVA gap; within this context NWUA has lead

responsibility for a number of RES actions including those focused on

enhancing HE-business collaboration and knowledge transfer, and

developing enterprise skills in students and graduates.

12

http://www.nwda.co.uk/areas-of-work/business/business-link.aspx and

http://www.businesslinknw.co.uk/kp/corporate?name=/content/newhome&formatname=homepage


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Regional Skills and Employment Board (RSEB)

A key recommendation of the Leitch review December 2006 was the

establishment of Regional Skills and Employment Boards, which

replace the old arrangement of Regional Skills Partnerships. Their

role will be to integrate employment and skills provision and to

engage with employers, articulate labour market needs, scrutinise

local services and recommend improvements in integrating labour

market and training support.

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI13)

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) provides business opportunities,

expert trade advice and support to UK enterprises wishing to grow

their business overseas. Internationalisation is a key business growth

strategy and promoting Northwest UKTI services to women-owned

businesses in the region will form part of the business support action

plan.

Sub-Regional Partners (SRPs)

There are 5 sub-regional partners which were established as

strategic bodies to help liaise with Local Authorities and other key

partners in their sub-region and to streamline communications and

address issues which span beyond local boundaries. The sub-

regional partners will play a key role in helping to coordinate the

women’s enterprise action plan across the region and influence local

partners on the women’s enterprise agenda.

13

https://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/ukti/appmanager/ukti/ournetwork?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=north_

west&_nfls=false


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Cross-cutting Regional Strategies

There are a number of additional regional and sub-regional

strategies, policies and funding programmes which the women’s

enterprise action plan will influence and assist with implementation,

including:

• Northwest Regional Equality and Diversity Strategy and

Implementation Plan 2006 - 200914

• Rural Development Programme for England (managed by

in the Northwest by the NWDA)

• NW Competitiveness Operational Programme 2007-13

(ERDF - managed by in the Northwest by the NWDA)

• Innovation Strategy

• Multi Area Agreements

• Local Area Agreements

• City Region Strategies.

• Five Sub-regional strategies and action plans

3. What are the women’s enterprise priorities in the Northwest?

3.1 The women’s enterprise priorities identified below are based on

both the region’s strategic objectives and the national Enterprise

Strategy actions. The Enterprise Strategy (Enterprise: unlocking the

UK’s talent,) published in March 2008, highlighted the importance of

increasing levels of women’s entrepreneurship in the UK. To achieve

this, it announced a range of measures, including:

Women’s Investment Fund:

The Government plans to invest £12.5 million in a co-investment fund, with

the aim of match-funding up to a total of £25million of investment. The fund

will focus primarily on investing in women-led businesses, and will provide

increased networking support to other sources of finance. The fund will be

available in 2009 and, in the Northwest, access to the new funding will be

coordinated through the NWDA.

14

http://www.nwra.gov.uk/downloads/documents/may_07/nwra_1179753042_Regional_Equality__and_

Diversi.pdf


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Assisting Women to Finance their Businesses:

The Government, in partnership with the British Bankers Association, RDAs

and others will implement a programme of activities to assist women to

understand the finance options available and how they can access them.

The Northwest programme will be implemented as part of the Action Plan.

Women’s Business Centre (WBC) Pilots and Use of Children’s

Centres:

The Government will work with RDAs to pilot the principles of the US

Women’s Business Centre model, and the Northwest is one of four initial

regional pilots. Women will be signposted to easy-to-access advice and

support to build their confidence, skills and knowledge. Making enterprise

information and advice available in a family-friendly environment through

Children’s Centres will also be piloted.

More Mentoring Support:

The Government will work with partners including RBS, Prowess,

Everywoman and the British Chambers of Commerce to champion a

national mentoring network for women in business. This will provide

coordination and promotion of existing mentoring schemes and NWDA are

leading on this work across the region.

Women’s Enterprise Centre of Expertise:

The Government is supporting the establishment of a national Women’s

Enterprise Policy and Research Centre. Its aims are to assist in building the

economic case for women’s enterprise and to enhance policy development

at regional and national levels. Co-located in Birmingham and London, it will

work closely with the Northwest region, showcasing best practice and

assisting in the monitoring and evaluation of women’s enterprise activity

and data collection.

Media Campaign:

The Government will run a national media campaign co-ordinated by

Enterprise Insight. The campaign will specifically look to develop the

awareness and potential of women who are currently under-represented in


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enterprise. The NWDA is one of the lead RDAs working closely with

BERR and Enterprise Insight to develop the campaign.

WEConnect :

The Government is supporting work being undertaken by WEConnect15 to

ensure that women-owned businesses can access corporate and public

sector procurement opportunities. Corporate members of WEConnect

include Accenture, Cisco, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Merill Lynch and

Pfizer. Increasing the number of women-owned businesses in the

Northwest benefiting from WEConnect is part of this Action Plan.

3.2 With these national initiatives in mind, the aims of the Northwest

Women’s Enterprise Action Plan are:

3.2.1 To increase awareness of enterprise, including social

enterprise, among women region-wide (with a particular focus on

unemployed or economically inactive women) by:

• devising a regional marketing approach, in conjunction with

the national campaign run by Enterprise Insight

• developing the regional Women’s Enterprise Ambassador

Programme

• promoting women’s enterprise through the media using

role models and case studies.

• Influencing Business Link NW to further develop a regional

web-based information and signposting resource

3.2.2 To create an environment where women-led businesses are

able to develop and grow, with the right kind of quality support

available at the right time, by:

• increasing the number of business support providers and

networks achieving and maintaining Prowess Flagship

status

15

www.weconnect.org.uk


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• developing a pilot regional Women’s Business Centre

• effectively promoting the business support offering for

women through Business Link and the mainstream

enterprise support network (to include women-focussed

options where appropriate)

• coordinating affordable access to women-focused

mentoring and coaching services

• forming a strategic alliance of banks and regional finance

providers with an action plan to address access to finance

issues for women starting and growing businesses

3.2.3 To increase understanding plus the creation of a positive

attitude towards women’s enterprise engaging key regional agencies

and organisations, including local government, private and voluntary

sectors by:

• working with and influencing key stakeholders (e.g.

Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU), Office of National

Statistics (ONS) ) to provide an evidence base for women’s

enterprise, working with existing literature and the available

data to develop an understanding of the issues surrounding

disaggregated data.

• influencing strategic alliances across key sectors, e.g.

further and higher education; skills agenda; sub-regional

partnerships; Third Sector organisations; social enterprise

bodies; minority ethnic networks.

• encouraging private sector business organisations (i.e.

Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Institute of Directors

(IOD), Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Chambers of

Commerce etc) to promote female entrepreneurship

through their networks, events and publications

3.2.4 To create a culture of enterprise for girls and women of all ages

in partnership with education and the business sector by:


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• working with schools, FE and HE institutions to gender-

proof enterprise skills modules and encourage girls and

young women to become involved in enterprise activity

• facilitating the links between women entrepreneurs and

education providers to provide a network of role models

and a resource to facilitate the development and delivery of

provision

• running female-only enterprise awareness courses in

schools, colleges and universities – and encourage women

of all ages to participate

• sharing best practice with the regional and sub-regional

enterprise partners, and where appropriate, with other

regions.

3.2.5 Ultimately, to increase the number of sustainable women-led

businesses operating in the region with a proportionate impact on

regional GDP16 and GVA17 by:

• establishing baseline data and targets for female

entrepreneurial activity in the region

• improving gender-disaggregated economic data in order to

measure progress

3.3 To fulfil the aims and key objectives of this plan, a number of

priority areas have been identified. Some of these, such as improved

business support and access to finance, were identified as priorities

in the government’s first strategic framework for women’s enterprise

published in 2003.18 Others such as procurement and the innovation

agenda have been added, with the recognition that a real ‘step

change’ is needed to ensure that women-led businesses have the

opportunities and resources to develop and grow.

16

GDP or Gross Domestic Product is a measure of the total final value of goods and services produced

in a national economy over a particular period of time (usually a year) 17

GVA or Gross Value Added is part of the measurement of GDP and measures the contribution to the

economy of each individual producer, industry or sector in the UK. GVA is used to measure the overall

economic well-being of an area. 18

http://www.prowess.org.uk/pdfs/Strategic%20Framework.pdf


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4. What do we want to happen?

Priority Areas

What Policy Drivers Lead organisation(s) and

Key Partners

Actions

Business Support & quality standards

Region-wide mainstream access to women-friendly advice & support.

Currently 23% of Business Link NW

clients are women.

Access to women focused business

support when required

Ensuring providers meet quality

standards such as Prowess Flagship

Increase in the conversion rate of

women enquiring about starting a

business to actual start-up.

RES Action 3 National Enterprise Strategy

Regional Enterprise Strategy

Business Link Northwest (BLNW)

Business Support providers

Prowess (Flagship)

- establish pilot virtual women’s business

centre (08/09)

- six additional Flagship providers

(08/09)

- gender awareness

and equality/diversity

training for all

Business Link business advisers

(08/11)

- 30% of Business Link

NW clients are women

(08/09)

Access to Finance

Increased awareness and access to

sources of finance for women business

owners

Greater numbers of women accessing

public sector loans/equity schemes

RES Action 5

National Enterprise Strategy


NWDA

Banks

Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs)

North West HEIs BLNW EMBF

Providers of financial services

- investment-readiness

workshop, targeted at

women, in each sub-region (08/09)

- increase access to equity funds including

specific financial

initiatives

- increase in regional

female business angels


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Priority Areas

What Policy Drivers Lead organisation(s) and Key Partners

Actions

from 3% to 10% of the

Business Angel

network membership by 2010

Mentoring &

coaching

Coordinated women-focused mentoring

programme across the region

Improved marketing/promotion of

existing mentoring provision

Access to e-mentoring where

appropriate



NWDA

North West HEIs [NWUA] BLNW EMBF

Private sector organisations

- access to coordinated

mentoring information online, through

Business Link website

- 15 mentoring case

studies (08/09)

Procurement (private

& public sector)

Work with corporate sector to increase

procurement opportunities for women-

led businesses

Work with Government and public

sector to diversify supply chain and

encourage more procurement opportunities for women-led businesses

RES Actions 11 & 99


NWDA

WE Connect (private sector)

- 6 WEConnect

certificated Northwest

businesses (08/09)

- 2 new corporate

members from

Northwest (08/10)

Ethnic Minority

Business

Awareness-raising and promotion of

enterprise to women in BME

communities

Targeted pre-start and business support

for women from minority ethnic

communities

Increase number of women from BME

communities seeking business support

RES Action 3



Ethnic Minority Business Task Force

NWDA

EMBF NW

BLNW

Business support providers

- monitor annual

increase in BME

women seeking

business support from Business Link


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Priority Areas


Actions

assistance from BLNW and brokers

Social Enterprise

Promote the concept of social

enterprise to women

Integrate social enterprise into women’s enterprise development

activity

Encourage more women to consider

social enterprise as a business option

where appropriate

Work with voluntary sector to

encourage more female involvement in

trading activities

RES Actions 3, 53, 108, 109



OTS Social Enterprise Action Plan

NWDA

Social Enterprise NW

Sub-regional social enterprise partnerships

- monitor annual

increase of women

seeking business

support for social enterprises

Skills

Provide management and business

skills training for women starting businesses

Encourage women business owners to increase skills of their employees

Encourage more existing women business owners to seek leadership and

management training

Regional Skills Priorities

Statement RES Actions 26 – 40

(particularly 34)

Regional Skills Partnership

LSC

North West HEIs [NWUA] Business support providers

- monitor number of

women-owned businesses using Train

to Gain

- monitor women-

owned businesses

receiving business skills training

- monitor number of

women accessing leadership &

management training

- ensure HEIs and other


18

Priority Areas


Actions

providers capture

relevant disaggregated

information

Science, Engineering,

Construction &

Technology (SECT) &

Innovation

Encourage more women with SECT

qualifications and experience to

consider entrepreneurship.

Work with education sector to

encourage more girls and young

women to study science and technology, along with enterprise

Work with the education sector to encourage and enable more women

(students, graduates, staff and the

wider business community) to: - identify and exploit emerging research

and technology

- apply existing research and

technology into new areas to support new business start-ups across all

sectors [NWUA]

Innovation Strategy

(Department for Innovation,

Universities and Skills -

DIUS) RES Actions 15 & 39

Northwest Science Strategy

NWDA

Northwest Science Council

UK Resource Centre for

Women in science, engineering and technology

(UKRC)

National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE)

- monitor increase in

women-owned SECT

businesses seeking

support (from 09/10)

Education

Encourage more girls and young

women to get involved in enterprise

education

Work with HEIs and FECs to

understand existing enterprise

education provision and to ascertain the

potential benefits and demand for gender specific provision

RES Action 36


NWUA

NCGE

Local Authorities Women’s Enterprise

Ambassadors

Enterprise Insight

- monitor gender

specific enterprise

education provision (08/09)


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Priority Areas


Actions

Rural Development

Encourage women in rural areas to set up enterprises and diversify rural

economy

Encourage women in rural areas to connect with regional networks and

business support provision

Ensure appropriate coverage for

business and skills support for women

in rural areas, and monitoring of activity

levels

Representatives from rural areas of the

region to join the NWWEF and Women Ambassadors Programme

Rural Development Plan for England

NWDA Women In Rural Enterprise

Northwest Sub-regional

Partnerships

- recruit 20 additional rural-based

ambassadors (08/09)

Network

Development &

Coordination

Improve and coordinate networking

opportunities for women across the

region

Work with existing networks to improve

effectiveness and reach

Further develop cost-effective peer

support for women business owners

Increase participation / female membership numbers in mainstream

business network/organisations e.g.

CBI, IOD, FSB etc.

RES

NWWEF - complete mapping of

regional women’s

enterprise networks (08/09)

- create network information section in

pilot women’s business

centre portal (08/09)


20

Priority Areas


Actions

Promotion and

awareness-raising

National marketing campaign for

women’s enterprise to incorporate

BERR’s promotional initiative with Enterprise Insight

Develop regional Women’s Enterprise

Ambassador Programme

Annual Northwest Women in Business

Awards

Increase media coverage of women’s

enterprise activity


NWDA

Enterprise Insight

NWEF

- increase the Women’s

Enterprise Ambassador

network by 20% with particular focus on

rural, sectoral, BME

and young

entrepreneurs (08/09)

- 20% increase in

Women in Business Awards entries

- distribution of 5000 copies of NWWEF

prospectus across

region (08/09)

- Prowess national

conference held in NW

(08/09)

Baseline evidence

required for 09/10

targets.

Sub-regional demographics

BME women in business

50+ women in business Disabled women in business

Sectoral information (e.g. SECT)

RIU

ONS

Establish baseline data

for:

- the region using

surveys including the

ONS Labour Force Survey and the Global

Entrepreneurship

Monitor (GEM)

- women enquiring,

applying for and

accessing loans & equity (08/09)


21

Priority Areas


Actions

- BME women-owned

businesses by 08/09

- women-led social

enterprises by 08/09

- establish baseline

data for women-owned

SECT businesses in region by 08/09

- girls/young women undertaking enterprise

modules (by 08/09)

- women-owned rural enterprises by 08/09

- peer network support activity (08/10)

- information re female membership of

business

representative

organisations (08/09)

Northwest Enterprise

Strategy

The Women’s Enterprise Action Plan

will link directly into the Regional

Enterprise Strategy’s Key Performance Indicators which are set out in Appendix

V. Where applicable it will ensure the

gender disaggregation of data gathered

to satisfy these KPIs

RIU

NWDA

- impact on the

Regional Enterprise

Strategy’s Key Performance Indicators


22

5. How will we make the action plan work?

5.1 The action plan will work with:

• strong leadership from the Northwest Women’s Enterprise

Forum (NWWEF)

• commitment and ‘buy-in’ from the NWDA

• collaboration and commitment across key regional

agencies and organisations

• support from women business-owners and their networks

• assistance from the Northwest Women’s Enterprise

Ambassadors

• collaboration with national organisations such as Prowess

and its new national centre for women’s enterprise policy

and research

Responsibility for the coordination of the action plan lies with the

NWWEF and the NWDA and delivery will lie with a wide range of

enterprise partners and stakeholders. The regional women’s

enterprise development manager will coordinate stakeholder activity

and monitor progress. An external formal evaluation process will be

commissioned and a first-year review published in the autumn of

2009.

6. How will we know it’s been successful?

6.1 The Action Plan details the actions expected from its

implementation, both qualitative and quantitative. These will be

monitored over the next three years. But in addition, there are a

number of ‘harder-to-measure’ outcomes which are worth noting, for

example:

• Strategically influence key partners and stakeholders in the

region to reflect the women’s enterprise agenda in their

enterprise policies and facilitate a greater understanding of

the issues affecting women in business.

• Increase in the reporting of women's business success in

the mainstream media.


23

• Greater engagement of private sector companies in

promoting women’s enterprise (including business

representative organisations such as Confederation of

British Industry (CBI), Institute of Directors (IOD) and

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)) with consequently

higher numbers of female members and non-executive

directorships.


24

Appendix i

Women’s Enterprise Data and Statistics

One of the challenges in setting targets and objectives for women’s

enterprise activity is the lack of available disaggregated data across

business and enterprise. Key sources of business ownership statistics such

as VAT registrations and HMRC data are not broken down by gender (or

ethnicity) and the main baseline information comes from large surveys such

as the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)19 and the Annual Small

Business Survey (ASBS).

GEM 2007 National/Regional comparison

A key part of the Northwest RES is to build the enterprise agenda amongst

specific groups, for example women, ethnic minorities and disabled people,

in the interests of increasing the business base of the region which

currently is below average for the UK as a whole.

Over the period since 2002, there is a strong suggestion that

entrepreneurial activity both for the population as a whole and for women in

particular has increased from a position where the region was below

average for the UK to one now where the region is statistically average for

the UK.

The following data illustrates recent trends:

• The Northwest in 2007 had a slightly below average level of early-stage

entrepreneurial activity (TEA) amongst women at 3.4% compared with

the average for the UK of 3.7%.

• Female entrepreneurship in the Northwest has more than doubled since

2002 rising from 1.5% to 3.4%.

• Female early-stage entrepreneurial activity is 47% of male activity in the

Northwest, which is similar to the UK average of 49%. The gender gap

19

http://www.gemconsortium.org/download/1214164718397/GEM%20UK%202007%20Report.pdf


25

in the Northwest means, therefore, that for every one hundred men who

start a business, forty-seven women will also be starting up.

• Women’s established business ownership is 24% of male in the

Northwest. This compares to 44% in the South West where the ratio is

highest and 35 for the UK average. The rate for the Northwest is the

lowest equal for all the UK regions.

Additional data: Female-owned SMEs in the Northwest20

• Most SMEs in the Northwest are owned by men or led by management

teams dominated by men. Only 12% are women led - the UK average is

14%.

• Women-led businesses tend to be smaller than average – 86% of

women led businesses were micro businesses (i.e. less than 10

employees).

• Women-led enterprises were less well established than those led by

men – 24% were a recent start up compared to 18% for male-led

businesses.

• 7% of Northwest SME employers are led by members of BME

communities; for the UK as a whole the figure is 8%. Only 0.4% are led

by BME women.

20

http://www.berr.gov.uk/bbf/enterprise-smes/research-and-statistics/research-evaluation/business-

surveys/page38370.html


26

Appendix ii

Key Regional Stakeholders

BLNW Business Link Northwest

http://www.nwda.co.uk/areas-of-work/business/business-

link.aspx

EMBF NW Ethnic Minority Business Forum Northwest

http://www.nwda.co.uk/areas-work/business/enterprise/bme-

enterprise.aspx

LSC Learning and Skills Council

http://www.lsc.gov.uk/regions/NorthWest/

NWDA Northwest Regional Development Agency

www.nwda.co.uk

NWEF Northwest Enterprise Forum

http://www.nwda.co.uk/areas-of-

work/business/enterprise/northwest-enterprise-forum.aspx

NWWEF Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum

http://www.nwda.co.uk/areas-of-

work/business/enterprise/womens-enterprise/nw-womens-

enterprise-group.aspx

NWUA North West Universities Association

http://www.nwua.ac.uk/


27

Appendix iii

The Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum (NWWEF)

Established by the NWDA to increase the number of women starting up

and growing their own businesses in the region, the Northwest Women's

Enterprise Forum aims to create an environment in which enterprising

women have the skills, confidence, support and opportunities to make an

equal contribution to economic prosperity by:

• Providing a collaborative, long-term approach to women’s

enterprise

• Creating an environment that encourages women into business

• Supporting the development of partnerships in the region

• Sharing good practice

• Undertaking mapping and research of the provision of women’s

business support providers

Key actions for the Forum include:

• Working with partners to influence regional and national

women’s enterprise policy

• Generating additional access to finance for women

entrepreneurs

• Working towards removing barriers for women who are carers

• Facilitate the roll-out of a quality framework for business support

to get more women into business

The Forum is responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the

Northwest Women’s Enterprise Action Plan. For more information visit

www.nwda.co.uk/women


28

Appendix iv

National Women’s Enterprise Task Force

Vision and Objectives

The Women’s Enterprise Task Force was established in 2007 to accelerate

the rate of women starting and growing businesses in the UK. Increasing

levels of female business ownership is central to productivity and economic

gains; the US level of female ownership is 28%, the UK is only 14%. Men

are still twice as likely to start businesses as women. Through the work of

the Task Force the levels of women owned businesses in the UK will be

increased, creating jobs and wealth. The Task Force will measure success

by monitoring:

• Number of Women Owned Businesses

• Jobs Created

• Increase in annual turnover

• Increase in GVA

• Changes in entrepreneurial attitudes among women

Priorities

The Task Force is addressing five priority areas:

1. Provide high quality gender disaggregated business data to

show progress, monitor impact and improve our understanding

of women owned businesses.

2. Ensure every woman has access to high-quality business

support from pre-pre start up stage onwards.

3. Ensure every woman knows where to go for financial and

technical education.

4. Supplier Diversity Programme to ensure corporates

recognise the importance and value of women owned

businesses as part of their supply chain and demand

accredited suppliers. Also to explore New Market

Opportunities (public and private) and how these can be

promoted to women. The Task Force, in partnership with

Prowess, has launched a national accreditation programme for


29

women owned businesses to access new public and private

sector supply chains, called WE Connect.

5. Awareness of women’s enterprise as driver of productivity

and GVA growth. Through PR and awareness-raising the Task

Force will build visibility and confidence in this important area of

enterprise policy.

Appendix v


30

Northwest Regional Enterprise Strategy - Key Performance Indicators

1.1 Spatial Indicators

It is vital that the implementation of the actions outlined in this Strategy are

monitored and evaluated to ensure that the objectives of this Strategy and

the region’s enterprise performance are being realised. Success will be measured annually towards a 2026 vision (see paragraph 4.9). Monitoring

will take place at various levels:

Regional Level

i) PSA Target – the regional number of VAT registered start-ups per 10,000

adults ii) start-up data21 – business density (VAT registered businesses per 10,000

adults); VAT registrations/de-registrations per 10,000 adults; positive

‘churn’ rate (increasing VAT de-registrations but overall business density increasing); % of employment being self-employed; % start-up survival rate

at 36 months

iii)annual GEM Survey of Total Entrepreneurial Activity and its sub set analyses of positive indicators of entrepreneurship.

These measures will be disaggregated to sub-regional/local levels where

available.

Sub-regional/local Level

i) achievement of LAA/MAA targets and, in aggregate, regional targets

ii) performance of relevant regional programmes to achieve agreed local targets

Programme Level

i) performance management and monitoring of each enterprise support

programme, plus post completion evaluation

ii) increasing instances of different funding streams being aggregated into single programmes resulting in value for money i.e. improved

outputs/outcomes and/or reduced unit costs

Individual Level

i) increasing levels of market intelligence from BLNW on clients

barriers/needs and its ability to broker to relevant products, including from the private sector

ii) BLNW customer satisfaction ratings e.g. for start-up enquiries

iii) Pilot an approach to survey businesses to measure indicators showing a positive enterprise culture e.g. growth ambition, indicators of innovation,

leadership and management etc.

21

The Government plans to monitor business start-ups via PAYE returns from Autumn 2008.


31

1.2 Thematic

22

The Government plans to monitor business start-ups via PAYE returns from Autumn 2008.

Entrepreneurial Attitudes GEM survey of entrepreneurial attitudes and

perceptions : • Expect to start a business in 3 years • Know someone who has recently started

a business • See good start-up opportunities • Have the skills to start a business • Fear of failure

Start-up Levels22

• VAT registered start-ups/survival

rates • Business density • Self-employment rates • Total entrepreneurial activity (GEM

survey)

Business Performance • New/ improved products

• Number of exporters • Business productivity

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