Pinpointing why women go solo

Jan 9 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

Enterprise initiatives for female entrepreneurs

THE trail being blazed by the region’s women entrepreneurs is proof that initiatives to stimulate enterprise are bearing fruit, according to One NorthEast (ONE).

Margaret Fay, the regional development agency’s chairwoman, believes that projects such as the Northumberland Regional Partnership’s strategy to boost the county’s entrepreneurial spirit are working. She also points to ONE’s own women’s enterprise project and the feel-good factor engendered by its Passionate People, Passionate Places campaign.

She said: “This has had a catalytic effect on people’s optimism. People think, If all these women in Alnwick are starting businesses, then maybe I can.’

“It’s really good news and we have to maintain that trend.”

But it takes more than an optimistic outlook to make a concrete difference and the figures prove that this quiet revolution being achieved by the region’s female entrepreneurs is doing so. Whereas nationally, women are creating businesses at 50% of the rate that men are, here that rate is 75%. “The latest statistics from 2006 show the North-East economy is growing at a faster rate than anywhere else outside of London,” Ms Fay added.

However, she stressed that the statistics should not be viewed through rose-tinted spectacles. The North-East needs to create a further 22,000 businesses in the next decade if it is to close the productivity gap with other English regions.