Every month we will address key issues affecting women in business, female business owners, or aspiring entrepreneurs. We have been running everywoman for nine years, and know the pressures and issues that face women every day.
everywoman was founded in 1999 and is now the leading provider of valuable, practical and relevant services to support women in business. We provide a forum where you can share experiences, offer support and build business contacts. To find out more about everywoman take a look at the services we offer.
Last week saw the launch of the 2008 NatWest everywoman awards, our flagship programme celebrating the achievements of women business owners who have achieved huge success, often battling against adversity to do so.
Barbara Follett, the Deputy Minister for Women officially launched the awards at a buzzing event held at the House of Commons, bringing together a number of hugely inspiring women, many of whom were previous winners or finalists from the previous five years of the awards.
These included Sharon Winter, who runs Supa Scaffolding single-handedly, showing how women can break the mould and achieve success in a man’s world. Seeing her chatting with other successful entrepreneurs, figures in government, and the media, in an exciting venue such as the House of Commons – especially so on Election Day - was really exciting, and made us realise what opportunities these awards programmes have to offer to those who enter.
In addition to the annual awards, we are currently running two other sector specific awards programmes which celebrate women working in the transport and logistics industry, and the retail sector. Having sat in on the judging process for the transport and logistics awards last week, we were so impressed by the quality of the applicants, and just wish more women would put themselves forward, to help raise the profile of careers in these sectors.
The benefits of winning or even being shortlisted are huge; previous winners are frequently telling us how invaluable the publicity has been, and how many doors have been opened. As well as the chance to appear in the press, women are regularly telling us about the new contacts they have made through the awards, how inspired they felt going through the judging process, and how they have been invited to high profile events as a result.
We know most successful business women are hugely busy and may think they don’t have the time to apply for awards, but we really urge anyone considering it to go ahead – you never know who you could meet, or where you will find yourselves a few years down the line, and often by putting in a little effort, you can reap great rewards.
