In its first phase The Liverpool City Region Enterprise Hub helped more than 6,000 would-be entrepreneurs, 60% of them women, and is now looking to step up that effort. Tony McDonough reports for LBN
Investing in more women-led businesses could boost the UK economy by £250bn, a report claims, and Liverpool city region’s support programme for fledgling entrepreneurs is doing its bit to the address the enterprise gender gap.
Published in March, The Rose Report revealed that just 6% of UK women run their own businesses, compared with 15% in Canada, almost 11% in the US and more than 9% in Australia and the Netherlands.
Since launching the Enterprise Hub in Dec 2015, a single-door access point to advise and support people who had started, or had ambitions to start, their own business, The Women’s Organisation have supported women led businesses to access more than £1.7m in business finance.
One, now thriving, business to benefit from that assistance was Sara Burgess and Joanne McCormick, founders of ‘child-friendly’ Liverpool hair salon, Ava & Harrison who benefitted from £30,000 of start-up loans. Celebrating their first birthday Joanne McCormick says they “couldn’t have done it” without the support from Enterprise Hub and their business adviser.
Enterprise Hub is part funded by European Regional Development Fund.
For the full article on LBN click here.
