WOMEN’S Enterprise Scotland (WES) has teamed up with Riverside Inverclyde (Ri) to run its first women’s leadership programme in the region.
The six-month programme launches on 27 February and consists of four workshops spread out between February and August this year, interspersed with online content and support.
It is aimed at women business owners and entrepreneurs in Inverclyde who are looking to develop their capabilities and lead their businesses through growth to become sustainable organisations.
It is also aimed at female home-based business owners looking to improve their confidence and progress their businesses to the next level.
Carolyn Currie, chief executive officer at WES, said: “Resilient, successful businesses start with strong leadership.
“The Lead with WES programme will help businesswomen increase their confidence in leadership by enabling them to strategically analyse their business against their vision for the future. Course participants will be helped to develop their leadership, management and financial skills, set growth goals and focus on what these goals mean in the context of their businesses and their lives.”
Andrew Bowman, head of Business Investment at Riverside Inverclyde, said: “Following the success of this programme in other areas of Scotland, Ri is delighted to be able to collaborate with WES to bring this outstanding development opportunity to Inverclyde’s female business community. We expect this to be a very popular programme and look forward to working with WES and delegates.”
Local businesswomen, Poonam Gupta OBE, and Jillian Anderson (pictured) have joined forces to call for greater support for Inverclyde-based women business owners and both have welcomed the news that the first Lead with WES course will start next month.
Poonam Gupta OBE, founder of PG Paper Co and Women’s Enterprise Scotland Ambassador, said: “Regeneration in Inverclyde is something I am very keen to continue being involved with and this leadership programme is an excellent opportunity for local women to unlock ideas and talents that can add value to their business and to their lives. We need to work together to increase female entrepreneurship and this is a step in the right direction.”
Jillian Anderson, managing director at Kilpatrick Blane Services Ltd, said: “Many entirely capable women suffer from Imposter Syndrome where they don’t believe in their own abilities, and doubt whether they deserve the success that they have had. Courses specifically aimed at women, where the complexity often involved in a woman’s life/family/work balance is recognised, can significantly help build the confidence needed for women to grow their business and take it to the next level of success. I very much look forward to seeing the impact that this course will have on women-led businesses in Inverclyde.”
Places on the Lead with WES programme cost £640 per participant, with the opportunity to apply to Inverclyde Council for 50 per cent training grant funding for businesses registered in Inverclyde.
The first Lead with WES workshop runs on Wednesday 27 February from 10am until 4pm at Ladyburn Business Centre in Greenock. Subsequent workshops to complete the programme will run on 24 April, 12 June and 28 August with attendees will be required to attend all four.
To find out more about securing a place, visit https://leadwithwes-inverclyde.eventbrite.co.uk.
For more information, please contact Riverside Inverclyde by email: info@riversideinverclyde.com or call 01475 755 080.
Notes to editors:
• Women’s Enterprise Scotland (WES) was established in 2011 as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) which focuses on the contribution women’s enterprise makes to the Scottish economy.
• Currently, just 20 per cent of SMEs in Scotland are majority-owned by women.
• Recent research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), which was authored by Women’s Enterprise Scotland and staff from the University of Portsmouth and the University of South Wales, shows that women-owned businesses in Scotland now contribute an estimated £8.8bn GVA to the Scottish economy, an increase of 76 per cent from £5bn GVA in 2012.
• Scotland’s women-owned businesses are now responsible for creating 231k Scottish jobs, up from 153k in 2012. Across the UK, a quarter of private sector employment (23.85 per cent) is now calculated to be generated by women-owned and women-led businesses.
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