BUSINESSWOMEN in Cheshire and Warrington have been given a £75,000 boost to help take advantage of the latest digital technologies with a £75,000 government grant.
Connecting Cheshire, a partnership bringing fibre broadband to Cheshire, has been awarded the garnt from the Government to help women in business across the county learn how to exploit the benefits of faster broadband and digital technology.
Nicky Morgan MP, the Minister for Women, announced Connecting Cheshire was among the successful projects to be awarded funding as part of the Women and Broadband Challenge Fund.
The fund was recently established to help female entrepreneurs and women-led businesses to take advantage of the UK’s broadband infrastructure in order to work more effectively, access new markets and grow business online. A package of specialist support and events will be provided to help Cheshire businesses as part of the project.
Connecting Cheshire, a partnership between BT and Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East, Halton and Warrington councils, which is bringing fibre broadband to 96 per cent of homes and businesses by the end of 2015, was awarded the maximum amount of funding.
Women-led businesses now make up 20 per cent of all small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK and the fund aims to help more female-led businesses take advantage of superfast broadband to transform the way they do business or to set up a new business from home.
Working with its partners and organisations across the county, Connecting Cheshire plans to focus on female entrepreneurs in rural and semi-rural areas, that will benefit from the Connecting Cheshire fibre broadband roll-out, as well as female-led businesses in the retail, creative industries and the visitor economy sectors, to ensure they can get the most of the opportunities that digital technology and faster broadband offers.
Nicky Morgan MP said: “This fund will give women the practical help needed to get their businesses on-line and take advantage of superfast broadband. This will include online mentors, business clubs and training courses so that women all over the country can benefit from the kind of help Campus for Mums is giving.”
In the North West, there is lower than average female self-employment at just five per cent, compared to 6.2 per cent for England (Source: ONS Annual Population Survey 2013, supplied by NOMIS June 2014) and participation rates in the Connecting Cheshire Business Support Programme events has demonstrated that female-owned businesses attending are in the minority.
The project is expected to start in September 2014 and run for six months.
Information around Connecting Cheshire is available at www.connectingcheshire.org.uk. To find out more about the Connecting Cheshire Superfast Business Programme, visit www.ccbusiness.co.uk
BUSINESSWOMEN in Cheshire and Warrington have been given a £75,000 boost
to help take advantage of the latest digital technologies with a
£75,000 government grant.
Boost to help businesswomen grab benefits of new digital technologies
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Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
