Female business leaders in Lancashire are being invited to take part in a Lancashire County Council backed support programme following a successful first phase.
Two Zero's Women Scaling Up programme began in September 2022 following a Lancashire County Council report, Growing Women, Growing Lancashire, which analysed the need for improved business support for women in business in the county.
And now places are available to join the programme which is currently helping 13 Lancashire-based female business owners and leaders to take their business and leadership skills to new levels through a combination of coaching, mentoring and group learning.
The programme was oversubscribed due to strong demand from female business leaders across the county, and Two Zero has now launched a second cohort of the programme for 12 new applicants.
Led by Lancashire County Council, Two Zero is a business support service for scaleup business leaders and its mission is to help Lancashire’s scaleup leaders learn, grow their business 20 per cent and create jobs.
Women Scaling Up is two thirds funded by Lancashire County Council through its Two Zero scaleup support service.
Read more: Lancashire sewing project first to reach goal through Crowdfund
Read more: Transdev Go app hits major milestone for the first time
The programme is delivered by Role, a Lancashire business growth consultancy with decades of female specific business support experience.
Role’s founder Wendy Bowers, an experienced business leader and specialist in women's enterprise, leads the delivery of the programme with Katy Mason, an experienced corporate executive coach and business consultant.
Wendy said: “There is a real demand for business support which supports female business leaders through the unique challenges they face, both in Lancashire and across the UK.
“I’m delighted that Lancashire County Council is again providing targeted support to help address these challenges.
"Through the Women Scaling Up programme, participants receive a full year of tailored support, including mentoring from female International CEOs and directors who understand, first hand, the challenges women still face when advancing their businesses and careers.
“Our first programme filled incredibly quickly and I would urge everyone who is interested to register via the Two Zero website as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.”
Businesses currently taking part in the first Women Scaling Up programme include Katie Whitehead, founder of Divine Days CIC, based in Skelmersdale.
She said: “I have found the Women Scaling Up programme to be mind-blowing.
"It is hard work and challenging but the calibre of the programme leaders, our mentors and their approach to our learning is something that I have not experienced before.
"This is a high quality relevant and purposeful programme run at an excellent level.”
Through the Women Scaling Up programme, female entrepreneurs will receive an initial 12 months of support, which will include boardroom masterclasses on key aspects of scaleup, executive coaching, a residential mindset and resilience retreat at Whalley Abbey, as well as an outdoor activity day to set challenging goals and build leadership skills.
Each participant is also matched with a mentor for one-to-one confidential mentoring.
Representing their industries at the highest level, the mentors include global officers, directors and chief executives from top level organisations and senior chairs from government organisations.
The programme’s total cost is £3,000.
£2,000 of this is funded by Lancashire County Council with businesses asked to contribute the remaining £1,000.
It is open to Lancashire business with a team of six or more employees, associates or sub-contractors.
Businesses should be able to demonstrate growth and ambition to scale.
To find out more, go to the Two Zero Lancashire website.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here