Women mean business - that was the message put out by the Government to mark International Women's Day last month. Almost a million women now run their own businesses in the UK, with 130,000 setting up on their own in the last year. Many of those it seems are coming from the North-East, where more women than anywhere else in the UK are taking the plunge into entrepreneurship. A recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report, a survey of entrepreneurship activity across the UK, found that in the region the ratio of business start-ups by women compared to men was higher than anywhere else in the country (61pc, compared with the national average of 50pc). And, although women still face more barriers than men in their bid to start-up a business, the report said that women were more likely to be innovative, able to provide something new to customers and using technology that was not available a year ago. Lisa Vickers, events and communications manager for Women into the Network (WIN), part of Durham University Business School, confirms that their 1,500 membership base is growing all the time. "The report is excellent news and reflects all the hard work that has been going on to help women set up in business," she says. "We recognise that barriers still exist and there is still some way to go, but through the networks we have set up with Business Links and other agencies, we have seen our women in the region flourish, boosting the local economy." Judith Healey of Talk Marketing and a WIN member, says: "It has had a massive impact on myself and my business; the networking opportunities have been fantastic and I have met some phenomenally inspiring women." Women into the Network offers a diverse business support service for women, with networking events, an online business directory and features inspirational role models, including winners from the highly-acclaimed North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year awards. The launch of this year's awards will take place on Friday April 22 at The Centre for Life in Newcastle. The awards are aimed at small and medium-sized businesses and designed to help raise the profile of businesswomen in the region. Women into the Network project director, Dinah Bennett, says: "We had more than 200 entries last year and are urging the people who have entered before who didn't win to put their applications in again. "It was the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor which said, in terms of entrepreneurial intent, the North-East has jumped up considerably with the number of people thinking about starting their own business and is now one of the top three UK regions for female entrepreneurship. "Each year builds on the success of previous events and the numbers and quality of nominations surpass expectations." The competition, with nine categories, is seeking nominations. Last year, 200 women entered and The Journal-sponsored category - best newcomer - attracted most nominations. Last year's top winner was Jacqueline Peddie, managing director of Northumberland direct mail company, The Mailing House. Baroness Jay will launch this year's awards. To attend, tel: (0191) 334-5502 or visit www.networkingwomen.co.uk for further information. | 
