Elaine Owen is an award-winning businesswoman and an inspirational figure in the region’s women’s enterprise arena.

The mother-of-three runs her own IT and learning development company. In her role at the Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum (NWWEF), she is striving to unlock the potential of many other women so that they can follow in her footsteps.

Elaine left school at just 16 and while running her own business was not her first choice for a career, she was given the opportunity after being made redundant.

“Running your own business can be a lonely place, because not many of your peers are in the same position,” explains Elaine, “but the support is out there and women should trust in the fact that they have many qualities that make them excellent business people.“

Elaine, who is the current holder of the Prowess Award for Business Mentor UK, spent two years as vice-chair of the NWWEF before taking over as chair in April this year.

The NWWEF was established by the Northwest Regional Development Agency in 2004 and is made up of local female entrepreneurs and stakeholder representatives.

The forum gathers opinions from a range of different organisations to learn about the issues affecting women’s enterprise. This intelligence is used to push for change where it is needed.

Elaine’s vision is to drive the already successful forum forward, working with stakeholders to help its members to achieve their best.

“Women represent an amazing, relatively untapped, resource and could play a big part in driving the North West economy if many of the potential entrepreneurs among them are encouraged to take the first steps,” says Elaine. “Since the NWWEF was established, it has taken great strides in empowering women to become successful business people, but there is still more work to be done.”

Business Link Northwest is working hand-in-hand with the NWWEF to support women starting out, or in established businesses, help that that Elaine thinks is vital.

“Business Link has listened to the needs of female entrepreneurs and has responded accordingly,” says Elaine. “When I started out I wouldn’t have dreamt of approaching an organisation like Business Link, but now more and more women are taking up the service, which is testament to the good work that is going on.”

A key part of that work is encouraging women to see the value of networking and engaging with the plethora of support groups that are available.

“As well as providing networking opportunities, these organisations can be a great source of support for women and open up many opportunities. Times are changing and while once women rarely made it to director level, now more are standing shoulder to shoulder with men on the board. But the forum is not aiming to prioritize women’s needs over those of men; men and women can learn a lot from each other in business.”

For Elaine, the forum will have been a true success when it is no longer needed. She concludes: “That time will come when women are no longer a minority group in the world of business but are equal in every sense of the word. There is a lot of work to be done but I strongly believe it can be achieved and the North West economy will reap the benefits.”

To access the new dedicated women in business pages on the website log onto www.businesslinknw.co.uk/womeninbusiness

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