PROWESS LIMITED

Prowess is a UK-wide advocacy network that supports the growth of women's business ownership through the development of an effective women-friendly business support infrastructure and enterprise culture. We achieve this by raising awareness, providing capacity building support to organisations which provide enterprise support services and by lobbying and advocacy at national, regional, European and local levels.
NPCWE is managed by Prowess.

WOMEN'S ENTERPRISE CENTRE OF EXPERTISE (WECOE)

WECOE works partnership with Advantage West Midlands and Prowess. Its goal is to significantly increase the numbers of women starting and/or growing sustainable businesses across the region.

It supports women's enterprise development in the West Midlands through the development of effective women-friendly business support policies, infrastructure and enterprise culture across the West Midlands Region.

WECOE aims to raise awareness, provide capacity building support to organisations which provide enterprise support services and fulfil a 'critical-friend' role to all those involved with mainstream economic and business development policy and practice – to ensure business support services are 'women-friendly' and fit for purpose.

WEConnect

WEConnect is the leading UK supplier diversity initiative spearheading the connection of women-owned business and multinational corporations. It is the UK's leading advocate of women-owned businesses as suppliers to global and national corporations and government bodies.

Their mission is to ensure that:

• majority-women-owned businesses (51%) are given fair and equal access to corporate and public sector procurement opportunities in the UK
• corporate UK and UK government understands and is able to benefit from the diversity, innovation and brand value-add that women-owned businesses bring

They work with:

• UK-based multinationals and government departments who recognise the benefits of widening access to their supply chains
• women-owned businesses who want to connect with corporates

WOMEN'S BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (WBDA)

The Women's Business Development Agency (WBDA) help women to start and grow their businesses. The team has worked with thousands of women throughout the West Midlands and elsewhere, helping them overcome the barriers that prevent them from becoming self-employed.

WBDA offers training, mentoring and networking services, along with a friendly face and lots of confidence-boosting encouragement and plenty of 'TLC', which are particularly geared to the needs and challenges of women entrepreneurs.

THE WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT, ENTERPRISE & TRAINING UNIT (WEETU)

The Women's Employment, Enterprise & Training Unit (WEETU) was set up as an independent voluntary agency in 1987 in Norwich.

WEETU helps women take control of their economic lives. We offer advice, training and support to develop employment and enterprise opportunities.

Their aims are:

• To provide information, advice and support to women on education, training, employment, self-employment and related issues and to assist them in making informed decisions about career plans
• To lobby both public and private sector organisations and communicate to them the needs of women in education, training and employment issues
• To facilitate education and training initiatives in the public and private sector and if necessary to provide training from within the unit

THE WOMEN'S ENTERPRISE TASK FORCE (WETF)

The Women's Enterprise Task Force (WETF) is a national body championing women's enterprise.  It was set up by Gordon Brown to increase the quantity, scalability and success of women-owned businesses in the UK.

The Task Force reports to Baroness Shriti Vadera, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and  Competitiveness, at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

WEST MIDLANDS WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTRE

The West Midlands Women’s Business Centre is designed to encourage more women to seriously consider setting up their own businesses by providing a wealth of expertise, help and online training to help them take the first crucial steps.

Business growth is also a major role of the Women’s Business Centre, providing effective and comprehensive business support, helping female entrepreneurs to take advantage of online training and mentoring to enable them to build their businesses.

WOMEN in RURAL ENTERPRISE (WiRE)

WiRE is national organisation, which helps rural women develop and grow their business and delivers a range of services in response to member feedback and the needs of women in rural business.

WiRE offers business support to women in rural business since 1996, when research identified a significant number of farm diversifications were established by women. These female entrepreneurs were, however, coming up against a number of barriers, including lack of access to finance, lack of confidence, not being taken seriously, rural isolation, and lack of rural business support.

WiRE lobby on a national level to keep rural businesses on the political agenda and contribute regularly to national policy.

THE WOMEN’S RESOURCE CENTRE (WRC)

The Women’s Resource Centre (WRC) is a charity which supports women’s organisations to be more effective and sustainable. WRC provides training, information, resources and one-to-one support on a range of organisational development issues. They lobby decision makers on behalf of the women’s not-for-profit sector for improved representation and funding.

There are over ten thousand people working or volunteering for WRC members, who support almost half a million individuals each year.

WOMEN LIKE US

Women Like Us is a social enterprise that helps women with children to make the best choices for their working lives, and helps employers find experienced, part-time staff. They offer coaching and advice, and delivering bespoke recruitment and consultancy services, specialising in flexible working.

MAKE YOUR MARK

Make Your Mark is the campaign to give people in the UK the confidence, skills and ambition to be enterprising - to have ideas and make them happen.

It aims to:

• Increase numbers of people with confidence and motivation to be enterprising, through initiatives like Enterprise Week and Girls! Make Your Mark
• Increase numbers of people who have enterprise experiences and ambitions, through activities like Make Your Mark Clubs and Make Your Mark Challenge, the UK’s biggest live enterprise competition
• Reach new groups by looking at the barriers and triggers to enterprise within the over 50s, women and specific ethnic groups