This week I spent an interesting few hours with some of the leading businesswomen in the North West.

We’re all part of Spark, the Women’s Enterprise Ambassador Network. Spark is bringing together successful businesswomen and those who support enterprise to encourage women to recognise that business is for them.

In the UK, 1 in 5 businesses are women-owned and us ladies make up 27% of the self-employed population. That lags a long way behind the fellas. A recent survey by WorkingMums.co.uk of over 1000 members revealed that 55% of women look for a new job after they have children - imagine if we could encourage them all to start up new businesses?

There are now over 1,000 Spark Ambassadors, using their experience to encourage and inspire women of all ages to get involved in business.

The network is co-ordinated by Make Your Mark and delivered by the Regional Development Agencies on behalf of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

If you’d like me to come to your school, club or business to talk about how fantastic running your own business can be, then just drop me a line at nicola@allwords.co.uk