Sisters doing it for themselves

WOMEN are bearing the brunt of the recession, with unemployment among females hitting its highest level for more than 20 years.

But a fate resigned to sitting in front of Jeremy Kyle while you tick away the hours till the kids come home from school .doesn'y have to be a given. There are around 680,000 majority women-owned businesses in the UK, generating £45 billion to the UK economy.

Now women in Merseyside are being urged to turn their passions into profit in time for International Women’s Enterprise Day

The call comes as the biggest women’s enterprise organisation in the country, Liverpool-based Train 2000, marks the day on Wednesday (17th November) – a global celebration of women in business.

Train 2000 has helped hundreds of women to set up and grow their own businesses each year. It has organised a series of special events across Merseyside to encourage women to consider self employment as the Office for National Statistics revealed the number of out-of-work women looking for a job leapt by 50,000 to 1.02 million.

Maggie O’Carroll, the organisations's worldwide supremo, said: “It is crucial that women’s enterprise is encouraged and supported and that services are tailored to suit women’s needs. The benefits to this are numerous including greater financial independence for women but also as a driver for economic growth and job creator, crucial in the current economic climate.”

Train 2000 has revealed that record numbers of women have sought help to set up their own business this year. By the end of August, almost 2,000 budding female entrepreneurs had contacted the organisation, a 15 per cent increase on the previous year.

“Some women are accepting redundancy payments and then using it as a cushion to go it alone,” she explains. “Others are concerned about the security of their jobs and are looking for other career paths; many more, particularly young female graduates simply aren’t finding jobs.”

The organisation, is also witnessing a trend in younger women considering self-employment – particularly those in their early to mid-twenties.

Anyone who is interested in finding out more should contact Train 2000 on 0151 236 6601 or email info@train2000.org.uk. Alternatively visit the web site at www.train2000.org.uk