Nine business women from five counties across the East Midlands
are in the running to be winners at this year's Women of Worth
Awards when the results are announced in March.
The awards, which are funded by East Midlands Development Agency
(emda), are designed to recognise the achievements of female
entrepreneurs in the East Midlands and aim to encourage more women
to start their own businesses.
There are three categories at this year's awards. These are
Business Woman of the Year, Small Business of the Year and Most
Innovative Business of the Year.
Hayley Baddiley, owner of Vino Vino based in Derbyshire, has
been shortlisted for the Business Woman of the Year award, along
with Sugar & Ice's Debbie Bass in Leicestershire and 23red's
Stephanie Drakes in Nottinghamshire.
Star Virtual Office Limited, based in Northamptonshire, is up
against Jack Rabbits of Derbyshire and Harmless in Nottinghamshire,
for the Small Business of the Year award.
Also in the running for the Most Innovative Business of the year
award are Babybond Ltd, based in Rutland, Promothean Particles of
Nottinghamshire and Excel Academy in Leicestershire.
This year the judging panel includes health, fitness and diet
guru, Rosemary Conley, who said: "There are lots of women in the
East Midlands who are running very successful businesses, creating
new jobs and bringing wealth to the region. The aim of the Women of
Worth awards is to recognise the great work that these
entrepreneurial, forward-thinking women are doing and also,
hopefully, to inspire other women to consider starting up in
business. I would like to congratulate all of the women who have
been nominated for one of these awards."
John O'Reilly, emda's Business Support Director, explains why
the Agency believes the Women of Worth awards are so important:
"There are lots of very successful women in business across the
East Midlands and these awards allow us to recognise the
significant contribution they make to the region. The Women of
Worth awards have a very positive impact in raising profile,
confidence and employee morale of the businesses involved.
"We hope they will encourage other women who may be thinking
about setting up their own business to become successful
entrepreneurs. The entries for this year's awards have been of an
extremely high quality and I would like to congratulate all those
who have been shortlisted for an award."
The winners will be presented at the East Midlands Women in
Business Conference on Thursday 4th March 2010 at Pride Park
Stadium in Derby.