Member Article

North East women entrepreneurs honoured in business awards competition

Female entrepreneurs from across the region gathered at the NewcastleGateshead Hilton Hotel last Friday for the North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2006. The awards, developed and organised by Women Into the Network (WIN) of Durham Business School, sponsored by One NorthEast and compered by Julia Hankin of BBC Radio Newcastle, saw over 500 people walk up the red carpet to hear the results and help to celebrate the achievements of the North East’s women entrepreneurs.

Lisa Vickers, WIN’s Events and Communications Manager, said, “We have a phenomenal amount of talent in the North East. WIN, together with our sponsors, are delighted to use the Awards as a platform to bring recognition to these women who are contributing to the economic growth of the region and acting as role models for our future entrepreneurs. The evening was another resounding success. The Awards have become a bit of an institution and we are delighted that so many people come along to help celebrate and support our women entrepreneurs.”

The bgroup’s Siobhan Bales was awarded the Women in Technology Award for her innovative work with The bdaily news service. On receiving the award, Siobhan said: “Winning the award for Woman in Technology 2006 was recognition for the work the b is doing in this field. Although we have a great reputation for great creative campaigns, our digital work is not as well known. Although I am not a tech, I absolutely understand how to best use existing and new technologies to develop both products within the organisation as well as a medium of communications for the many campaigns we run locally, regionally and nationally.

“I was really excited about this particular award because it highlighted the dedication we have given to the North East through the business news service, the bdaily. Pioneering new technologies such as Internet TV, community sites and transferable device communications were all part of the vision for the bdaily going forward, and this award has helped to celebrate the achievements to date and to profile the exciting new features to come. Thanks to the WIN board for the award!” A full list of winners is available at the Women Into the Network website: www.womenintothenetwork.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .