Member Article

Nicola shortlisted for top award

We are delighted to announce that Nicola Cook, MD of Aurora Consulting has been shortlisted for a prestigious award.

The NE Woman Entrepreneur awards are organised annually by female support organisation WIN (Women into the Network).

Founded in 1999 to recognise and support female entrepreneurship, the 13th annual awards will take place at the Gateshead Newcastle Hilton Hotel on the 2nd November 2012.

According to WIN “Yet again the standard of entries this year has eclipsed previous years, and whittling them down to the remaining finalists has proved to be hugely challenging.”

Nicola has been shortlisted in the category for Best-Home based business, which recognises the achievements of female entrepreneurs who successfully grow and manage a professional business based from a home location.

“Many people do not even realise that I work from home” comments Nicola. “In this age of increased connectivity and improved communication it is possible to structure your business in such a way that your customers and clients receive the same, if not better, standards of service, whilst you can reduce your overheads and improve your work/life balance.”

“I started my business from home in 2004, moved into a purpose built office in 2006, but for various reasons changed the structure again in 2008. So today my business is all cloud based, my team are virtual and located all around the world, yet together we are able to out perform our year on year targets.” continues Nicola.

“Home-based businesses form a very important part of our overall economy, yet many still have to overcome the stigma that if you’re working from home, then you don’t have a ‘proper’ business” says Nicola.

“It’s important we continue to support and recognise the importance of home-based businesses. With fuel prices looking like they will continue to rise, meaning utility and travel costs will keep rising, running a business from home makes sense on all levels.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Hanson .