Meet the women 'laying the foundations' for female entrepreneurship in Darlington

Research shows there are a record number of women starting new companies in the UK. Today we hear from the female team who are making sure Darlington is a “place of opportunity for all”.

The Rose Review, published earlier this year, shows more women than ever are starting new businesses. Over 140,000 all-female founded companies were created last year, and this figure is growing by over a third each year.

The women laying the foundations for Darlington’s latest workspace, Innovation Central, are using their own experience to continue that momentum, creating a “collaborative and supportive environment that nurtures entrepreneurship and innovation for all”.

The centre, which is owned by Darlington Borough Council and will be run by the North East BIC team, is due to open this autumn and has been overseen by women from its inception. Its manager, Vanessa Wood, believes this will encourage more females into the Darlington business community.

She remarked: “Things have improved so much in recent years when it comes to the gender balance in business, but there are still opportunities to go much further.

“An important step towards encouraging others is ensuring we have plenty of females in plain sight at all levels of business and in all industries. At Innovation Central we are starting as we mean to go on – even the construction team features lots of females in senior roles.

(L - R): Kate Shaw, Wilmott Dixon, Joanne Wood, Darlington Borough Council, Barbara Dixon and Clair Dolan, Wilmott Dixon.

“Our design manager, senior quantity surveyor, capital project manager and site administrator are all women and I’m managing the running of the centre on a day-to-day basis.

“Not so long ago, people would have expected every one of our roles to have been filled by a man over the age of 50! It’s fantastic how much has changed and we are determined to use our experience to encourage other women to fulfil their own ambitions.”

Vanessa, who also manages the Business Central site at Darlington’s Central Park has been involved in the physical design of the new centre from the outset.

She says she poured all of her personal experience into designing a workspace that would not only be welcoming and supportive to all but would make starting a business as simple and affordable as possible.

She continued: “I knew exactly what I wanted. I’ve worked in buildings dedicated to supporting businesses for years so I know what works and what doesn’t work. I used all of my tried and tested ideas to create a really workable space.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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