Women entrepreneurs given boost to gain global scope

Make it Global: supporting enterprising women. Photograph: UEL

Hackney’s women entrepreneurs are being offered the opportunity to take their ideas out of the borough and onto international markets in a business project led by the University of East London (UEL).

Make it Global, launched by UEL in partnership with Newham College of Further Education and Kingston University, aims to help local small and medium size enterprises run by women get access to expertise in international markets.

The project was launched after UEL ran a series of workshops aimed at helping female entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground. Staff at UEL discovered that a number of companies taking part had products and services that they could market abroad.

“Businesses aren’t aware of the opportunities out there, they think locally, we want them to think more globally,” explains Linsey Cole, UEL’s Head of Business Partnerships.

Make it Global will help develop the links between businesses in Hackney and those overseas to give products exposure in different markets. Miss Cole said: “We’ve found in Hackney that the media and arts companies in particular have a product that will sell overseas – they just aren’t always aware that it will.”

Sanna King, owner of Hackney based textiles business SannaPanda, has already seen the benefits the project can bring. “There’s only so much that you can sell to your local peers, I want to take my business global online, the project will help, it helps you be a bit more confident.

“I definitely recommend it for businesswomen, it’s worth doing. It covers a wide range of products and services and really helps you get out there.”

When the project ends in the summer of 2014, it is hoped that Make it Global will have reached 250 female-led businesses, giving their products and services global scope by using the expertise and contacts of UEL and its partners.

Businesses taking part will be able to access a full network of expertise and contacts from the university and beyond, over a six stage process which includes mentoring and international placements.

Make it Global runs until August 2014 and is open to any company with majority ownership by women that  has 250 employees or fewer and a turnover of less than €50million (£43million).

Anyone interested in taking part in Make it Global can contact UEL directly on 0208 223 2311 or via makeitglobal@uel.ac.uk