Forward Ladies – one of the leading voices for businesswomen - has launched the 2016 Women in Business Awards, and is encouraging Isle of Man businesswomen to enter.

These prestigious awards are open to business women throughout the country, and cover categories from start up to not for profit to inspiring leaders. Women can either nominate themselves or be nominated by a colleague or business associate. Deadline for entries in the 3rd June.

Last year’s national winner was Yorkshire’s Alexa Greaves of AAG Systems in Sheffield who set up her IT and infrastructure business in 2009 while Rebecca McCann of Pro-Blo Group, Manchester, won the national award for the young entrepreneur.

Other finalists in the North West, Wales and Isle of Man regional heats were lawyer Shazda Ahmed of Monarch Solicitors, Manchester, Lisa Duddington of Keep It Usable, Salford, Sarah Gallacher of Coco Cabana Chocolatiers, Leanne Goodwin of JobWise, Rifiat Jadwat of Ulstrasound NW, Helen O’Donnell of Cheshire Community Foundation, Sally Penni of Codethink, and Suzan Thompson of Elegant Address Luxury Property Group. All went forward to the national finals.

Regional heats for the awards will be held in Manchester for the North West, Wales, Ireland, and Isle of Man, Birmingham for the Midlands, London for the South East, and Newcastle upon Tyne for Yorkshire & Humber, the North East and Scotland. Full dates and details are on the website: www.forwardladies.com/national-awards/. 

Winners from each region will then compete for the overall title of the Business Woman of the Year at a national final to be held in Leeds in December.

The awards, which are sponsored by HSBC, are now in their seventh year, and have grown each year to become one of the most high profile and well respected awards for women in business. Other sponsors for the awards also include United Utilities, Co-operative Insurance, Saville AV and Perfect Cellar.

Managing Director Griselda Togobo said: “These awards recognise the outstanding achievements of women in the workplace who contribute millions of pounds to the economic prosperity of this country.

“Even in this day and age, women do not get the recognition they deserve, though this is very slowly improving with 26 percent of FTSE100 companies now having women on their boards – up from 12.5 percent - while research has shown that those which do fare much better. (Source: Professional Boards Forum BoardWatch).

“Our mission has always been to encourage, support and develop women in their careers, and the awards are an opportunity to showcase success and inspire others to achieve their goals.”

James Cliffe, HSBC Head of Business Banking UK said: “HSBC is proud to be supporting the Forward Ladies Women in Business Awards for a third consecutive year. The programme is a great opportunity to recognise a number of outstanding women entrepreneurs across the UK, and to provide these aspiring business leaders with the confidence and support they need to realise their business ambitions.

“Our support is part of a broader HSBC commitment to providing women with a genuine pathway to growing their businesses and includes offering the right guidance to meet the specific business and individual needs of our customers."