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1.5 million project to help women entrepreneurs in Kensington and Chelsea go global

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A London University is encouraging women entrepreneurs in Kensington and Chelsea to sign up for an exciting £1.5million project, which will help globalise their business.

Whether it’s a textiles designer who specialises in wall murals or a self-starter who has designed an app for booking tables in Europe’s top restaurants, the time is ripe for women-led small and medium enterprises in the borough (SMEs) to start thinking global.

Due to run until August 2014, Make it Global, will offer women-led SMEs access to an enviable list of international business networks, entrepreneurship experts within the higher and further education sector, and most importantly, the chance to start trading in a diverse range of international markets.

Funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Make it Global is being led by the Centre of Excellence for Women’s Entrepreneurship (CEWE) at UEL and delivered in partnership with the European Business and Innovation Centre Network (EBN), Newham College of Further Education, Kingston University and a network of strategic partners.

The Make It Global project will support 250 women-led SMEs in London to explore new market opportunities and the benefits of taking their business global. Over the next two years, the project will offer SMEs access to inspirational workshops, country-specific events, peer learning groups, international business-to-business networking and specialist innovation support to help them to achieve their growth potential.

To be eligible for Make It Global support, businesses should be a registered trading company in London; be majority female owned (51% or more); employ less than 250 people; have a turnover of less than €50M per year and have a product or service they wish to expand into international markets.

Selena Bolingbroke, UEL Pro Vice-Chancellor, said: “The world is a small place when it comes to business, so it is time for female entrepreneurs in Kensington and Chelsea to start thinking global. Without question, the one thing that has hindered women-led SMEs from exploring this avenue in the past has been the lack of support and specialist advice. Make it Global will make up for this knowledge gap and provide our female entrepreneurs with that all-important practical advice about how they can make the transition to go international with their business.”

“By working with our network of specialist partners and business contacts, we look forward to seeing the borough’s businesswomen becoming businesswomen of the world. This project marks a major milestone in our bid to become Europe’s leading institution for female entrepreneurship by 2020.”