Duo aim to help women to grow their businesses

The Growing Club CIC was set-up to provide assistance to women who haven’t had business support available to them previously, and to provide them with the skills required to start-up and develop a business or become self-employed.

The community interest company, which was launched by local businesswomen Rachel Holme of Heysham and Jane Binnion of Galgate, has joined networking group BNI Morecambe in order to engage with local businesses about its work.

BNI Morecambe is part of the world’s biggest referral organisation, Business Network International, and meets for breakfast every week at Lancaster & Morecambe College.

Established more than 30 years ago, BNI now has more than 200,000 members in more than 70 countries. It works by organising weekly networking meetings for groups of businesses. Groups use their combined network of contacts to find business opportunities and referrals for one another, to a specific brief that members outline at every meeting.

Growing Club co-founder Rachel Holme, said: “We have seen a massive rise in women setting up businesses in the UK, many choosing to use their skills to live a more flexible life post redundancy, or to fit around their domestic responsibilities.

“But running a business is not an easy option and most start-up businesses fail in the first three years. The Growing Club is intending to change those figures locally by systematically providing the support and training in the processes that need to be put in place to thrive.”