Serving the Teesside Business Community | 15
Teesside University pro
vice-chancellor Jane Turner
(right) and Laura Woods (left),
director of The Forge, Teesside
University’s business hub,
with Tees Business co-editor
Dave Allan.
UNIVERSITY BACKS FIRST-EVER
By Martin Walker
TEES BUSINESSWOMEN AWARDS
T
eesside University pro vice-chancellor
Professor Jane Turner OBE has been
confirmed as the keynote speaker for
the first Tees Businesswomen Awards, to be
held this year.
Tees Business is organising the first
event of its kind at Wynyard Hall Hotel on
November 8.
The awards will celebrate women in
business on Teesside, with the overarching
long-term aim to inspire a new generation of
women to succeed in business and create
more female entrepreneurs and business
leaders than ever before.
And Tees Business is delighted to confirm
Professor Turner, who is also the university’s
gender champion, as the inaugural event’s
headline speaker.
Teesside University is also supporting the
event by sponsoring the top award – the very
first Tees Businesswoman of the Year.
In supporting this event, the university
wants to:
• Raise the profile of women and the great
things that they are achieving in the Tees
Valley, because they’re largely hidden
figures at the moment;
• Build a coalition of women who can
provide a collective voice and thereby
influence key decisions affecting our
region;
• Identify more women who can be
viewed as positive role models for
younger women;
• Build a bank of mentors to support
women of all ages.
Professor Turner said: “I’ve met some
amazing business leaders and as a university
we work very closely with them. But I’ve
also been very struck by the fact that most of
the known business leaders are men.
“This is not a female-only event. Let’s
come together to engage in the first ever
Tees Businesswomen Awards, where
we celebrate success and for one night
showcase the brilliant women of our region
and their achievements.”
Professor Turner said she was angered
by the findings in September 2016 that
Middlesbrough was the worst place to be a
young girl in England and Wales.
“Having grown up here, I couldn’t help
but notice that not a lot had changed around
the male-female dynamic when I returned to
work in the region two-and-a-half years ago,”
she added.
“I was at a business lunch recently where
I was the only woman in the room – and that
worries me, because women have so much
to offer, but where are they?
“If we are going to stand a chance of
changing the trajectory for future generations
of women then we need to take a stance
now.
“It’s time for change, and for a university
with such a positive regional reputation,
backing the Tees Businesswomen Awards
will hopefully be the catalyst. And we’re
urging everyone – men and women – to get
involved.”
Laura Woods, director of The Forge,
Teesside University’s business hub, and chair
of DigitalCity, added: “Women are the silent
stars of the Tees Valley economy.
“They’re what keeps the economy going,
they’re the opportunity of the future, but the
trouble is they don't really have a voice at the
moment.
“What we need to do, and what they need
to do collectively, is make sure they do get
their voice heard and the rest of us listen to
it.
“If we do that, we’ll make a massive
impact on the opportunities currently facing
the Tees Valley.”
Tees Business co-editor Dave Allan
added: “We’re absolutely delighted that
the very first Tees Businesswomen Awards
has quickly won the support of Teesside
University, which is very much one of the
Tees region’s beacons.
“To have two high-profile female leaders
from the university talk so passionately about
raising the profile of women in our region,
and supporting our idea to help that, is a
major boost for our event and we’re sure it
will help to inspire women and businesses
from around the region to get involved.”
Some category sponsorships are
still available for the awards – see
page 14 for more details or go to
teesbusiness.co.uk/aw &G2