Tees Business Tees Business issue 17 | Page 15

Serving the Teesside Business Community | 15 Middlesbrough College principal Zoe Lewis with Tees Business co-editor Dave Allan. GOOD SKILLS Northern Skills Group to again headline Tees Businesswomen Awards 2019… L eading Tees training provider Northern Skills Group has again agreed to sponsor the Tees Businesswomen Awards in 2019. The training and apprenticeship arm of Middlesbrough College were headline sponsors for last year’s hugely-successful inaugural event, which was attended by 280 people at Wynyard Hall in November. Organisers Tees Business are hoping to make this year’s event even bigger and better – and have already increased capacity by moving the event to Wynyard’s stunning Grand Marquee. The 2019 Tees Businesswomen Awards, in association with Northern Skills Group, will be held on Thursday October 24 this year. Middlesbrough College principal Zoe Lewis said: “We were really honoured to be involved in the very first Tees Businesswomen Awards in 2018 and it’s fantastic to be involved again this year. “For a first event I thought it was amazing. We saw lots of inspirational stories, as I think we knew there would be, and I think it must have been really difficult for the judges to decide between a whole range of amazing talent across Teesside. “It's great to nominate any staff who are achieving great things, but why not put your female talent forward for an award so they also become more aware of the networks around them? “There aren't many women across Teesside that people are familiar with. Or when we've had business awards of any type, you tend not to see women putting themselves forward or being nominated. “So it's really important that we raise awareness of the talent we have here.” Zoe says there lots of reasons why it’s important for education to be linked with business awards. And she added: “When you look at Middlesbrough College, for example, we have 13,000 students, half of them female. Generally, girls out-perform boys across the whole education system. “You do wonder, therefore, why we don't see as many women at the top of organisations, so it's important that girls can see role models, they can see positions they might aspire to become in the future. “I'm an alumni of Middlesbrough College myself and we saw many other nominations at last year’s event, so we can already start to see things change. “But it's also important to show current students the jobs that exist here on Teesside. “We lose a lot of talent out of our region, male and female, but if we can raise the profile of female occupations, senior roles and business opportunities for young girls, then they might be more likely to keep their talent here. “I’d urge everyone to get their nominations in. It was a fantastic event last year, but imagine if we can get even more nominations in? “Let's make it even tougher for the judges this year!” Meanwhile, seven of the category award sponsors from 2018 have already agreed to renew their sponsorship this year. They include Teesside University, Cornerstone Business Solutions, px Group, RMS Recruitment, Punch Robson Solicitors, Developments by Joseph Homes and SABIC. Tees Business co-editor Dave Allan said: “We’re delighted Northern Skills Group have agreed to be headline sponsors again and we thank them for their continued support.” “The first Tees Businesswomen Awards was a huge success – thanks largely to the support of all our sponsors – and we hope to make them even bigger and better this year.” SPONSOR A CATEGORY Only three category awards are now available to sponsor, including Charity/Voluntary, Lifelong Inspiration and Best New Business. The package includes > Table of 10 (worth £750 + VAT) > Champagne reception > Opportunity to judge category entries > Present category award including short speech > Full page advert in Awards Programme > Event branding (backdrop, programme, audio) > Opportunity to display your pop- up or banner stand at Awards Event. > Advance Publicity (Tees Business magazine, online editorial and social media) > Post-Event Publicity: full page shared with winners in Tees Business magazine awards supplement + online & social media (worth £695+) > Minimum 10 social media mentions pre and post-event £3,000 (+ VAT) To enquire email info@teesbusiness. co.uk or call 01642 450255.