The Locksmith Journal May-Jun 2014 - Issue 32 | Seite 6

INDUSTRYNEWS
SPONSORED BY SECURITY HARDWARE

£1m to Help Women Start or
Grow Their Own Business
Budding female entrepreneurs
are set to benefit from
superfast broadband with
a new £1m challenge fund,
enabling them to work
effectively, access new markets
and grow their business
online.

‘work effectively’
Women-led businesses now
represent 20% of all SMEs in
the UK, up from 12% in 2010
and the Government says it is
determined to do more to help
ensure women take advantage
of the best broadband
infrastructure in Europe.
Visiting Google’s Campus for
Mums in Shoreditch, Minister
for Women Nicky Morgan said:
“There are thousands of women

running some amazing small
businesses all over the UK but
they still make up just a fifth of
all small businesses.
“As part of our long-term
economic plan for Britain we
are determined to do everything
we can to support women to
start-up businesses and create
more jobs and opportunities for
hardworking people.
“This fund will give women
the practical help needed to get
their businesses on-line and
take advantage of superfast
broadband. This will include
online mentors, business clubs
and training courses so that
women all over the country can
benefit from the kind of help
Campus for Mums is giving.”
The fund will be part of
the Government’s Superfast

Broadband rollout and will help
women take full advantage of
all the opportunities superfast
broadband can bring to
business.
There are 40 local broadband
projects in England, already
delivering the programme and
they are invited to submit bids
to the £1m challenge fund.
Business leaders and women
entrepreneurs recently met
Nicky Morgan at an event she
hosted and asked for better
online services. As part of the
Government’s commitment
to small businesses, Small
Business: GREAT Ambition, sets
out how it is making it easier
for new and existing businesses
to get access to the advice and
support they need to succeed.
Women starting or running a

business can find out how other
people have accessed support
and help through the Business
is GREAT website, and it wants
to hear from small businesses
about whether the site works
for them or what improvements
they would like to see.
Female entrepreneurs can
also take advantage of a 50%
contribution of up to £2k
from the Growth Voucher
programme to pay for help with
accounting or marketing advice.
The Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills will be
working closely with women’s
enterprise groups including:
Everywoman, Prowess, and
Mumpreneurs, to ensure that
female entrepreneurs are aware
of and encouraged to apply for
the money.

CHESTERFIELD WOMAN WINS SNAP-SECURE
LOCK UPGRADE IN NATIONWIDE COMPETITION
A Chesterfield-woman has won a
nationwide competition to have the locks
on her house upgraded to make them
secure against lock-snapping attack – one
of the most popular forms of forced entry
in the UK.
Veronica Bradbury from Linden Drive,
Hasland is a Neighbourhood & Homes
Watch Network (NHWN) member and
won a competition that was open to
all members of the Home Office and
Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO)
supported crime prevention network.
“As a Neighbourhood Watch member I
am only too aware of the kind of steps that
need to be taken to protect your property
and the Avocet Hardware ABS locks that
I’ve had fitted will certainly help to do that,”
said Mrs Bradbury.
Avocet Hardware, which is NHWN’s
primary sponsor for security products,
manufactures the safest snap-secure locks
currently available in the UK. The West

6

THE MAY/JUN 2014 ISSUE
SPONSORED BY ASSA ABLOY Security Solutions

Yorkshire company’s ABS lock has a 3-star
rating according to BSI’s TS007 standard
and boasts Sold Secure’s SS312 Diamond
accreditation.
“There are a lot of different snap-secure
locks available, but ABS is the only one that
passes all the tests needed to get both Sold
Secure’s Diamond and BSI’s 3-star kitemark
accreditation,” said Raymond Pearce of
Avocet Hardware.

Avocet’s ABS locks were fitted in Veronica
home by its Chesterfield-based elite centre,
Hawkins Locksmiths – a family-owned
business that has been providing peace of
mind to customers since 1993.
“I’ve come across numerous breakins that were caused by the snapping
vulnerability of the euro cylinder locks,
which are fitted to 90 per cent of homes,
but amazingly, people are unaware that
these incidences can be simply avoided,”
said Ian Hawkins, owner of Hawkins
Locksmiths.
“Avocet’s ABS Euro Cylinder is the only
lock on the market that has achieved the
new 3 Star TS007 British Standar