A series of events has been launched to support the business endeavours of women in the South-East.

The first Enterprising Women event was held in Brighton last week and attracted about 70 female entrepreneurs and featured contributions from successful businesswomen.

Organiser Diana Horner said: "The Government has told us the UK is lagging behind the US in terms of the number of business start-ups by women but Brighton and Hove has a very high proportion of 25 to 34-year-old women starting businesses."

Speakers included Jane North, chief executive of the Enterprise Agency Brighton, Hove and Lewes, Heather Buckley, who founded Silicon Beach Training in Brighton, and Caraline Brown, chief executive of PR company Midnight Communications, which is the biggest public relations company in the South.

The event covered topics such as how to get the right support, discussions of the ways in which women do (and don't) use information technology and how best to handle work-life balance issues.

There was even a session devoted to finding who people identified with from the hit TV sitcom Friends.

Diana said: "Someone who is methodical and analytical may not be suited to launching a business that relies on creative, flexible working whereas if someone felt constrained in a large organisation they might be better suited to something more flexible.

"The idea is to work out who you are and then build a team that complements those strengths and weaknesses."

There weren't many Sussex-based networking events for women in business. Events were also needed to encourage people to make further use of support agencies in the region.

She said: "About a third of the people in the room didn't mention the Enterprise Agency. The agency is one of the best and is there to help new businesses."

Caroline Murray visited the agency and set up a cleaning company, Sparkle, in Hove last year.

She said: "It was just me and my Marigolds to start with. I'd been a social worker for ten years and I always thought if the worse came to the worse I could be a cleaner.

"Then one morning I had a flash of inspiration - I wouldn't be a cleaner, I would set up a cleaning business instead."

She now has a team of four cleaners working for her and is about to recruit more.

She said: "Setting up a business is nerve wracking but I started off doing some fantastic courses at the Enterprise Agency, which also provided a great opportunity to network."

Nina Shepherd, from Hove, set up on her own last year.

She had been commuting to London but decided to set up when she spotted a niche for a marketing company dedicated to small and medium businesses She said: "I would recommend the agency's three-day start-up course. The information you get is first-rate and it's a fantastic opportunity to meet people - I got my first two bits of business from that course.

"The agency should be any potential entrepreneur's first port of call."

She took a small loan from The Prince's Trust to buy equipment and took advantage of the trust's mentoring service.

Nina and Caroline said the event had been very helpful.

Caroline said: "It was very inspiring. It was great hearing from women who have been running successful businesses for some time and find out they too started running them from their living rooms."

Tuesday May 20 2003