“Deeds not words” shouted the suffragettes in 1903. Over a century later International Women’s Day is calling for gender parity. New words; same problem. But how does it link to successfully growing strong North East businesses?

Research has proven that profitability, return on investment and innovation all increase when women hold senior leadership roles. Every business owner wants their business to prosper and providing more leadership opportunities to women is a known means of achieving business prosperity.

Unfortunately, this can be held back by some frankly old fashioned perceptions of what a business leader looks and acts like. We regularly meet women directors and business owners who feel other funders may not have taken them seriously as investment propositions. At NEL we believe in taking our time to understand the people behind growing businesses and fitting funding around the needs of the business. Whether the senior leaders wear lipstick or not has nothing to do with our investing.