Ladies in line for business awards

From hats to hydro-electricity, and freight to finance, there are 23 business leaders shortlisted in nine categories.

The final will take place at The Met hotel, in Leeds, on September 24, where one successful entrepreneur will also find out if they have won the 2010 Forward Ladies Businesswoman of the Year 2010 title.

The Yorkshire Post is a media partner in the awards and is sponsoring the Start-Up Business Woman category.

Etta Cohen, founder of networking organisation Forward Ladies, which organises the event, said: "As a small business, Forward Ladies faces the same challenges in the current economic climate as our membership, so we truly understand the issues, the pressures and the problems.

"It is especially rewarding to see so many women who are not only continuing to run successful businesses, but also doing extremely well in what has been a very difficult period for them."

The finalists for the Innovative Business Woman award, sponsored by O2, are: Helen Darlington, managing of the INK digital Agency in Halifax; Ann Harding, founding director of the industrial provident society Settle Hydro; and Carolyn Pearson, founder of Leeds-based maiden-voyage.com, a social network aimed at corporate female business travellers.

The shortlisted entrepreneurs for the Manufacturing Business Woman, sponsored by the Manufacturing Advisory Service, are: Lesley Buxton, director of ice-cream maker Yorvale near York; Karen Bruce, director of Kirby Joinery near Boroughbridge; and Sue Taylor, managing director of Craftwork Cards based in Leeds.

The finalists in the International Business Woman category, sponsored by HSBC, are: Joy Devine, founder of Tadcaster-based specialist hat shop, Simply Devine; Carolyn Pearson, founder of Leeds-based maiden-voyage.com; and Stephanie Thomson, global production director for Authentix, based in Dunnington, York, which provides technology to detect and prevent counterfeiting and smuggling.

The shortlisted entrepreneurs for the Young Business Woman award, sponsored by Business Link, are Ella Gascoigne, of Startup PR in Harrogate; Katie Holmes, owner of The Dance Studio in Leeds; and Gemma Roberts, an insolvency practitioner at Wilson Field in Sheffield.

The finalists for Start-Up Business Woman sponsored by the Yorkshire Post are: Verity Britton of wool emporium Baa Ram Ewe in Leeds; Jill Thomas, founder of Future Life Wealth Management in Sheffield; and Catherine Whitfield, founder of legal transcription company First Transcribe in Hull.

The Technology Business Woman award, sponsored by Science City York, has shortlisted Joy Devine, founder of Tadcaster-based specialist hat shop, Simply Devine, and Carolyn Pearson, founder of Leeds-based maiden-voyage.com.

The finalists of Corporate Business Woman, sponsored by Bibi's Italianissimo, are: Vicki Davenport, sales and commercial director of Huddersfield-based The Pink Link; Jo Haigh, partner and head of corporate finance for MGR, and a partner in the fds group, a specialist training and development business; and Orla Watt, general manager of the Copthorne Hotel in Sheffield.

Not for Profit Business Woman, sponsored by East Coast, has shortlisted Sarah Dunwell; chief executive officer of social enterprise the Create Foundation in Leeds; Sally Anne Greenfield, chief executive of independent charity Leeds Community Foundation; and Patricia Sadio, executive director of Combating Obesity in Huddersfield.

The finalists in the Home based Business Woman category, sponsored by Hobbs, are: Louise Holmes of ice cream manufacturer Yummy Yorkshire in Denby Dale; Claire Morley-Jones, founder of human resources consultancy hr 180 degrees, based in Aberford; and Julie Sykes of Julie Sykes Human Resources Consulting in Shepley, West Yorkshire.

Inspiring women in professional life

Forward Ladies was founded by Etta Cohen in 2000 and started as a small group of professional women meeting and sharing experiences.

Since then, the organisation has grown and is now one of the North's fastest growing, women's networking and business support organisations.

It has a database of 12,000 women in business across the north of England, from Hull to Liverpool, and also the Isle of Wight.

The network runs approximately 300 events a year, offers mentoring support to members, and provides opportunities to inspire and encourage women in their professional life.