Social enterprise to extend its international reach with fresh overseas expansion

Helen Milne and Maggie O'Carroll, the Women's Organisation

North West social enterprise, The Women’s Organisation, is to expand further overseas, creating 12 jobs.

For more than 25 years the venture has helped thousands of women to set up their own businesses, and now it is to expand further overseas.

In addition to its local operations in Liverpool and Manchester it also delivers services in China, Iceland and the Middle East.

Now, it is planning to extend its service offering throughout the US, South Africa, and across Northern Europe, with surplus income reinvested locally in its home region.

Chief executive, Maggie O’Carroll, said: “While COVID and Brexit has been hugely challenging for so many businesses, delivering to international markets has helped cushion the negative impact for the organisation and has helped to ensure surpluses are available to re-invest locally.

“We have always been international in our outlook and are very pleased with the success of our internationalisation strategy, but we feel confident that the time is right to scale that up.

“During the past 25 years we have experienced steady growth, which has accelerated significantly during the last few years. We are delighted that our range of research, training, and consultancy services are being so well received by our customers.”

She added: “We continue to deliver a diverse portfolio of services locally supporting over 3,500 women a year in the Liverpool city region. Our expansion plans take us closer to our goal to be financially sustainable and demonstrate social impact by supporting as many people as we can to be economically active in our city region.”

During the year The Women’s Organisation saw a 21% growth in turnover to £5.6m, generating a five per cent growth in surpluses. This, along with further revenue generation from overseas, will allow it to support even more women with its services.

During lockdown, The Women’s Organisation reported that enquiries for business and other support services almost trebled, with more than 3,000 people accessing its training programmes and events.

It will now undertake an extensive international portfolio of entrepreneurship training development and delivery for further and higher educational institutions, private businesses, and NGOs.

It will also be involved in high level research into enterprise creation and growth, as well as social impact reporting and auditing, through its consultancy arm, Enterprise Evolution.

At the heart of its combined work, locally, nationally, and internationally, is policy development and implementation to enable women’s enterprise.

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