Calling all mums! – it’s time to get nominating to vote for the UK’s top mums in business at MumsClub’s 4th annual Business Mum Awards – with headline sponsors MyFamilyClub.

The new year has started with a great deal of headlines and one of the most notable is David Cameron’s announcement that he wants to make Britain a more entrepreneurial place. He has said that recognising people who have achieved in business is a good way to inspire a new generation and because of this he has announced that the founder of the Business Mum Awards is going to receive an MBE.

This year is particularly significant to the UK with the hosting of the Olympic Games and also the Queen’s Jubilee taking place. People are seeing it as an excellent opportunity to recognise women who juggle being mothers while being able to create their own income.

The award-winning support network, mumsclub, plays a nationwide role in encouraging and supporting women who may be seeking post-maternity options or alternatives to being a career, or a stay at home mum. 

The Business Mum Awards have recognised and rewarded those women who have started businesses and achieved success in a short space of time since 2008. Winners have gone on to great success including the ultimate goal for many of them having their products stocked in high street stores and even more exciting in overseas. 

Jane Hopkins MBE who created both mumsclub and the Business Mum Awards says 
Recognising such high achievers helps create more role models that inspire the next generation of women juggling business with motherhood.

This year, previous award winners have been delighted to offer sponsorship, with many category winners sponsoring individual awards. Mum of two and entrepreneur Gemma Johnson, won an award for adversity last year and her new businessMyFamilyClub is the headline sponsor for the event. 

Gemma says “I am a huge supporter of mumsclub and The Business Mum Awards. The support that I have received from other mums in business has been an enormous help, so I am delighted to be able to give back and support this year’s awards, giving a boost to the next generation of mums starting out in business.”

Further sponsors include Cara Sayer who with her business SnoozeShade won Business mum of the year 2010, Mumpreneur Shop, the business owned by Erica Douglas and Antonia Chitty who won best start up 2010 and Business Mum of the Year 2009 respectively, and Alison Pinney of Your Little Monkey and Mum’s Business Club Cambridge who won the Mumpreneur Advocate 2010 and Gill Hayward and Kellie Forbes of YUU World who won the high growth award 2010.
Nominations will close on February 15th.

Award Categories

• The Resilience Award: Sponsored by MyFamilyClub
• The Impact Award: Sponsored by The Mumpreneur Shop
• The Innovator Award: Sponsored by Sponsored by YUU World
• The Advocate Award: Sponsored by Your Little Monkey
• Business Mum of the Year: Sponsored by SnoozeShade
• The annual MumsClub PR Challenge
• Plus the top secret wildcard award, awarded to the business owner who may not always fit the above category criteria but the judges agree require recognition for specific effort, achievement or experiences.

Nominations are invited now to ensure all entrepreneurial mums are in with a chance of entering. The winners will be announced on the 8th March in recognition of International Women’s Day. The ceremony will be an exclusive event for the winners to enjoy an afternoon of pamper and relaxation after a sumptuous winners lunch.
Limited sponsorship opportunities are still available.

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Parents can either leave their children at the Third Door Holiday Club while they go to work, or they can work upstairs in the wifi-enabled open-plan workspace while their children have fun below.  Third Door is a flexible workspace with OFSTED registered childcare, operated on a pay-as-you-go basis. It is run by husband and wife team Yusuf Chadun and Shazia Mustafa and is based in Wandsworth, South West London. It opened in May 2010.

Activities for the week include:

25/10: What the weather man says – Children will be exploring the natural habitat of the outside world – learning about the different seasons and habitats. Children will be climbing, running and investigating the change of colour in leaves that they collect.

26/10: Creating a season tree – Children will have a fun and exciting day observing the trees around them and building their very own tree.

27/10: Mini investigator - Time to wrap up and put the wellies on! Children will explore Battersea Park and zoo to see how animals react to seasonal changes. Note: this will incur an additional transport and zoo entry cost.

28/10: Preparing for broadcast – Children will help create a TV and will work on their presentation skills, learning the name of our seasons and how the weather impacts on the environment.

29/10: Weather channel broadcast – Show time! Children will get to be weather forecasters using weather symbols they’ve created and the TV set designed from scratch. If consent by parents is given, the weather broadcast will be recorded onto DVDs and supplied to all children that have taken part.

Numbers will be limited to no more than 10 children aged between three and eight per day. Cost is £55 per child per day (10% discount on second child). Office space for the day is £22, including wi-fi. Children should take packed lunches. For more information, go to www.third-door.com, email hello@third-door.com or call 0208 877 0098.

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Britain’s bosses are missing out on skilled employees due to a combination of the lack of flexible hours and the cost of childcare. And the parents who are leaving are continuing to develop their skills too both with the family, by retraining, and in their own businesses.

Unsurprisingly the top talents developed by parents are Multitasking (68.4%) and Time Management (65.3%). But more than half (55.3%) of the parents who responded to the survey have developed Promotion and Marketing Skills and almost as many (45.3%) have developed better Communication Skills.

Mums and Dads are getting better at managing money too, with nearly 4 in 10 (39.2%) saying that they have developed their Financial Management Skills after leaving work. A similar number (37.6%) have improved Project Planning Skills since quitting employment.

Parents’ people skills are getting a great workout too. Three in 10 (30.7%) parents claim to have developed better Conflict Management Skills, and one in five (20%) have better Team Management Skills since leaving employment.

Director of Family Friendly Working Antonia Chitty says, “I know that I’ve developed my skills since I left employment and it looks like I’m not alone. Britain’s’ bosses need to think hard about offering more flexible work opportunities in order to make the most of talented parents.”

Parents completing the survey have commented on their post-employment experiences:

“I have learnt a lot since then! More importantly I have learnt a lot about myself, maintaining a positive mental attitude, social networking, enterprise and more.”

“I ended up returning to education and finally getting the degree I always wanted.”

“Starting my business has meant my time management has to be good so that my children get the best of me and I still have time to put into work.”

“In 2006 I published my first book, with a five month old baby and two older kids. Truly a new start for me.”

“I retrained as reflexologist so had a complete career change. I had to learn about running my own business and marketing myself.”

Website:  www.familyfriendlyworking.co.uk

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Rachael Taplin, managing director of Mums in Control, said, ‘’Our Working Mums’ Day survey shows that mumpreneurs are more in control of their businesses and their lives. Those who have seen an increase in profits over the last 12 months said that this was as a result of a greater focus on what they need to achieve to succeed.’’

Taplin continued, ‘’The desire for more control extends to family life. Of those questioned, we found that 65 per cent of mums who run their own businesses are driven by the objective of having more flexibility to spend time with their children, and four in five said that since working for themselves their life work balance has actually improved!’’

As the General Election looms closer, political parties would do well to take note that three quarters of working mums are either the main breadwinner or share the financial outgoing with their partner. Yet we have seen an increase of more than 10% on last year to 86% of working mums who feel that British Business is not committed to flexible working.

As more of these mums take the decision not to accept second best for their families or their careers, and to set up business themselves, more business support seems to be needed for this growing group of mumpreneurs.

Taplin continued, ‘’Today Mums in Control celebrate the second Working Mums Day and our survey this year appears to show that this group of mums are very much taking matters under their own control in order to allow them to do their best for their families, while continuing to forge their own careers.’’

Reflecting the growing significance of the role of the working mum, Mums in Control today launches their MiC Club, a subscription service that provides support, advice and inspiration for mums who want access to the latest information for working mums and mumpreneurs.

http://www.mumsincontrol.co.uk

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