Aspiring female entrepreneurs are being encouraged to head to the Colchester Business Centre for an opportunity to access a freed business support package worth more than £2,000.

The centre is hosting an awareness event on Tuesday, January 31, from 10am until noon, ahead of the start next month of a new In the Market for Success course.

Thanks to a £16,500 grant from the Natwest Skills & Opportunities Fund, the Colchester Business Enterprise Agency (Colbea) is offering support to help 100 budding businesswomen turn their ideas into reality.

The complete start-up package will include training workshops, business mentoring, a free virtual office service for 12 months and a test trading spot on Colchester’s High Street Market.

In the Market for Success follows the highly-successful Small Steps, Big Changes programme previously run by Colbea from which nearly 100 aspiring businesswomen graduated, leadiing to the launch of nearly 50 new female-led businesses in and around Colchester.

One of the first graduates from Small Steps, Big Changes was Lyndee Oscar who used the programme to help her launch Kids Backs 4 the Future, which has since gone on to win a number of awards, most recently in the Countywide Community Charity Business Awards 2016.

Lyndee said: “Attending the Small Steps, Big Changes programme provided me with the key essential elements to succeed.

“It fostered the perfect environment to fuel my confidence and developed my business steering and growth skills. The team fosters a perfect mix of determination creativity and business skill and will bring the best out of you and your business concept.”

The first In the Market for Success course begins on Friday, February 10. Places are limited and those interested are encouraged to bring their business idea to the free awareness event January 31. The Colchester Business Centre is located at 1 George Williams Way, Colchester, CO1 2JS.