Colchester Business Enterprise Agency has been announced as the winner of the Enterprise Engagement Award at the National Enterprise Network (NEN) Annual Conference.

Colchester Business Enterprise Agency has been announced as the winner of the Enterprise Engagement Award at the National Enterprise Network (NEN) Annual Conference.

The 2018 NEN Awards, held at Barclays head office in London’s Canary Wharf building, were established in 2007 to recognise excellence in the delivery of enterprise support.

Colbea took home the Enterprise Engagement Award for it’s In the Market for Success (IM4S) initiative, a funded start-up programme for aspiring female entrepreneurs.

Ashleigh Seymour-Rutherford, Colbea chief executive said: “I’m over the moon that Colbea has been recognised by the country’s leading authority on Enterprise Support. This award serves as recognition for the hard work of our team throughout the year in supporting and growing a burgeoning community of inspiring new entrepreneurs.”

Initially launched in early 2017, more than 100 female entrepreneurs have had the benefit of the support provided by the IM4S programme.

In 2018, Colbea set out to foster and nurture the community that they had seen spring up around the course by running a series of events, including a competition to trade in Fenwick’s Colchester High Street store.

The result was, according to Ashleigh, speaking at the agency’s recent celebration of Colchester business, “A self-sustaining community of business people that continue to connect with both Colbea and the local economy.”