Businesswoman in the running for top accolade
ABUSINESSWOMAN has been nominated for an award which celebrates women in industry.
Clare Tingley, 41, owner of the Keepsake Shop, is hoping to scoop the Enterprise Vision Award (EVA) for the best internet industry.
Now in its sixth year, EVAs provide women across the North West with the opportunity to be recognised for their achievements in business.
The winners this year will be announced at an awards ceremony held at Blackpool Winter Gardens in September.
Clare’s story dates back to 2008 when she decided she wanted to open her own shop selling bespoke, homemade gifts.
She said: “I have a background in marketing and I thought I would combine those skills to set up my own business.
“The first few years were spent developing the product range and sorting out the website. Only after two years did I feel I was ready to officially open it.
“Eight years later the business is doing very well. Everything’s personalised and made to order.
“We recently upgraded our website and now we sell things for weddings, christenings and Christmas.”
Whatever happens at the ceremony of the EVAs, it’s already been an awardwinning year for Clare, who picked up the Small Business Sunday award earlier this year.
Created by entrepreneur Theo Paphitis in 2010, Clare had to describe her store to the Dragon’s Den star in a single tweet and was over the moon when her pitch was retweeted to almost half a million of his followers.
Clare, who has lived in Macclesfield for the past 10 years, says she’s happy and honoured to have been nominated for the awards.
She said: “I don’t know who nominated me, but it’s quite an achievement for such a small company. It’s been quite a good year.”
Clare will compete against five other women for the highly coveted accolade. The overall win- ner is chosen through a stringent round of judging, an interview with a panel of highly regarded business professionals and public votes, which are first graded before being combined with the judges’ scores.
Public votes can be cast atenterprisevisionawards. co.uk.