PETERBOROUGH Women’s Enterprise Centre will open its doors to budding female entrepreneurs on Monday March 15.

The centre is funded by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), project managed by YTKO and delivered by Enterprising Women on behalf of Peterborough City Council. It has been running courses in locations across the city for the past few months but opens as a functioning facility at its home in Bridge Street on March 15.

The centre is the second of its kind in the UK. As well as offering advice about financing and setting up a business, the centre will include a wi-fi enabled computer and hot desking area, a training room and mailbox facilities which women can use for business correspondence. A crèche is on site for use by mothers who are taking part in the centre’s wide range of training courses and there will be a café and a wardrobe exchange – both of which will open in due course.

An invitation-only launch event will mark the centre’s official opening on Friday March 19.

Councillor Marco Cereste, leader of the city council, said, “The centre is an innovative facility and will be an excellent asset for Peterborough, providing a welcome boost to our economy. I am sure that there are many women across the city who have an idea for a business but don’t know how to move it forward, which is where the centre can help. I expect that in years to come we will see many new businesses grow locally which have roots in this very centre.”

Centre manager Georgette Rouncefield said, “We are delighted that all our hard work has come to fruition as the centre opens to city women next week. The centre has been designed completely with the needs and wants of women in mind, from the courses aimed at boosting confidence, to the wardrobe exchange offering the loan of interview outfits for women who may not already have something suitable. I look forward to welcoming women through our doors and watching their business ideas grow.”

The course schedule for March includes Business Start Up training from 10am to 3pm on Tuesday March 16, Wednesday March 17, Thursday March 18, and a Growing You session on Wednesday March 24 from 10am to 4pm followed by a Growing Your Business session from 10am to 4pm Wednesday March  31.

For more information, please call freephone 0800 028 5751 or go to www.pwec.org.uk

What do you think of an enterprise centre for women? Do women need special help? Is the advice and information available elsewhere failing to meet the specialised needs of women entrepreneurs? Should the city’s men be entitled to their own café and wardrobe exchange? We would like to read your comments on this story.