Company: WEConnect (www.weconnect.org.uk)
Based: Norwich
Employees: Two full-time
Members: 12 corporates, 30 women-owned businesses

Who are you?
Caroline Roberts, executive director of WEConnect, the diversity initiative that advocates women as suppliers to global and national corporations and government bodies.

What do you do?
Currently, women only access 3-5% of corporate and public procurement contracts. We get women-owned businesses into a situation where they’re ready to supply and give them contract opportunities, thereby helping them to grow.

What does that mean in practice?
We have an exclusive database, with details of our members’ businesses, which can be assessed by major companies when they have a contract opportunity, so they can invite our members to tender. Rather than positive discrimination, it’s about granting fair and equal access in the first place. Once one of our members has accessed those opportunities, they go into exactly the same tendering process as other companies. The female entrepreneur may not win the business, but they’ve been given the opportunity. We also run ‘meet the buyer’ events and do personal referrals. Some of the corporates will pick up the phone, tell us they’ve got contract work and ask us for recommendations.  

What size company suits you?
Our criteria for suppliers is that they are at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by women and are supply-ready. We also recommend that they’ve reached the VAT threshold, which means their turnover is greater than £64,000. If they haven’t got to that stage, they’re really not going to be in a position to supply.

Why should I care?
Large organisations often stick to what they know, but most realise that reaching new businesses is critical. It’s particularly important in the current climate, because they’ve got to find suppliers that will give them good deals, and bring innovation and talent into their supply chains.
One of the reasons we exist is that the pool of female-owned businesses is far smaller than those owned by men, making up just 17% of the companies in the UK. So an organisation like ours is critical to enabling large corporates to reach them.
For the female entrepreneurs, their growth is dependent on them getting to a point where they can widen their customer base. This is an opportunity for them to become customers of some big organisations.

What can you do for me that I can’t do myself?
The women-owned businesses are accredited by us. Large corporates normally undertake stringent due diligence of their suppliers, and our accreditation goes some way to providing the data they would need. It’s a pre-qualification process that we take out of their hands. We’re looking at factors such as a member’s financial position and which companies they have already supplied. We can also open businesses to contracts they would not necessarily be able to access themselves, or certainly not as easily.

What mistakes will you stop me from making?  
We give small businesses scale. Reaching corporates and getting through the door can be very difficult. We will stop them from overstretching their limited resources by trying to provide access to many. They’re on our database and we create the opportunities, helping them focus on other things, as well as winning new business.
can you Give me an example?
At a recent conference, around 10 firm appointments were made between the corporates and our members to discuss future business.

Why should I trust you?  
This is a proven system in the US, with a 15-year track record. In the US, there are over 500 corporations in membership, with  more than 4,000 women-owned businesses signed up as members.

What will it cost me?  
It depends on your turnover: up to £1m costs £380 plus VAT; £1m to £10m, £760; and over £10m, £1,140. Corporates are charged £6,000 annually for standard membership, or £10,000 for a charter membership, which gives them a place on our board of directors.