A WINCHESTER business owner is a finalist in the UK's longest-running awards for female entrepreneurs.

Cait Salanson, founder of the Little Kitchen Company, has reached the final of the everywoman Entrepreneur Awards in the Mumpreneur category.

Cait left a senior role in financial services in 2010 to found the Little Kitchen Company. 

The business was born out of a passion fo food and customer experience, as well as a desire to better balance the challenges of a growing family (now Arthur 15, Jack 13 and Molly 10).  

It has grown into an award-winning business employing more than 70 permanent staff. As a supporter of women in business, she is proud to offer senior roles to talented women, building on their pre-established work, life skills and talents. 

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Now in its 21st year, the everywoman Entrepreneur Awards, in association with BGF and NatWest, continues its mission to share the ever-evolving story of Britain’s most inspirational female entrepreneurs. From all walks of life, these stories include their success in the face of adversity, innovative ways to solve business challenges and their ambition to scale and grow their businesses.

Maxine Benson, co-founder of everywoman, said: “When we launched the everywoman Entrepreneur Awards, we wanted to recognise the economic contribution of female entrepreneurs as job and wealth creators, as innovators, and as influential role models for future generations. And since then, everywoman has been at the forefront of the drive to increase the number of female entrepreneurs, working with government, industry bodies and the corporate sector to accelerate the rate of progress and dismantle barriers that remain for women, particularly when it comes to accessing funding, growing, and scaling their businesses. 

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“The everywoman Entrepreneur Awards have a central role to play in highlighting the disconnect between the growth ambitions of female-founded businesses and their access to funding. Of the larger fast growth scale up businesses that entered this year 76 per cent stated they were definitely, or very likely, going to be seeking additional funding in the next 12 months, over 80 per cent were planning to deploy more technology and 95 per cent said they would be recruiting more employees. These women are wealth and job creators and the businesses we must be investing in for the growth of UK Plc.

“This programme has created an incredibly unique group of like-minded women who not only advocate and champion each other, but also provide a business referral and a support network. These annual awards will see these unstoppable female founders gather in London again to celebrate this year’s finalists and winners and to recognise their role to the UK economy.”

The award winners will be announced at a live ceremony on December 6 in London.

For more information about the awards and to book tickets, visit everywoman.com/entrepreneur-awards/.