Cumbrian based business owner and familiar face within our network, Lisa Smith, has been selected to front a national campaign featuring 15 businesses to improve the way female entrepreneurs and business leaders are represented in media and advertising.

Lisa runs Cumbrian based Ginger Bakers, who are artisan bakers of handmade cakes, traybakes, loaf cakes, tarts and an array of baked seasonal specials.

NatWest has partnered with Getty Images on the Female Focus campaign to create a new gallery of images on gettyimages.com to illustrate the diversity of female-led businesses in the UK. Lisa Smith was photographed and features in the first set of images released this month.

The campaign comes at a pivotal time as research commissioned by NatWest in conjunction with YouGov shows that female entrepreneurs have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, compared with men.

Lisa Smith, owner of Kendal-based Ginger Bakers, like many business owners has had to adapt to a tough year, focussing her sales on the end customer rather than wholesale and the hospitality industry her previous route to market.

Lisa explained: “Trading in the pandemic has been a real challenge, but one we rose to with enthusiasm. My hope is that when we return to more normal times we will be well equipped to trade to a much wider audience.”

Lisa’s business journey has been interesting and challenging over the years, but she is keen to see more people take the bull by the horns and become business innovators and entrepreneurs. With that in mind Lisa has provided one piece of advice to all aspiring business owners to help them on their journey and that is to: “Talk, talk, talk. Gain advice, share experiences and learn along the way.”

The new Getty Images gallery features a range of NatWest’s own customers and authentically depicts women of all ages and backgrounds working across a diverse spectrum of industries including farming, blacksmithing, recycling, sustainable business, technology and wellness, and also reflects the impact of the pandemic on how certain sectors operate.

The campaign is the latest in a series of female-focussed initiatives by NatWest. Earlier this year, the bank doubled its UK Female Entrepreneurship Funding to £2billion.

Margaret Jobling, chief marketing officer at NatWest, commented: “Providing funding and business support is central to how we support female-led businesses as a bank. But we know the issue is far broader than this, and that a lack of relatable role models is another barrier that needs to be overcome before women can picture themselves setting up a business.”

“Through this partnership with Getty Images, we want to encourage a more realistic and diverse portrayal of female business owners, workers and entrepreneurs in the UK, and hope that this is just the beginning of that transformation.”

The partners will continue to add images to the gallery with NatWest now opening the project up and asking the general public to nominate inspiring female business owners to be photographed and featured.

The next 15 women selected to take part in the campaign will receive 1:1 coaching sessions and business support from NatWest as well as a photoshoot with Getty Images in addition to being featured as part of the image gallery.

For more information on NatWest’s support for female entrepreneurs, and to nominate women to feature in the next series of shoots, please visit: https://femalefocus.natwestbusinesshub.com