Lancashare

Santander Women Business Leaders’ Mentoring Programme (WBL) in Lancashire

Santander

2026-02-03 00:00:00

Nominations open: 2026-02-03 00:00:00

Nominations close: 2026-03-09 00:00:00

England

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About the programme

The WBL programme is designed to support female business owners and founders who are ready to grow and develop their businesses through the guidance and support of an experienced mentor.

We are also keen to hear from potential mentors who would like to share their business and entrepreneurial expertise and give back by supporting the next generation of women leaders. If this sounds like you, we’d love to receive your application.

Supporting women and entrepreneurship
 
We've run our Women Business Leaders' mentoring programme since 2019. It’s a key part of our commitment to the Government's Investing in Women Code. The Code supports the advancement of female founders and business owners in the UK. It does this by improving access to tools, resources, and finance.
 
Find out more about the Government's Investing in Women Code.  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investing-in-women-code-annual-report-2025

2 ways of participating in the programme

Become a mentee and get access to highly experienced experts or become a mentor and support growing small to medium sized businesses owned by women.


If you want to be a mentee

To get a place on the programme you’ll be:
  • a Santander business customer, or interested in becoming one
  • a female founder, owner or majority shareholder of a business
  • registered as a UK company and trading for a minimum of 18 months.
 
To get the most out of the programme you'll need to: 
  • be prepared to take responsibility for progressing your business 
  • be open to feedback and challenge from your mentor 
  • have a clear ambition to scale up your business. This could include growing your network or your team. 

If you want to be a mentor

Here’s what we look for in a mentor:
  • experience of having run or owned your own business, or
  • a business leader with corporate experience
  • Knowledge of small to medium size businesses is also required.
 
We take on both female and male mentors. 
What's important is that you want to make a difference and support ambitious female business owners.
 
To be a great mentor you'll need to: 
  • understand how small and medium size businesses work
  • be prepared to share insights based on your experiences
  • be a positive role model
  • be committed, reliable and maintain discretion
  • have great listening skills and be easy to talk to
  • be happy to complete mentor training.


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