Funded through the bank's Women in Business programme, the partnership came about following a recent Government white paper entitled Building a New Enterprise Framework (March 2008) which highlights the importance of women's enterprise and announced several steps designed to support businesswomen in achieving their potential.

One in four UK businesses are female-owned and it is estimated that if UK women were as enterprising as their US counterparts, there would be a further 750,000 businesses headed by women.

HSBC commercial manager Lisa Williams, who secured the funding for Forward Ladies, said the new partners would work together to offer training events based on the bespoke women's development programme HSBC managers undertake internally.

The programme starts in September with two training events, one of which is in Leeds.

The sponsorship money will also be used to support mentoring activities and mentor recruitment, which will be delivered through an online portal, networking events and skills programmes.

Forward Ladies managing director Etta Cohen added: "Many ladies I speak to are really demotivated by seeing women behaving as they felt they had to when breaking free from the traditional role of homemaker to gain respect in the workplace.

"Forward Ladies is a haven for female entrepreneurs seeking a more friendly, holistic and collaborative approach to nurturing their talent, exploring new opportunities and building their contact books."