NINETY per cent of the entrepreneurs in the region believe women are just as good as men at leadership, a survey has found.

In the survey, carried out by the Newcastle office of Venture Finance, 63 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises were able to name a famous female business leader from the UK.

Those named included Anita Roddick, of the Bodyshop, Barbara Cassani, former boss of Go Fly UK, and Kate Swann, chief executive of WHSmith.

Statistics from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) suggest that the number of women leaders will increase in the future.

FSB's findings indicate that a strong UK economy is encouraging more people to start their own business, especially women, who accounted for 35 per cent of entrepreneurs who set up a company in the past three years.

Mark Humphreys, regional manager at Venture, said: "According to the 2003 Global Entrepreneur Monitor, a third of the female population would start a business if it wasn't for fear of failure, so having confidence in yourself can be the key to achieving success.

"Recognising that you cannot be an expert in all areas of business is important.

"One way of building your confidence is to outsource those functions where your knowledge is limited.

"Experts are on hand to help you with these areas of your business, such as your finances.

"This means that your venture has the best chance of survival."