STAY consistent - and “don’t ever, ever give up”.

That’s the advice from Bournemouth-based businesswoman Barbara Cox, who fed everyone from footballers to Paralympians before selling her company and launching a career in writing and consultancy.

Barbara, a former junior skating champion, first became interested in nutrition while living in Japan with her family. When she returned to the UK, she founded healthy meal delivery company Nutrichef.

She was one of three female entrepreneurs to speak at a Virgin StartUp Meetup in Bournemouth.

“When I first started out, there wasn’t a platform like this for me to access help or have a mentor, so I made every mistake there was in the book. It helped me learn really quickly,” she said.

“Now I can offer some of that information and help to other women and men starting their own businesses.

“There’s room for us all.”

Barbara said her business motto is “together, stronger, faster”.

“When I first started out, 80 per cent of businesses went bust after three years. We went 12 years before we sold it,” she said.

“We saw a lot of businesses come and go. I am positive that percentage would be lower today because of networking events like this.”

Barbara was joined by Diana Parkes, an authority on women in the world of work, and professional competition rider Lucienne Elms.

“If I can help one person navigate through a problem and help their business soar and become successful, then that’s fantastic. It’s about paying it forward,” she said.

“If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. It’s not easy but you do it.

“It’s about a consistent effort. Don’t ever, ever give up. There are times that I wanted to throw in the towel, but I didn’t.

“I just worked through it.”

Virgin StartUp business advisor Alex Chisnall, who hosted the ‘winning women’ event, said just 19 per cent of business in the UK are owned by women.

“Virgin has given hundreds of loans to businesses, and we’re proud that 40 per cent of those loans have gone to businesses owned by women,” he said.

“That figure will be in the teens if you look elsewhere.

“It’s something we want to shout about.”