A Lancashire woman has been chosen as one of the Telegraph NatWest’s 100 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch in her first 12 months of her entrepreneurship.

Christina Melling from Adlington, Chorley created an online platform called Stipendium, which aims to make it quicker, cheaper and simpler to buy a house, remortgage and get a will.

Ms Melling was selected by The Telegraph who told her that her creativity, innovation and perseverance through difficult economic times, and her potential for future growth have made her stand out from other female entrepreneurs and impressed their esteemed panel of judges.

Celebrating her success, The Telegraph and NatWest invited Ms Melling to a Parliamentary reception and lunch at the Palace of Westminster yesterday (November 21).

Lancashire Telegraph:

The University of Central Lancashire graduate said: “To be included in such a fantastic list and among so many incredible women in business is such an incredible feeling and the perfect end to my first year in business.

“This type of recognition means the world to me and makes me even prouder of the business. Starting a business can be overwhelming, and battling through the difficult economic times has only served to make me even more committed to simplifying the journeys of major life events.“

When asked about the inspiration behind the business, Ms Melling added: “I think there is a huge financial education gap in the UK and there’s no better time than the present to fill it.

“The process of buying a house can be a stressful and fragmented journey and there is a big opportunity for simplification through innovation.”

Ms Melling has backgrounds in both law and financial planning and last year decided to embark on a new venture to simplify and streamline the house-buying journey to make it easier for the nation’s first-time buyers to get on the property ladder.

Stipendium’s first product, Merge, is a complete housebuying journey with all the tools and services in one place, from mortgage to move-in – “the Deliveroo for getting on the property ladder.”

Ms Melling said: "The tech behind the package also allows for it to be accessed by voucher code. People are used to buying a gift cards to give to friends, family or employees, now they can buy a gift card for a house-buying journey, remortgage or will, too.”

Research shows that 74 per cent of teenagers do not feel confident about their financial education.

“There is a vast cost to the UK economy as a result of financial stress - for families, first-time buyers, homeowners, students, employers and employees,” Ms Melling added. “My aim is to continue to futureproof the nation and their finances through spreading education and awareness about the products along with providing employers the opportunity to invest in the lifecycles of their workforce in a new and innovative way.”