Investment in female entrepreneurs key to unlock £250 billion for UK economy

The Rose Review, published in 2019, revealed that better support for female entrepreneurs is the key to realising up to £250 billion of additional value for the UK economy – but more needs to be done to unlock this potential.

Following the Rose Review, the government published the Investing in Women Code, a commitment by financial services firms, aimed at increasing funding directed towards female entrepreneurs. More than 130 firms had signed up by last year. In 2022 the Rose Review published a progress report, and there are positives.

Female entrepreneurship

Two years into the pandemic, female entrepreneurship has proved exceptionally resilient. Awareness has grown of the benefits and importance of supporting female leadership, and initiatives designed to encourage networking and sharing of experience, such as law firm Blake Morgan’s Women in Leadership forum (blakemorgan.co.uk/women-in-leadership/ ) and Investing in Success (blakemorgan. co.uk/investing-in-success/) programme offer support to female leaders.

The progress report shows more women than ever are starting new businesses. More than 140,000 all-female-founded companies were created last year, and this figure is growing by around a third each year. Tens of thousands of entrepreneurs have benefited from advice and mentoring schemes and thousands of students have received enterprise training. It means that more than 20% of new firms are now led by women – a record high.

A key part of inspiring this change is to see senior women leading successful businesses, especially those in traditionally masculine professions. Since her election in 2021, Kath Shimmin, Banking and Finance partner and Chair at Blake Morgan, has supported the firm’s work in introducing new opportunities for aspirational women and female entrepreneurs.

“It’s fantastic to see so many women founders and leaders driving their businesses forwards,” Kath said, “but we need to do more to support them, and to make it easier for more women to reach their potential. Networking forums like the ones run by Blake Morgan can help by providing opportunities for female entrepreneurs to connect with others in similar roles and to learn and develop leadership skills, but there’s still more to be done, some of which involves changing the culture in the businesses in which women in male dominated sectors seek to progress.”

The Rose Review

Despite the progress made, Alison Rose, CEO NatWest Group and author of the report, warns that the pandemic has exacerbated the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in starting and scaling their businesses.

The review found that female entrepreneurs spent twice as long on caring responsibilities during the pandemic as their male counterparts, and their businesses were less likely to recover. As a result, an unacceptable disparity between men and women starting businesses remains. Female-led businesses are still underfunded, and new businesses are almost three times as likely to be started by men than women.

And the UK economy is missing out as a result. According to global consultancy, Boston Consulting Group, start-ups founded and co-founded by women actually performed better over time, generating 10% more in cumulative revenue over a five-year period. “Ultimately, investing in women entrepreneurs isn’t just the right thing to do, it also makes financial sense for businesses and the wider economy,” commented Shimmin.

Alison Rose commented on the progress report findings, saying: “Women still don’t receive all the support they need and the pandemic risks holding back progress, so we must go further to achieve the goals of the Rose Review. Data shows that more women than ever are starting new businesses and we must harness this potential. That means more financial institutions committing to delivering change and funding. We also need more direct support for businesses across the UK and we must propose fresh, imaginative solutions to the challenges posed by women’s caring responsibilities.