Skip to main content

Working from home.

 


The UK economy can thrive by supporting women

£250bn would be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled up businesses at the same rate as men In the past two years, with the economy disrupted by a pandemic and lockdowns, many people have had to find new ways to make ends meet. One less-told side of that story is that Companies House data shows 140,000 businesses were started by women in 2021, compared to 56,000 in 2019. The NatWest SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) Taskforce devoted its most recent event to discussing how women entrepreneurs can be better supported and financed to build on this.

NatWest’s A Springboard to Recovery report highlighted that increasing female entrepreneurship and the productivity of women-led businesses is one of the biggest opportunities for growing UK gross value added (GVA). More than doubling the number of women-led businesses and increasing their productivity by about 40 per cent would drive around £50bn in GVA, adding around 50,000 new female entrepreneurs and 260,000 more women-led businesses in the UK economy by 2030.

There have been a series of efforts to support more women entrepreneurs and to remove the barriers to them. In 2019, Alison Rose, chief executive of NatWest Group, was asked by the Treasury to look into why women face more barriers in entrepreneurship. In response to her report, the government announced an ambition to increase the number of women entrepreneurs by 50 per cent to 600,000 by 2030.

“The headline from the initial report many of you will remember was that if women were to open and scale businesses at the same rate as their male counterparts, it would add £250bn to the UK economy,” said Julie Baker, head of enterprise, climate engagement and partnerships at NatWest. Baker set out some of the work she has been doing with strategic partners from both the private and public sector to support entrepreneurs, especially those from “harder-to-reach” communities and minority communities. “Two years into the pandemic, female entrepreneurship has proven to be exceptionally resilient. And in fact, I think we were all surprised when we saw the number of female-founded firms that were created last year,” she said.

“We know that a lot of females were impacted by furlough,” Baker continued, with around 58 per cent of all those furloughed being women. Many worked in lower-paid jobs and in sectors that were badly affected by the lockdowns, such as retail, health and beauty. “They all sat at home thinking ‘what can I do with all this time’ and they set up a business,” she said.

However, one of the persistent issues for women-led businesses is how to scale up, and it is not yet clear whether these new businesses will carry on as “side hustles” or scale up. Baker said NatWest is launching a Gender Index, which will keep a live count on women-founded companies, and that it will be updated on a regular basis.
One of the main barriers to women is still access to finance. Data shows women-led businesses got less money on average from, for example, the Start-up Loan and Bounce Back Loans schemes, and women often do not ask for the amount of capital they need,

The Investing in Women Code launched with 20 members in 2019 and commits financial institutions that sign up to share their data on lending to women and report annually. This means they are committed to focusing on making their processes simple for women to access finance. The Investing in Women Code now has 134 signatories, including mainstream banks and venture capital, such as the UK Business Angels Association. Members are also making more funding available to women entrepreneurs. NatWest Group’s Rose launched a £2bn SME fund at the bank and other banks are now following suit. Alongside this are best practices in place to support entrepreneurs, such as event programmers, mentoring, and access to markets and networks.

Childcare is another key issue for women entrepreneurs, with many women taking on even more caring responsibilities during the pandemic. In a challenging economic environment, investing in women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses can deliver huge economic and social benefits. The challenge is to remove those long barriers that keep women from starting up or expanding and ensuring that the impact of economic uncertainties in 2022 does not halt or reverse the progress we are making as a business community

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Does Money Make you mean.

  Does Money Make Us Happier? Wellbeing is influenced by many things aside from income. Key points Some studies claim that money is associated with greater happiness. This blog re-analyzes one study with a "plain stats" approach. This analysis suggests money has only a small relationship with happiness. Money is important and necessary to some extent, but other things matter too.  It is often easy to equate money with   happiness   and success. But does  money buy us happiness? One study suggests it might. The author, Matt Killingsworth, claimed the study  Some might take this study as evidence that money does make us happier. But while this study has value, it might be difficult for the average person to interpret: the article is replete with concepts like logarithms, slopes and  z -scores—concepts which many are unfamiliar with. To help us get a better sense of what Killingsworth’s data really says, I want to To understand the data, we first hav...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Can You Transit Your New Career with Online Courses

  How Can You Transit Your New Career with  Online Courses In today’s fast-paced world, many professionals find themselves considering a career change. Whether it’s due to a desire for better job satisfaction, higher income, or the pursuit of a long-held passion, transitioning careers can be daunting. Fortunately, top online courses provide an accessible and effective way to acquire new skills and knowledge necessary for this shift. This article will explore how online courses can support your transition to a new career. What are the important skills you need for this transition? When changing careers, one of the most significant barriers is often the lack of relevant skills or credentials required in your new field. Online courses offer an excellent opportunity to bridge this gap. They allow you to learn at your own pace and focus on specific skills in demand in your desired industry. By investing time in these educational resources, you enhance your employability and increas...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Build a Strong Online Presence for your online business.

  How to Build a Strong Online Presence That Attracts more customers for Your business. In today’s digital age, having a robust online presence is essential for attracting clients and growing your business. Whether you’re a freelancer, a small business owner, or a professional looking to enhance your career prospects, establishing yourself online can set you apart from the competition. This article will guide you through the steps necessary to build a strong online presence that showcases your skills and draws potential clients to you. Step 1. Define Your Brand Before you dive into creating an online presence, take some time to define your brand. What are your core values? What makes you unique? Consider how you want others to perceive you. A clear brand identity will help guide your decisions regarding content creation and social media engagement. Step 2. Create a Professional Website A professional website is often the cornerstone of an effective online presence. It should includ...
Post a Comment
Read more