New fund to focus on female-led businesses

The private banking arm of NatWest and the UK and Ireland’s most active investor in growing businesses have joined forces to launch a new fund that will have a specific focus on female-led companies based in the UK.

The UK Enterprise Fund – a collaboration between Coutts and BGF – will draw upon the two companies’ financial firepower to identify and address equity gaps across the whole of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The partnership will develop initiatives and programmes to help increase the diversity of management teams.

The launch of the fund coincides with the one-year anniversary of the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, which found that the UK is lagging behind many peer countries in terms of its ratio of female to male entrepreneurs.

Alison Rose, CEO of NatWest and author of the Review, said: “I am proud to be announcing that Coutts is working with BGF to develop The UK Enterprise Fund. This is a pivotal moment for the Rose Review and represents the great progress made in addressing the biggest barrier to women-led businesses, that of access to capital.”

Stephen Welton, founder and CEO of BGF, said: “While there is innovation and progress in many areas of the investment and entrepreneurial communities, the lack of diversity needs to be addressed. We are missing out on a huge opportunity to back more talented businesses. BGF has already shown the power of having a clear focus on the regional economy which has resulted in over 75% of our investments being outside London and the South East. Now we want to build on that by doing more to back other underrepresented groups.

“We’re delighted to join forces with Coutts, who share our ethos and passion around inclusive entrepreneurship. That needs to be about more than just money. With the right focus, role models, support and capital we can and should do much better as an industry. This partnership will test both investor and entrepreneur appetite to do more.”

Mo Syed, managing director at Coutts, added: “We are proud to partner with BGF to launch The UK Enterprise Fund – addressing one of the key barriers as identified by the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, that of lack of capital. Coutts is committed to supporting the UK’s entrepreneurs and this Fund will build on the existing framework through which Coutts clients already support private businesses via the Coutts Investment Opportunity Service.”