Fuelling business success in female founders through investment

Dr Sophie Dale-Black (Director, Midlands – UK Network at the British Business Bank)

The Midlands has become a hub for women taking the leap into entrepreneurship.

Figures from The Gender Index Report 2023 state that 17.6% of active companies in the West Midlands are female-led, the second highest region after London. The East Midlands is also in the higher percentile with 16.7% female-led businesses.

Female founders are blazing a trail for themselves and it is certainly encouraging to see. Despite challenging economic conditions, innovative businesses across the Midlands within a wide range of sectors are striving for growth.

However, these economic challenges are particularly difficult to navigate for female entrepreneurs, who have historically faced gender-based barriers that have prevented them from achieving their professional goals. This is why it is important to ensure businesses have access to the right kind of support and that any barriers to success are unlocked.

Seeking investment

Despite an encouraging upturn in recent years, according to the Investing in Women Code report, still only just over 20% of companies founded in 2022 were led by women. Fewer female-led businesses seek funding than their male counterparts, often due to misconceptions about the funding journey.

As a consequence, for example, women are much less likely to apply for a loan and incorrectly believe that they must find alternative avenues or self-fund their new businesses in order to give themselves equal footing.

Networking opportunities

While we’re seeing headway for female-led businesses across the board, there are still a lot of sectors with limited networking opportunities or avenues to peer support and access to finance.

A lack of representation can create a daunting environment for anybody, so it is vital that there is ample opportunity to seek commonality.  That is why it is positive to see female-led networking events and webinars that are increasing the visibility of women in business, reversing negative stereotypes and helping to create a level playing field. We’ve seen this ourselves in the region with the Women in Business Association located in the West Midlands, as well as separate events we have supported such as the recent Women Entrepreneurs Pitch Competition in Birmingham, the upcoming Unleash Your Business Potential: Discover the Power of Funding webinar for businesses in the East Midlands.

Last November, we also partnered with a number of funding readiness organisations during the British Business Bank’s Business Finance Week including NatWest, East Midlands-based FundingHero and Lincolnshire’s Business Angels. By working together, we can achieve more impact in supporting Midlands businesses.

The Bank’s Start Up Loans programme has provided loans for new and exciting female-led businesses which are starting up. In the Midlands, the Bank has provided £52m through more than 5,000 loans to female founders, with £31m going to the West Midlands and £21m to the East Midlands. This is just one area of focus that has seen the programme invest more than £143m in the region as a whole.

We’re also keen to continually showcase the finance options available to female-led businesses within the Midlands. This includes our upcoming alternative funding webinar, which will be hosted in early March 2024. It will focus on the issues faced by female entrepreneurs in accessing loans and other debt finance products.

We believe that signposting and support are sorely needed to help those who want to build their own business, but are stuck on where to turn when seeking investment and guidance.

Commitment to female founders

We want to do what we can to provide female-led businesses with the help, support and finance they need to thrive across the Midlands. The British Business Bank is among the 241 organisations signed up to support female entrepreneurship as part of the Investing in Women Code. This commitment shows support for the advancement of female entrepreneurs’ access to tools, resources and finance from the financial services sector.

Further information can be found, along with independent and impartial advice, on the British Business Bank Finance Hub which outlines all the financing options available to smaller businesses.