Treasury launches review into barriers for women in business

Friday, 21 September 2018 00:01

Alison Rose appointed to examine barriers faced by female entrepreneurs The review will identify ways of harnessing this untapped talent Only one third of UK entrepreneurs are women Women looking to start and grow a business may be facing unfair obstacles not experienced by their male counterparts, the Exchequer Secretary said today, as he launched a review and vowed to break down barriers. While the UK is one of the...Request free trial

Alison Rose appointed to examine barriers faced by female entrepreneurs
The review will identify ways of harnessing this untapped talent
Only one third of UK entrepreneurs are women

Women looking to start and grow a business may be facing unfair obstacles not experienced by their male counterparts, the Exchequer Secretary said today, as he launched a review and vowed to break down barriers.

While the UK is one of the best places in the world to grow a business, women are half as likely as men to be involved in starting one. This has led to only one in five small and medium-sized employers being run by women – creating a significant pool of untapped entrepreneurial potential.

Leading businesswoman, Alison Rose, who is now Chief Executive of RBS Commercial and Private Banking, will lead the government review to identify the extent of these barriers and explore what can be done to overcome them.

Robert Jenrick, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said:

“The fact that Britain is home to so many new, innovative businesses is something to be proud of. But the fact that so few of them are started by women is shocking. This is not because of a lack of talent or appetite.

“Therefore, it’s vital that we identify the barriers that are hampering entrepreneurial women from securing the backing that businessmen have taken for granted.

“Alison’s vast experience in investment banking will be invaluable to helping us level the playing field and empower even more talent in our economy.”

Alison Rose, CEO Commercial and Private Banking, said:

“If we want to strengthen the UK’s position as one of the best places in the world to start and grow a business, then no-one can be left behind.

“Unfortunately, statistics show that women make up only a third of all entrepreneurs in the UK - to better drive the UK’s economy, we need to understand, and tackle, the barriers and reasons as to why this is - more can be done to support women in enterprise.

“I am looking forward to working with the Treasury on this important initiative.”

Kelly Tolhurst, Small Business Minister, said:

“Entrepreneurs and small businesses are the backbone of our economy and central to our modern Industrial Strategy. As a former small business owner myself I recognize many of the issues faced by female entrepreneurs up and down the country.

“This review will bolster our work to make it easier for them to access the support they need to get their ideas off the ground and grow their businesses.”

The review will look at ways to help women start and grow a business by considering:

The drivers of the disparity in male and female entrepreneurship
Actions that could reduce barriers to female engagement in entrepreneurship
Any disparities between female-led and male-led firms seeking and receiving external finance, and what drives this
Examples of best-practice that investors and financial services firms seeking to avoid gender-bias in their investment decisions could adopt

The announcement forms part of the government’s work to increase diversity and build a Britain in which small businesses continue to thrive.

The government will consider and respond to the findings of the review when it is published in the Spring.

Contact

Edward Rowley

edward.rowley@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Notes to editors

Alison Rose is a leading businesswoman in the banking sector. She is currently the Chief Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Corporate, Commercial & Private Banking business and a member of the RBS Executive Committee. She has worked at RBS for over 20 years and has previously been shortlisted for the 'most influential woman in investment banking' award by Financial News.
In 2017 the male TEA (total entrepreneurial activity) rate stood at 11.9% and the female rate 5.6%.
Only nineteen per cent of SME employers were majority-led by women, defined as controlled by a single woman or having a management team of which a majority were women.
Women are underrepresented in more senior occupations. For example, women only make up 27 per cent of full-time chief executives and senior officials.
In July 2018, HM Treasury announced that a further 68 firms have signed the Women in Finance Charter, taking the total number to 273 firms across the financial services sector and covering over 760,000 UK financial services employees
1,100 businesses start every day in Britain – or one every 75 seconds – and small and medium size businesses support more than 16 million jobs across the UK.
The Government is working to increase workplace gender diversity through:
Mandatory reporting of gender pay gaps and bonuses for voluntary, public and private sector employers with 250 staff or more. The UK was one of the first countries to introduce such measures.
The Hampton-Alexander Review, which set FTSE 350 companies a target of having one third of all board members and senior position filled by women by 2020. The latest statistics will be announced in November.