Ladies’s early-stage entrepreneurial exercise is now 9.2% of the UK’s grownup inhabitants, the very best stage ever recorded, and there was an enormous progress within the variety of self-employed females over 50, new analysis reveals.
Launched to coincide with Ladies’s Enterprise Day as a part of International Entrepreneurship Week, the report by Prowess: Ladies in Enterprise mentioned the proportion of females launching their very own enterprise is up from 5.7% of grownup inhabitants in 2015, whereas girls aged over 50 are one of many fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs, accounting for one in 4 feminine enterprise homeowners.
However whereas the research celebrated the “start-up increase”, it warned of a “scale-up disaster”.
That is because of the variety of women-led employer SMEs falling from 19% of all employer corporations in 2021 to 14% in 2025. The decline represents a lack of round 70,000 women-led employer corporations.
The report mentioned feminine entrepreneurs are being held again from scaling resulting from causes together with:
- Rising fastened prices and fragile margins
- Earnings volatility, particularly for these on Common Credit score
- Restricted entry to finance
- Enterprise fashions constructed round unpaid care and versatile work
- Sectoral focus in low-margin industries
The report additionally regardless of being a quick rising group, girls over 50 are underserved by enterprise assist and finance programmes which regularly goal youthful founders, and overlook mid-career redundancy, age discrimination, caring obligations for older kin and grandchildren and restricted pension safety.
There are challenges too for disabled girls entrepreneurs and ethnic minority girls, together with restricted entry to finance.
In the meantime, girls on Common Credit score face lowered hours or having to shut companies to keep away from breaching welfare guidelines.
Erika Watson, director of Prowess: Ladies in Enterprise, mentioned:
“Ladies are beginning companies in report numbers, however too few are capable of scale. The autumn in women-led employer corporations since 2021 reveals the system remains to be stacked towards them.
“With focused assist and finance, fairer welfare guidelines and assist for later-life entrepreneurs, girls’s enterprise may very well be one of many UK’s strongest financial progress alternatives.”
Among the many suggestions within the report are focused assist for girls to scale up their companies, increasing enterprise assist for girls over 50, bettering entry to follow-on finance and regional funding and align enterprise and welfare coverage so enterprise is just not penalised.
Different feminine entrepreneur findings
By way of the place girls entrepreneurs are primarily based, the report mentioned London remains to be house to the most important absolute variety of women-led companies, however the largest progress since 2020 has occurred elsewhere
That features a 41% rise in North West England, 37% in Scotland, 35% in West Midlands and 28% in Wales.
For the sector traits, girls’s entrepreneurship is concentrated in service sectors, notably well being and care, training, artistic industries, retail, {and professional} providers.
Nonetheless, the report mentioned a rising proportion of ladies are shifting into STEM-aligned and sustainability sectors, equivalent to digital consultancy, renewable power, and moral style.
Between 2015 and 2025, women-led companies in digital and ICT providers have greater than doubled (+115%).
In distinction, participation in hospitality and retail has stagnated post-pandemic due
to rising prices and labour shortages.
