The UK is known for its vibrant entrepreneurial culture and robust economy, and women have played a massive role in this. There has been a remarkable rise in women entrepreneurs over the past few decades, and women-led businesses are an essential part of the UK economy.
Women-led businesses account for a substantial proportion of businesses and contribute significantly to job creation and economic development, however it found that only 16.2% of women-led companies receive no external investment, higher than any other category.
The money.co.uk business loans team has taken a deep dive into the state of women’s entrepreneurship in the UK. This includes the number of self-employed women, the country’s women in business hotspots, and how women-led businesses perform against those founded and managed by men.
|
Rank |
Investment type |
Total companies invested in |
Women-led companies |
Women-led companies (%) |
|
1 |
No Investment |
5,080,285 |
859,995 |
16.9% |
|
2 |
Angel |
1,624,732 |
198,761 |
12.2% |
|
3 |
Company |
587,843 |
39,679 |
6.8% |
|
4 |
Venture Capital |
9,081 |
556 |
6.1% |
|
5 |
Private Equity |
12,423 |
460 |
3.7% |
- 16.9% of companies receiving no external investment are those run by women, higher than any other category. This suggests that a higher proportion of women-led companies may be self-funded or not receive any external investments.
- Of those that do receive investment, it’s most likely to be in the form of an angel investor. With 12.2% of angel investments feeding into women-led companies.
- However, women-led companies are much more underrepresented when it comes to those being invested in via company (6.8%), venture capital (6.1%) and private equity (4.7%) investment.
|
CEO gender |
Male |
Female |
|
Count |
916 |
84 |
|
Count (%) |
92% |
8% |
|
Average revenue |
$20bn |
$26bn |
|
Average revenue change |
19% |
13% |
|
Average profits |
$1.7bn |
$1.5bn |
|
Average profits change |
33% |
-61% |
|
Average assets |
$55bn |
$128bn |
|
Average market value* |
$41bn |
$30bn |
- Regarding gender representation, companies led by men dominate, representing 92% (916 out of 1,000) of the total. Comparatively, companies with women CEOs make up only 8% (84 out of 1,000) of these companies.
- Despite the smaller representation, women-led companies show some interesting performance attributes. Women-led companies, on average, have significantly larger revenues, with average revenue of $26 billion, compared to the average revenue of $20 billion reported by companies led by men. However, in the last year, companies led by men saw their revenue increase more than women-led ones, at 19%, compared to 13%.
- In terms of profitability, companies led by men have a slight edge, with average profits of $1.7 billion compared to $1.5 billion for women-led companies. Furthermore, men-led companies showed a substantial average profit change of a third. In comparison, women-led companies demonstrated a considerable decrease in profit change, averaging 61%.
- In terms of assets, women-led companies far outstrip those led by men. On average, women-led companies have assets of $128 billion, compared to those led by men, which have average assets of $55 billion. Lastly, when looking at market value, companies led by men slightly outperformed women-led companies. The average market value for companies led by men is $41 billion, whereas women-led companies have an average market value of $30 billion.