A recent study has revealed Sheffield and Bristol to be the two best cities to be a female entrepreneur in the UK!
These findings come from research by Yorkshire Bank (CYBG plc), which gathered the attitudes and opinions of 2,000 small business owners and entrepreneurs, from a variety of sectors across the UK. In Sheffield, 38% of female business owners reported growth of their enterprise over the last 12 months. This highlights the great opportunities available in Sheffield for small businesses!
Head of Innovation & New Ways of Working CYBG, Samantha Bedford said: “The business community is incredibly strong and supportive, particularly in the North.”
“The Northern Business community helps each other to reach their growth goals, and I have no doubt that the North will continue along its positive path in the months ahead.”
Jim Lawson, Director of the Wosskow Brown Foundation, commented: “This is great news for the city and comes hot on the heels of another recent survey which put Sheffield at No.1 city in the UK for running a business. These two surveys speak volumes for the hard work and resilience of the local ecosystem partners, like ourselves, in providing the wrap-around support business founders need to be successful.”
When touching further on the support the Foundation provides to business founders, Jim said: “In the 5 years since we launched our Foundation, in 2014, we have helped 967 organisations in some way. Our ethos is based on joining organisations in their journey, and also supporting them when they come to a bump in the road”.
The Future of Female run Businesses in the UK
On a national scale however, Samantha said the study did reveal “there are still disparities between male and female entrepreneurs”. This comes from data showing only 34% of women had plans to grow their business over the next year, compared to 42% of their male counterparts. These findings are thought to display that female entrepreneurs as typically less optimistic about the future.
Samantha added: “A larger proportion of females are finding it difficult to receive the funding they need and that’s an area we can work on, to try and close the growth gap and support the wider ambitions.”
Understanding what funding is available is vital for business founders. Wosskow Brown Foundation aims to help both the start up and growth of businesses, by directing them towards the correct finance options for them. These include loans, investment, banks, venture capital and even social impact funding.
Another study by Paymentsense however, found just over a third (34%) of UK SMEs are now run by females, an increase on the 19% in 2017. If this level of growth continues, it will hopefully boost confidence in the female entrepreneur community, for the future of their businesses.
