Labour to boost female businesses after ‘wasted decade’ of Tory neglect
Labour is launching a push to increase the number of women-led businesses following a “wasted decade” for the business sector.
Morning Wire has been told that the party’s shadow women and equalities minister Anneliese Dodds will today address a collection of female small business owners and entrepreneurs at the Federation of Small Businesses in London.
Dodds is expected to outline proposed changes to the British Business Bank scheme designed to support female-founded companies.
These changes would include the development of two new KPIs, including an overall investment allocation target towards women and ethnic minority founders, and reporting on the diversity of applications considered.
“From the women embarking on starting a business, to those running a thriving company and seeking investment, Labour is on your side,” Dodds will say.
“The Conservatives’ economic chaos and lack of action on supporting women entrepreneurs are putting up barriers to women’s success, not bringing them down, leading to a wasted decade for women entrepreneurs and leaving much needed growth on the table.
“Labour, as the party of business, will unlock the talent, ideas and creativity of every woman starting and running a business and generate much needed economic growth for our country.”
It comes as Labour’s analysis of government figures shows that there has been “a wasted decade for women entrepreneurs”, with no growth in the proportion of women-led small businesses
in the past decade.
Government statistics show that 21 per cent of small businesses without employees were women-led in 2012, compared to 20 per cent in 2022, the most recent year with figures available.
For small businesses with employees, 19 per cent were women-led in 2012 and in the decade hence, the figure dropped one per cent.
A lack of investment is cited as a reason for women-led businesses lagging behind those led by men, with less than 5 per cent of venture funding currently going to female founders.
By contrast, all-male teams accounted for 84 per cent of total venture capital funding in 2020.
The move comes as momentum builds towards a general election where Keir Starmer’s Labour holds a significant lead in the polls over Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives.
A YouGov poll conducted at the end of last week show a 44 per cent voter intention towards Labour with the Tories languishing on 19 per cent, the same level achieved in the wake of Liz Truss’ mini-budget catastrophe two years ago.