UK government to launch a review into obstacles for women in business

Northern Women Angel Investment Forum to be held today

The UK government will launch a review into the barriers female entrepreneurs face. With just one in five British businesses female-run, the government will assess the obstacles impeding women from starting a business.

Leading commercial and private banker at RBS, Alison Rose, will overlook the initiative. The government appointed Alison Rose to report on the challenges women face in the business world.

The review is following a drive by ministers to encourage a better representation of women at senior levels of corporate life. In fact, the government has set a target to promote women to senior roles of FTSE 350 companies. Indeed, by 2020, women must make up one-third of boards and executive committees.

Earlier in May, the government revealed a list of the most outrageous excuses used for not appointing women to FTSE company boards.

Below are a list of ten shocking explanations given by a range of FTSE 350 Chairs and CEOs:

  1. “I don’t think women fit comfortably into the board environment”
  2. “There aren’t that many women with the right credentials and depth of experience to sit on the boards – the issues covered are extremely complex”
  3. “Most women don’t want the hassle or pressure of sitting on a board”
  4. “Shareholders just aren’t interested in the make-up of the board, so why should we be?”
  5. “My other board colleagues wouldn’t want to appoint a woman on our board”
  6. “All the ‘good’ women have already bee snapped up”
  7. “We have one woman already on the board, so we are done – it is someone elses’s turn”
  8. “There aren’t any vacancies at the moment – if there were I would think about appointing a woman”
  9. “We need to build the pipeline from the bottom – there just aren’t enough senior women in this sector”
  10. “I can’t just appoint a woman because I want to”

Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said:

“It’s shocking that some businesses think these pitiful and patronising excuses are acceptable reasons to keep women from the top jobs. Our most successful companies are those that champion diversity.”

Today, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Robert Jenrick, wrote that the UK’s untapped female entrepreneurship “may be the greatest economic opportunity of the 21st century”.

Mr Jenrick has said that the fact that so few businesses are started by women is “shocking”. Moreover, he has added that this “is not because of a lack of talent or appetite”.

In fact, research has shown that 2.7 million women in the UK want to start a business, but face persistent impediment.

The government’s review of these obstacles aims increase the representation of women at senior business levels.

In order to help women start and grow a business, the review will consider several points. First, the drivers of the disparity in male and female entrepreneurship. Next, the actions that could reduce barriers to female engagement in entrepreneurship. Additionally, it will assess any disparities between female-led and male-led firms seeking external finance, and what drives this.

The findings of the review will be published next Spring. Once published, the government will consider and respond to its findings.

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