MORE women entrepreneurs are needed to help grow the economy, according to business leaders in Coventry and Warwickshire.

The local branch of the Federation of Small Businesses says government must learn from the United States in encouraging more female-owned firms across the UK.

Experts say that women-owned businesses only make up 29 per cent of self-employed people in the UK despite nearly half of the working population being female.

The statement was made as the UK celebrated International Women’s Day yesterday.

In a new report, Women in business. Female entrepreneurship; creating growth and dispelling the myths, the FSB is calling on the government to learn from the US and other EU countries.

Experts are calling for government to remove barriers to self-employment, promote alternative sources of financing, encourage mentoring and promote female entrepreneurship role models.

Women’s enterprise contributes around £130 billion turnover and £70 billion gross added value every year. But if the UK had the same level of female entrepreneurship as the US, there would be 600,000 extra women-owned businesses, contributing an additional £42 billion to the economy.

Bruce Undy, Warwickshire and Coventry chairman of the FSB, said: “The number of female entrepreneurs is strikingly low, and yet increasing the number of women who run their own small business will be good for the economy.




While the government has said it is looking into female entrepreneurship, the FSB believes it is an economic resource the government has yet to fully tap into within its plans to grow the economy.

The FSB is calling on government to offer female mentors through the New Enterprise Allowance Scheme and promote women-specific business networks, forums and mentors through Jobcentre Plus.

They also want to see the introduction of enterprise clubs for women to facilitate networking with successful female entrepreneurs and provide access to speakers and advisors on how to start up a business.