Yorkshire seeing boom in numbers of women setting up businesses, Rose Review reveals

The figures are published today in the Rose Review Progress Report 2023, which sets fresh goals to provide record levels of support for female entrepreneurs and drive up the numbers of female angel investors.

In 2019, the Treasury commissioned Alison Rose, the CEO of NatWest, to lead an independent review of female entrepreneurship. This week has seen the launch of the 2023 Progress report, highlighting the work and progress achieved in 2022 and the commitments for the year ahead.

More than twice as many companies led by women were created last year as in 2018.

However, the report sets out the importance of increasing the support available for female founders in the face of economic headwinds.

A total of 190 financial services institutions have now made formal commitments to improve female entrepreneurs’ chances of success by signing the Investing in Women Code, up from 134 in the previous year.

A fifth of new incorporations last year were all-female led, a figure that has risen from 16 per cent in 2018. The biggest leap in new female-led firms was among those established by 16-25-year-old founders, numbers of which rose by almost a quarter.

Alison Rose, CEO NatWest Group and author of the Rose Review, said: “It’s a testament to the resilience and entrepreneurialism of female founders that they are creating more companies than ever before, and the Rose Review is expanding its support for their work.

2Across the UK our partners have provided more than 800,000 opportunities for female entrepreneurs to get the help they need to thrive.

“In the coming year we will continue to provide fresh initiatives offering mentorship, guidance and inspiration for founders, alongside securing new commitments from financial services institutions to make it easier for female-led companies to access vital capital. By listening closely to entrepreneurs and acting on what they tell us, we will provide backing to help them grow their networks, secure finance and achieve their goals.”

Small business minister and Yorkshire MP Kevin Hollinrake said: “It’s great news over 150,000 women started new businesses last year – more than ever before - and seeing the number of businesses started by 16 to 25-year-olds increase by a quarter reaffirms the UK as a place of opportunity for all.”