One of the UK’s biggest banks has delivered a major boost to women in business by launching a £1 billion funding pot to support female entrepreneurs.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said it hoped the move would help to address a key finding of the Rose Review – led by chief executive Alison Rose and commissioned by the Treasury – that businesses created by women receive less start-up and growth funding than those launched by men.
The Scottish banking giant also announced a new target to “support and inspire” 500, 000 people across the UK to consider starting a business – of whom at least 60% would be women – in order to help create at least 50,000 new businesses by 2023.
RBS said it would make it the biggest supporter of start-ups in Britain.
Ms Rose, who became the first woman to lead a major UK bank when she took the helm of RBS last November, said: “We are focusing on the areas where we can have the biggest positive impact across society.
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and we are backing Britain’s entrepreneurs and helping them to thrive by removing barriers to success.
“The funding and targets announced today will help support anyone who is thinking about starting a business throughout the UK. There is much more to come.
“Building a business is often tough and lonely and can be harder than it needs to be.
“By tackling the most important issues facing our entrepreneurs, we can make a real difference to those who need it most, especially in female-led businesses.”
In her review findings, published last year, Ms Rose said a lack of funding was the single biggest issue holding women entrepreneurs back at every stage of their business development.
Welcoming the bank’s new funding yesterday Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said: “Building on the groundbreaking work of the Rose review, RBS is offering a real boost for the country’s female entrepreneurs.”
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