A “glaring” gender disparity in access to Covid-19 grant funding by women-led companies in Scotland will be highlighted to MSPs today (September 1).
Carolyn Currie, chief executive of business group Women’s Enterprise Scotland (WES), will tell Scottish Parliament economy and fair work committee members businesses run by women accounted for just 10.6% of the total cash available to firms under two key funding initiatives last year.
Citing new study findings from data analysis firm mnAI, Ms Currie will also tell the MSPs women-led companies made up only 13.3% of the total successful applications under the two schemes.
Urgent, targeted action is required to ensure women’s businesses in Scotland can access the financial resources they need to recover, grow and make their rightful contribution to the Scottish economy.”
Carolyn Currie, chief executive, Women’s Enterprise Scotland.
The £30 million Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund (CTHEHF) and £120m Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund (PERF) were designed to provide grant support to small and medium-sized enterprises, which are vital to the economy but were left vulnerable by the pandemic.
They were also aimed at larger tourism, hospitality, and creative industry companies that were experiencing hardship as a result of Covid-19.
Even the care sector had a gender gap
According to WES, women-led companies received 15.7% of the CTHEHF funding and for PERF, it was just 9.7%.
Men were more likely than women to gain funding across every industry sector, the study found. This includes the care sector, which is heavily dominated by women.
Women-led firms received less than 10% of the total funding in more than half (17 out of 32) of Scottish council areas.
Three local authority areas – Angus, East Dunbartonshire and East Lothian – allocated no PERF grants to women-owned/led companies at all.
Ms Currie said: “This data provides us with a stark insight on the grant funding received by women-led companies during the pandemic.
“Even when grant support is made available to businesses, structural inequalities prevail and limit women’s access to crucial funding.
“Urgent, targeted action is required to ensure women’s businesses in Scotland can access the financial resources they need to recover, grow and make their rightful contribution to the Scottish economy.”
Access to finance is one of five core themes in the Women in Enterprise Strategic Framework and Action Plan, co-developed by WES and the Scottish Government in 2014 and refreshed in 2017.
The 2017 update underlined the importance of measurement and gender-disaggregated data.
Ms Currie said it was time to implement a Women’s Business Centre model which gives female entrepreneurs the expert support they require.
She also highlighted a need for more advisers to be trained in the provision of gender-aware business support.
“Gender diversity powers radical, step-change innovation and Scotland needs women’s businesses to boost our productivity”, she added.
£8.8bn economic contribution
Research in 2018 found women-owned companies were making an £8.8 billion contribution to the Scottish economy every year in gross value added terms.
They were also creating more than 230,000 jobs, equating to 13% of private-sector employment in Scotland.
WES was established in 2011 to create a voice for female-owned enterprises in Scotland, and to promote policy and best practice which allows women to successfully start up and grow their own businesses.
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