Leading financial institutions, advisory services companies and government organisations have collaborated to create the Invest in Women Hub, an innovative resource run by the Council for Investing in Female Entrepreneurs (CIFE), aiming to accelerate female entrepreneurship. The Council is the industry advisory group for the Rose Review Board.
Members of the CIFE have launched the Invest in Women Hub to reach more female entrepreneurs to share knowledge and improve access for those in need of funding and support, and create direct opportunities to share expertise, networks and inspiration.
The Council members have used their collective resources to bring the voice of entrepreneurs to the hub, which will be widely shared across their business networks, aimed at female entrepreneurs leading early stage and scale up businesses. The collaboration of the organisations will facilitate broad promotion of the hub as a single port of call for female entrepreneurs, across private and public organisations throughout the UK.
Expert content and input was provided by leading financial institutions, law firms, private equity investors and advisory services companies including the British Business Bank, BVCA, UKBAA, the Scale-up Institute, UK Finance, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Pollen Street Capital, Simmons & Simmons, AA Advisors, KPMG, Coutts, Adelpha, Astia, Diversity VC and JP Morgan.
Resources on the hub fall into five key areas: funding know-how; business know-how; family support; inspiration; and Covid and Brexit support.
The Invest in Women Hub also has a dedicated direct contact resource to facilitate connections across the UK regions, making relevant advice and guidance even easier to access. This resource is supported by KPMG.
Commenting on the Invest in Women Hub, Alison Rose, CEO, NatWest Group, says: “The latest findings of the Rose Review show that the pandemic has compounded the difficulties and obstacles faced by many women in starting, continuing and scaling their business. Against this backdrop, good progress has been made this year in supporting female-led businesses, and today’s launch of the Invest in Women hub is another fantastic example of the industry collaboration that now takes place.
“The hub should help ensure that female entrepreneurs have greater oversight of the opportunities that are open to them, whether that’s through funding, mentoring or inspiration, in turn levelling up the playing field for business owners that could generate up to £250billion for the UK economy.”
Alexandra Daly, CEO and Founder of AA Advisors and co-chair of the Council for Investing in Female Entrepreneurs, adds: “A huge thank-you to everyone who has assisted in originating our hub. The team took a thought and built a vision. The reality is a one-stop-shop of information that we hope will inspire and assist female entrepreneurs to achieve their goals. Special thanks to Lindsey McMurray and team at Pollen Street Capital and Emma Wheeler at UBS – your tireless work has hugely contributed to this superb achievement. Thanks too to the British Business Bank for providing technical guidance with launch preparations. I’m very proud of the Council’s achievement launching the hub and the collaborative nature in which it was created.”
Paul Scully, MP and Parliamentary Under Secretary for State (Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets), says: “Tackling barriers faced by female entrepreneurs will make a huge difference as we build back better from the pandemic.
“The world of business should be open to everyone, and this new Invest in Women Hub will give budding entrepreneurs the tools they need to start and grow their business.
“With supportive networks to share knowledge with, advice on accessing funding and much more all in one place, the Hub will be a great resource for the UK’s female entrepreneurs and innovators.”
