Boosting Female Business Founders

6th March 2020

A brand new project to encourage 100s of women from across Wales to start their own businesses has officially launched in the capital today (6.3.2020).

Future Female Founders, a collaboration between Chwarae Teg, NatWest and Simply Do Ideas, was unveiled by Alison Rose, CEO, NatWest and Robert Begbie, CEO, NatWest Markets at the bank’s accelerator hub in Cardiff.

A recent report produced by Alison Rose and the UK Government into the value of female entrepreneurship found that there was much work to be done to tackle the gender gap in business start-ups, which if filled could add up to £250billion to the UK economy. Among other striking imbalances, the report also highlighted the fact that only 1 in 3 UK entrepreneurs are female: a gender gap equivalent to 1.1million missing businesses.

The project will see gender equality charity, Chwarae Teg running a four events across Wales in the coming months for would be female entrepreneurs in Wales. At each, women will have access to workshops designed to build confidence, training and provide expert advice on topics ranging from writing business plans to sourcing funding. Full details of the first two events, which will be hosted at The Enterprise Hub @M-SParc on Anglesey 24th April and at The Enterprise Hub in Wrexham on 15th May, will be promoted later in March.

The package of start-up support is further enhanced by an online platform from Simply Do Ideas, where women can register now at www.sdi.click/founders. This will enable them to build their early-stage business ideas in a safe, digital space whilst developing the confidence to move forwards.

Chwarae Teg is very excited to be part of this project which aims to unlock the economic potential of female entepreneurs from across Wales. I’d urge women from all walks of life who have a burning business idea they’d like to explore, to come along to one of our events. They will be led by expert women, for women, with the aim of giving them the confidence and the skills that they need to tackle the barriers that many women face when looking to start a business.
Cerys Furlong
Chief Executive, Chwarae Teg

Starting a business is hard. It can be terrifying to share an early-stage idea with anyone. So, the platform provides a virtual community where early-stage ideas and confidence can be built whilst engaging with other women on the same journey and facing the same challenges. It perfectly feeds into the Chwarae Teg offline events where ideas can be further explored ahead of progression to the excellent Welsh start-up support ecosystem.
Lee Sharma
Chief Executive, Simply Do Ideas

NatWest is delighted to support the Future Female Founders project. As the biggest supporter of British business, our work with SMEs, including through our Cardiff and Bristol Accelerator Hubs, makes us acutely aware of the barriers to entry faced by female-led businesses and start-ups. In line with the recommendations of the Rose Review, it is vital that organisations and businesses work collaboratively to help build networks and create the support needed for entrepreneurs to succeed.
Alison Rose
CEO, NatWest