Half of female entrepreneurs are REJECTED when applying for new business loans
Half of female entrepreneurs are REJECTED when applying for new business loans, new research suggests: Women believe they are seen as ‘part-timers’ because they have children and are less professional than male counterparts
- Half of the female entrepreneurs who apply for a loan or investment are rejected
- Women in Yorkshire and the Humber and Scotland struggled more than other areas
Half of women entrepreneurs have been turned down for a loan to finance their new business, putting a damper on the government’s ambitions to boost the UK economy, according to new research.
Some female entrepreneurs claimed they were considered “part-timers” because they have children or are seen as less serious professionals than their male counterparts.
Around 53% of women in the UK admitted that limited access to finance made it challenging to start their own business, the financial platform Tide found in a survey of its members.
Not being able to access financing or a loan was seen as the biggest barrier to successfully starting a business.
The challenges were even greater for black women: More than two-thirds of black women entrepreneurs found the process challenging.
Nearly 53 percent of women in the UK admitted that limited access to finance makes it difficult to start their own business
Half of the female entrepreneurs who apply for a loan or investment are rejected
It compares to just under half of white and Indian women saying so, exposing the additional barriers some ethnic minority women face.
The report also pointed to regional divisions, with businesswomen in Yorkshire and the Humber and Scotland struggling to access finance more than any other region.
In the UK, half of women entrepreneurs who apply for a loan or investment to finance their new business are turned down, according to the study.
Samantha Senior, the founder of an accounting firm for the medical aesthetics industry called The Aesthetic Accountants, said she struggled to access funding as a self-employed mother and after taking a beating during Covid.
She also highlighted encountering “traditional” attitudes in the male-dominated accountancy industry.
She said: ‘Myself and other female accountants have found that at times we still run into traditional beliefs that accountancy is a male-dominated industry.
“The perception of some established male accountants is that female professionals take the industry less seriously than their male counterparts.
“We may be seen as part-time, appropriate work around our children, but we work hard to expose these misconceptions.”
The findings come despite the government’s push to boost economic growth and boost business investment at a time when the economy is flattening.
The UK narrowly avoided a recession in the last three months of 2022, with gross domestic product (GDP) rising by just 0.01% in the quarter.
Nevertheless, numerous financial firms have pledged to help increase women entrepreneurs’ chances of success when it comes to accessing critical finance.
Some 190 financial services firms have signed the Investing in Women Code, which formally requires companies to promote women-founded businesses.
Major lenders such as NatWest, Lloyds Bank, Barclays and Santander are all members of the code.
And a recent progress report from the Rose Review – an independent study of female entrepreneurship led by Dame Alison Rose, the head of NatWest Group – found that by 2022 more women than ever before will be founding businesses.
The data showed that 150,000 new companies were created during the year, more than ever before and more than twice as many in 2018.
In addition, Tide said it partnered with more than 100,000 women-led businesses to help them get started.