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Written question asked by Kanishka Narayan (Labour) on Wednesday, 2 April 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 7 April 2025. It was answered by Gareth Thomas (Labour) on Wednesday, 16 April 2025 on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade.

New Businesses: Investment

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of funding disparities on the growth potential of female-led and minority-led businesses; and what steps he is taking to work with public investment institutions to close that gap.

Answer

According to data from research firm Beauhurst, the proportion of equity finance to female-led teams was stark at 2% in the first half of 2024, in comparison to 86% for all-male teams. To directly increase this, the government-backed Invest in Women Taskforce has launched a £255 million fund to invest in female entrepreneurs through female investors.

To help increase the availability of funding to minority-led businesses, the British Business Bank launched the Community ENABLE Funding programme in November 2024, expected to issue loans worth up to £150 million over the next 2 years.

Further, the Small Business Access to Finance call for evidence, launched on 13 March 2025, considers the difficulty of accessing finance for female and minority-led businesses. We will take forward further work in those areas once we have properly considered the results of the call for evidence.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
43514
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Women Equality Investment Minority groups New businesses
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk