From Promise to Power: Building an Economy That Works for Women Founders

A new House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee report on Women Entrepreneurs (2025) has laid out the scale of the opportunity. If women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men, it could add £250 billion to the UK economy. 

It’s a headline that can stop you in your tracks. For years, the conversation around women’s enterprise has focused on underrepresentation. This report reframes it as one of the greatest untapped growth opportunities of our time. 

And while progress has been made, with more than 150,000 additional women starting businesses each year since the 2019 Rose Review,  it also confirms that too many still face an uneven path to scale. Women-led firms contribute around £85 billion to the economy yet remain five times less likely than male-led ones to reach £1 million turnover. 

Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, has seen the difference diversity makes first-hand: 

The Committee reaches the same conclusion: equality isn’t a side issue; it’s an economic driver. 

Unequal growth, familiar patterns 

The funding imbalance remains stubborn. Only 2 per cent of venture capital and 9 per cent of angel investment go to all-female founding teams. Even when women seek finance, they’re more likely to be turned down or to request smaller amounts. 

Debbie Wosskow, co-founder of AllBright, comments: 

The report calls for gender-lens investing across both government and private sectors and insists that consistent, transparent data is the foundation for change. Without it, bias remains invisible and progress impossible to track. 

And behind the numbers are lived realities. Tania Boler, founder of Elvie, once said: 

“When you walk into a room to pitch a women’s health product and it’s full of men, you see right away why systemic bias is part of the problem.”³ 

Her words echo through the Committee’s findings: that representation in decision-making circles still shapes outcomes. 

The midlife mountain 

One of the report’s most resonant ideas is the “midlife mountain.” It describes how women reach peak professional experience at the same time as peak caring responsibilities - a collision of potential and pressure that too often halts growth. 

For many founders, this is the stage where businesses either accelerate or stall. The Committee argues for affordable childcare, flexible finance, and programmes designed for mid-career women, reframing this period as an economic opportunity rather than a constraint. 

Emma Heal, Managing Director of Lucky Saint, captures the point: 

It’s precisely the balance the report calls for: one that treats women’s experience as an asset, not a compromise. 

Networks that change trajectories 

Mentoring is another area where the gap is wide. Only 5 per cent of women entrepreneurs have a mentor, compared with 30 per cent of men. The report highlights mentoring as one of the most cost-effective ways to improve growth and survival rates. 

Holly Tucker MBE describes mentorship as more than guidance: 

And visibility matters just as much as connection. Simone Roche MBE, founder of Northern Power Women, puts it plainly: 

The report cites Northern Power Women and Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation as examples of programmes that successfully combine role models, peer learning, and practical funding. Together, they demonstrate that progress doesn’t always require radical reform - sometimes it’s about amplifying what already works. 

Signs of change 

Despite the gaps, momentum is building. The report notes a surge in female-led start-ups and growing awareness among investors that inclusion is a competitive advantage. Alex Depledge MBE, founder of Resi, believes the key is accountability: 

It’s an argument that aligns with the Committee’s call for gender-balanced public procurement and systematic reporting by lenders and investors. When inclusion is measured, it improves. 

And there’s a cultural shift too. The report highlights a new generation of founders proving that commercial growth and social purpose can coexist. Emilie Vanpoperinghe, co-founder of Oddbox, sees this as the future of entrepreneurship: 

The data backs her up. Women-led businesses already over-index in innovation, sustainability and community impact, precisely the qualities driving modern investment decisions. 

From promise to power 

The direction of travel is clear: women are not a side note in the economy but central to its future growth and innovation. The question now is whether policy, capital and culture can keep pace. 

For those already leading businesses, the report reads as both validation and invitation. It confirms what many have long known - that women’s enterprises are powerful contributors to growth - and it challenges the UK to build an infrastructure worthy of that reality. 

Marcia Kilgore, founder of Beauty Pie, sums it up: 

That belief, the report reminds us, must be systemic as well as personal. Progress depends not only on policy but on connection: women sharing experience, mentoring each other, and being visible at every stage of ownership and leadership. 

That’s where initiatives like Women of Influence come in, creating space for founders, leaders and decision-makers to meet, exchange ideas and shape what comes next. 

The promise is clear. The power comes when women have the access, visibility and backing their ideas deserve.