Half of female entrepreneurs have been turned down for a loan to fund their new business, even as the Government pledges ambitious growth for the British economy, new research has revealed.
Some 53 per cent of women across the UK struggled to access finance to start their own businesses, rising to more than two-thirds among black women, according to a survey by financial platform Tide, highlighting the barriers women are still facing in business in the UK ahead of International Women’s Day on Wednesday.
The research runs contrary to Government goals currently in place to encourage business investment and stimulate national growth at a time of economic uncertainty.
Samantha Senior, the founder of an accountancy firm for the medical aesthetics industry called The Aesthetic Accountants, is one such person who struggled to get her business off the ground.
She told Tide she struggled to access finance to start her firm and felt it was in part due to outdated views on gender.
“The perception of some established male accountants is that women professionals take the industry less seriously than their male counterparts,” Senior said.
“We can be seen as part-timers, fitting work in around our children but we’re working hard to challenge these misconceptions.”
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This gender inequality runs all the way from the top, as separate analysis shows women hold less than 9 per cent of chief executive and chairperson roles in the UK’s financial services sector.
A new study by employment law specialists Fox and Partners found that, in total, women occupy just 14.8 per cent of the most senior positions at financial services firms.
Progress is happening at a snail’s pace with the company estimating at the current rate, it will take 70 years to reach gender parity in senior roles.
Caroline Field, Partner at Fox and Partner, said: “Financial services is only part of the way down the long road to enabling equality in senior positions.
“It has long been recognised that a ‘boys club’ atmosphere within firms is a deterrent to women. That is gradually being fixed but if more women are to ascend to the highest ranks, workplaces will need to be more inclusive.”
Field also says that firms need to rethink their reintegration practices for staff returning after maternity leave, to ensure they are brought up to speed and don’t feel unsupported, which can be a key barrier to rising through the ranks.
Pay inequality too, can be a significant deterrent, as companies where senior men are seen to be earning more than female counterparts, may deter women from progression.
The research also found that within senior management roles, women are more likely to hold non-executive roles than be major decision makers.
Across the 13 roles tracked (those which must be approved by the regulator), Chief Operations Officer had the widest gender gap, with only 3.6 per cent of COO roles in financial services being held by women. Meanwhile rules like chair of the risk committee and independent director, are far closer to balance.