The Richard Spooner Column: Women entrepreneurs missing out�

I can 't believe how times flies, even in these dreary lockdown days when you would expect every passing minute to feel like an hour.

But the passing of time was driven home to me this week when the Chamber announced Henrietta Brealey as the youngest chief executive in its 208 years.

Henrietta is the fifth chief executive I have worked with at the Chamber - Bob Moore, Sue Battle, Jerry Blackett and, of course, the current incumbent, Paul Faulkner.

Henrietta is among many women who are rightly making their mark in business but according to a new report, all is not well among female entrepreneurs.

Funding remains a significant challenge and current research by Instant Offices reveals that 35 per cent of female business founders still face gender bias when trying to raise business capital. And female entrepreneurs also receive an average of 5 per cent less funding than their male counterparts.

Although there has been encouraging growth from a mere 17 per cent to 32.37 per cent over the past four years, men are still twice as likely to start their own businesses, with women comprising just less than one-third of UK business founders according the survey.

It 's clear that much more can be done to support women-owned businesses and women in senior positions.

Interestingly studies have shown female business owners are most likely to run their business as a one-woman company. While 37.70 per cent of women entrepreneurs work alone, 27.14 per cent have two to three employees and just 23.44 per cent employ teams of four or more.

The UK business categories with the highest percentage of female vs male entrepreneurs include hair and beauty, wellness, and consumables. The Instant Offices findings were:

• Hair and beauty: 76 per cent female v 24 per cent male
• Gifts and occasions: 67 per cent female v 32 per cent male
• Consumables: 64 per cent female v 36 per cent male
• Wellness: 63 per cent female v 37 per cent male
• Pet care: 61 per cent female v 38 per cent male

In contrast, women are most underrepresented as business owners in the following industries:

• Electronics and appliances: 3 per cent female vs 97 per cent male
• Construction services: 5 per cent female vs 95 per cent male
• Outdoor and garden services: 5 per cent female vs 95 per cent male

The barriers included the funding gap:

• Women are 81 per cent less likely to be confident that they can access start-up funds
• Women estimate that they need 40 per cent less funding to get started
• Women start out with an average of 53 per cent less capital

The Scaling Gap:

• 46 per cent of female entrepreneurs do not seek scale loans as they expect issues with the process
• 40 per cent of female entrepreneurs do not seek scale loans as they expect to be turned down
• Only around 10 per cent of female-led businesses in the UK are successfully scaling

The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to accelerate greater flexibility in the workplace, with remote working and the forefront. And more flexibility at home should mean parental leave can be distributed more equably so that women can achieve a better work/life balance.

And that also means the prospect of more brilliant female entrepreneurs emerging�