NatWest has announced an additional £1 billion in funding to help support female-led businesses in the UK recover from the coronavirus.
The aim is to ultimately help female entrepreneurs to scale and grow and builds on the £1bn announced last January, which was the largest intervention by a UK lender focused specifically on female-led businesses.
Read More: Intesa Sanapolo to Hire 3500 New Staff as 7200 Take Voluntary Exit Package
The bank has also committed to help create an additional 35,000 new businesses in the UK by the end of 2021, focusing its efforts on underrepresented groups and geographical inequality.
Due to the extraordinary impacts of the coronavirus the bank has seen unprecedented demand from female-led businesses and has exceeded £1bn of lending in under 12 months. The impacts of the coronavirus combined with the availability and ease of access through digital channels of Government lending schemes, has led to many more female entrepreneurs applying for funding. The NatWest share of lending to female founders has not only increased in absolute terms, but proportionately rising from 9.5% to 14% of total lending.
A central finding of The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship (‘the Rose Review’), was that the single biggest issue holding female entrepreneurs back is the lack of funding directed towards them. Traditionally women are less likely to take on debt than male-led businesses and this can impact their ability to scale and group at the same rate. The increased engagement stimulated through the government schemes has also allowed NatWest to ensure that female entrepreneurs gain access to this overall package of support.
The additional funding will be open to both new and existing customers and represents new lending into the UK economy with the intention to continue to close the gap with male entrepreneurs. The need for support and encouragement for female entrepreneurs is needed as much as ever due to the disproportionate impact of the crisis on women. Recent research commissioned by NatWest in conjunction with YouGov in December 2020 suggests that:
Read More: Latinia Invests In Fintech Company Ábaco To Boost Financial Inclusion In The Region
1 in 10 of the female entrepreneurs surveyed plan to start a business in 2021;
55% of the female business leaders surveyed would not recommend starting a business in their sector in 2021;
Surveyed female entrepreneurs and business owners are 17% more likely to struggle balancing business with family life during the pandemic; and,
Nearly three quarters (71%) of female business owners and entrepreneurs surveyed found managing their business stressful during the pandemic, compared with just over half of males (55%).
Watch Diana Reid – CEO and Founder, The Shortbread Company, talk about how NatWest has supported her & helped her grow her business in recent years:
NatWest Group CEO, Alison Rose, commented: “As we build a purpose-led bank that champions the potential of people, families and businesses up and down the country, we are committed to supporting the UK’s recovery from the crisis. However, if women find themselves at even more of a professional disadvantage on the other side of this crisis, then we’ll be attempting to build an economic recovery whilst ignoring a huge area of potential.”
Read More: SEB Takes Payments Wearables to Denmark and Finland
