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Budget includes £12.5 million fund for women entrepreneurs

Mar 12 2008

Alistair Darling has announced a £12.5 million fund which will be spent on redressing the gender imbalance among entrepreneurs.

In his first budget, the chancellor said the fund will 'initially' stand at £12.5 million and will be put aside to 'specifically encourage more women entrepreneurs'.

As part of the government's enterprise strategy, the Telegraph says the new scheme will target mothers through children's centres and will offer advice on how to prepare business plans, how to run a firm, and how to pitch for investment.

A government source quoted by the Professional Contractors Group claims: 'John Hutton [Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform] will say that he wants to see the UK become the most enterprising economy in the world in the next ten years and for that we need the UK's women.'

The Annual Small Business Survey 2006-06 has found that only 14 per cent of small businesses with employees are led by women and business minister Shriti Vadera says that if Britain had proportionately the same number of female entrepreneurs as in the United States, the UK would have 700,000 more businesses.

Comments [5]

Comment by Frances Turbull

Thursday 13th March 2008

Great news, now how do we access it??

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Comment by Adam Wayland

Thursday 13th March 2008

That's a very good question but as yet the details are quite
sketchy.

All that has been confirmed by BERR is that women will be targeted
with advice on how to run a business, 'increased networking
support'.

Initially, £12.5 million of government cash will be available through a
'capital fund focused mainly on investing in women-led businesses'.
We will keep you updated when we have more details.

Adam Wayland, Editor, SmallBusiness.co.uk

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Comment by deborah nagan

Saturday 15th March 2008

Interesting - especially as self employed mothers are not able to access the same childcare benefits as employed mothers - when will it be a level playing field for the self employed?

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Comment by Diane Dickenson

Tuesday 18th March 2008

When will the funding be available, as I am looking to expand my business within the next 3 months and any help would be appreciated.

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Comment by Kimberly Light

Friday 4th April 2008

Where can I find information on the goverment grants for Woman entrepeneurs? Thanks

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