The new resource is in response to findings of the Alison Rose Review that exposed institutional failings in serving UK female business owners.

A notable group of stakeholders from across industries has launched the Invest In Women Hub, a new resource to support women-led, early-stage scalable businesses in the UK. Run by the Council for Investing in Female Entrepreneurs, the goal of the hub is to boost direct funding opportunities for female business owners and create a centralised area for sharing expertise and networking.

In 2019, a government-sponsored review of the landscape for UK female entrepreneurs found a dismal lack of infrastructure and institutional support, which tackled properly could boost UK business by £250 billion.

The review, overseen by NatWest CEO Alison Rose, found that just 13 per cent of senior people on UK investment teams are women; almost half of investment teams have no women at all; and just 1 per cent of UK venture finance goes to all-female founders.

Other probes into who holds the investment reins have exposed industry shortcomings. A study by the Diversity Project found that just 9 per cent of senior managers in the asset management industry are female. In private equity and venture capital investment, the figures for female representation are worse still.

To help change these figures, the council put together best practice guidelines for venture capital firms, and limited and general partners in private equity - those on the frontline of financing SMEs. The new online resource is a continuation of those efforts.

Rose is one of several senior female industry figures blazing a trail to bring women business owners out of the shadows. The new hub, she said, will create new opportunities for female entrepreneurs “whether that’s through funding, mentoring or inspiration.”

The hub’s five content areas include funding know-how; business know-how; family support; inspiration; and COVID and Brexit support. Resources are supported by the British Business Bank, BVCA, UKBAA, the Scale-up Institute, UK Finance, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Pollen Street Capital, Simmons & Simmons, AA Advisors, KPMG, Coutts, Adelpha, Astia, Diversity VC and JP Morgan.