In late May, BGF committed at least £300 million to the Invest in Women Taskforce’s funding pot to support scaling female-powered businesses over the next five years. The announcement this week is the first such move.

Business Growth Fund (BGF), a fund backed by several UK-listed banks, has made a multi-million-pound investment in CWC Group, a family-owned specialist care provider based in Co Down, Northern Ireland. 

The investment is the first BGF has made into a female-powered business since it committed at least £300 million ($402.7 million) to the Invest in Women Taskforce’s funding pot – as reported here in late May 2025 – to support scaling female-powered businesses over the next five years.

CWC Group was founded in 1983 by sisters-in-law, Monica Byrne and Imelda McGrady; it is a healthcare company providing domiciliary, residential nursing and disability care across seven locations throughout Northern Ireland. The firm is operated by Monica Byrne’s daughters, CEO Aisling Byrne, and chief learning and development officer Shauna Byrne.

BGF has led in female-driven scaleups for the past five years. The organisation, founded in 2011, is backed by major UK banks including Lloyds, NatWest, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Barclays.

The investment from BGF will support CWC Group’s acquisition of new sites and develop its service offering in specialist care. CWC has also welcomed Paula Kane as non-executive chair and David Jones as non-executive director to the board to provide further expertise as the company scales. Kane was previously founder and CEO of Ashdale Care Ireland and Jones is an ex-Deloitte UK healthcare partner.

The pledge to invest in female-led businesses forms part of BGF’s overall commitment to invest £3 billion in high-potential businesses across the UK over the next five years.

BGF typically provides initial investments of between £3 and £30 million in high-potential businesses. BGF is the most active investor in female-led scaleups; for the past five years it has invested £500 million in these types of business since its founding. In total, it has invested £4.5 billion in more than 560 companies, which it says makes it the most active investor in the UK and Ireland. BGF is a minority, non-controlling equity partner.

Main photo, left to right: Shauna Byrne, Paula Kane and Aisling Byrne.