Business Gateway support for women in business

Written by Georgina Bowyer, UKSPF Grants Manager

Business Gateway Edinburgh offers support to new and existing businesses in Edinburgh and is delivered on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council. Business Gateway receives additional funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to support work that aims to increase the number of high-value start-up businesses; increase start-up numbers from previously underrepresented groups; and support first-time exporters to enter new markets.

One element of this work is the Women in Business (WIB) Growth programme, which is particularly relevant to note in the context of International Women’s Day earlier this month.  Government figures show that only 18% of small and medium enterprises in the UK are run by women (see more information here).  Reports cite a range of factors including a lack of funding, bias against women and caring responsibilities.  The WIB programme provides the support and encouragement women need to get their business growth ambitions running effectively. It enables more female entrepreneurs to maximise the potential of their existing businesses and formulate strategies for development and growth.

The main aims of WIB Growth are:

• to motivate women who wish to grow their business into taking action
• to increase the growth and survival of businesses already trading
• to increase the business skills of aspiring and existing female entrepreneurs
• to increase the number of networks used by women
• to improve communication among female entrepreneurs and build a strong community of businesswomen in Edinburgh and across Scotland

One recent success at Business Gateway has been the partnership work undertaken with other UKSPF-funded projects. Business Gateway and Networking Key Services (NKS) have worked together to deliver business support for South Asian groups, with one client joining the Women in Business Spark and Scale programme, where she is working to expand her home baking business.

To find out more about Business Gateway, you can visit the website here: Business Gateway Edinburgh website.