Company Formation Gets A Gender Agenda

As we have stated in previous posts, company formation figures are up , however a recent report conducted by Barclays, suggest that a high proportion of those recently formed companies are owned by women.

The report reveals that the number of women starting their own company has risen by almost 30% since 2000. Additionally, the report found that, as consequence of wider childcare availability – among other contributing factors- eight people out of ten believe it is easier for women to start a business than ever before.

But why now – in a recession – have many women begun to consider company formation a viable option? Michelle March, founder of online swimwear website ‘Under the Ocean’, thinks it is the consequence of a number of important factors;

“We are all aware that the recession has hit many sectors which are traditionally male dominated, such as finance. Therefore, many women may now be the sole bread-winner in their household. When my husband was made redundant from his job working in the city, I became solely responsible for our family’s finances. While, to an extent I embraced the challenge, I found the number of hours I was working away from my family, in order to fund our lifestyle was too much. Therefore, I wanted a job that that would allow me to continue doing what I loved ,but allowed me more flexibility – forming my own company offered the perfect solution.”

Helen Fowler, head of marketing for Barclays Small Businesses, comments, “ A 28% rise in the number of women forming their own company, indicates that the contemporary female entrepreneur is confident in her ability in business and more than capable to play her role in the recovery of the UK’ s enterprise and economy.”