Women’s Enterprise Day report highlights urgent need for finance reform, welfare alignment and support for older women entrepreneurs
A new report from Prowess: Women in Business shows that women’s start-up activity in the UK has reached its highest level in a decade — but the number of women-led employer businesses has fallen sharply since 2021.
The State of Women's Enterprise 2025, released to mark Women’s Enterprise Day on 19 November, draws on data from GEM, ONS, the Longitudinal Small Business Survey and sector analysis. It identifies strong early-stage entrepreneurial growth among women but “deepening structural barriers” are limiting progression to employer status.
Key findings
Record start-up activity: Women’s early-stage entrepreneurship has risen from 5.7% (2015) to 9.2% (2025).
Decline in employer firms: Women-led employer SMEs dropped...