Female run small businesses grow 18% in the last five years

As the world marks International Women’s Day this year – celebrating how far women have come in society, in politics and in economics – Simply Business can reveal that more women than ever are running their own small business.

Analysis of over 500,000 small businesses by SME insurer Simply Business, shows that while there are still a greater number of SMEs owned by men, female small business owners are rising at a significantly faster rate. The amount of females taking out policies increased the most within home baking, takeaway food and courier businesses.

Female-owned SMEs rose by 18% since 2017, compared to 14% growth in male-owned small businesses for the same period.  What’s more, according to Simply Business, Female-owned SMEs now account for 29% of all the small businesses in the UK.

Bea Montoya, Chief Operating Officer at Simply Business, commented: 

“International Women’s Day is hugely important in providing positive recognition of women all around the world. So we are delighted to mark this day to share that this year we are seeing more women than ever following their big dream and being their own boss – whether that’s turning a hobby into a livelihood, or using years of professional experience to do it alone.

“Small businesses are vital to our economy and will be at the heart of our collective recovery from the pandemic. Our data shows that increasingly it’s women who are leading the way. And given the number of female-owned small businesses continues to rise consistently year-on-year, we can only expect this to continue into 2022 and beyond.

“At Simply Business, we’re proud to support the thousands of remarkable women up and down the country who have stepped up to run successful and thriving small businesses.”

For a tailored business insurance policy visit the Simply business website