
The Investing in Women Code is a commitment to support the advancement of female entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom by improving female entrepreneurs’ access to tools, resources and finance from the financial services sector.
A diverse and inclusive business ecosystem is good for customers, entrepreneurs, businesses, investors, and society. The Department for Business and Trade and the signatory firms share a commitment to work in partnership to make the United Kingdom one of the most attractive countries in the world to start and grow a business by advancing female entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom.
The Investing in Women Code is designed for all organisations that finance entrepreneurs.
The Code commits organisations to promoting female entrepreneurship by:
- having a nominated member of the senior leadership team who will be responsible for supporting equality in access to finance
- increasing the transparency of financial services firms’ data concerning support for female entrepreneurs
- adopting internal practices to improve the outlook for female entrepreneurs
Signatory commitments
1. Nominate a member of the senior leadership team responsible for supporting equality
2. Provide data to the Department for Business and Trade nominated industry body to be published annually on an aggregated and anonymised basis
3. Adopt internal practices to improve female entrepreneurs’ access to finance needed to start and grow success businesses
Signatories are expected to make this commitment public on their websites.
I firmly believe that the disparity that exists between female and male entrepreneurs is unacceptable and holding the UK back. The unrealised potential for the UK economy is enormous
Alison Rose
Chief Executive Officer, NatWest Group
Read the code
Learn more about why the Code exists and the commitments made by signatories.
Current signatories
See the 241 organisations who have committed to supporting female entrepreneurs
Helpful resources and initiatives
Learn about helpful resources other initiatives within financial services.
FAQs
Read frequently asked questions for the Investing in Women Code