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British Business Bank launches new Emerging Female Investor Office Hours initiative

Press release 01 July 2025

Today the British Business Bank has announced a new Open Office Hours initiative for emerging or potential female investors considering making an application to one of the Bank’s equity programmes. 

The Emerging Female Investor Open Office Hours initiative aims to break down barriers, offering an open and informal space for emerging or potential female investors to ask questions and seek clarity about applying to one of the Bank’s equity programmes. The Office Hours are intended for all potential or emerging female investors, including female angels, general partners and fund managers. 

The British Business Bank wants to grow the pipeline of female investors applying to its programmes, achieving success and, in turn, supporting female entrepreneurs. Research shows that there is a correlation between female representation at venture capital firms and how much they invest in female-led businesses. Just 2p of every £1 invested in VC funding in the UK goes to female-founded businesses and only 13% of senior individuals on UK VC investment teams are women. Up to £250 billion of new value could be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled new businesses at the same rate as UK men.

With this new initiative, the Bank aims to give potential or emerging female investors the tools and insights to better understand the Bank’s programme requirements and make it easier for new entrants to break into venture capital, boosting the number of female investors.

The initiative will deliver pre-application drop-in sessions, connecting potential or emerging female investors with members of the Bank’s equity teams, enabling them to seek clarity on the process and providing confidence ahead of entering the programme’s formal application funnel. Sessions will be held remotely to ensure all potential or emerging female investors can access the office hours, regardless of where they might be based.

Christine Hockley, Managing Director & Co-Head of Funds, British Business Bank, said: 

There are still many barriers to be tackled, but the British Business Bank is committed to growing the pipeline of new female investors applying to its programmes. We are in a unique position in the market to offer funding, as well as tailored, non-financial support to help improve access to finance. By offering an open and informal space, we want to give emerging female talent the tools and insights to succeed and make it easier for new entrants to break into venture capital.

The Bank previously committed to supporting the aims of the Invest in Women Taskforce by investing £50m into female-led funds through its existing programmes. It has recently established a majority female ‘Invest in Women Committee’ to advise on how this capital is allocated. 

It is also a founding signatory of the Investing in Women Code, a government-led initiative in response to the Rose Review’s findings that a lack of funding was one of the most significant barriers to women seeking to effectively scale a business. The Code, which seeks to support the advancement of female entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom, has over 250 signatories.

Further Information

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Notes to editors

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK Government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to drive sustainable growth and prosperity across the UK and to enable the transition to a net zero economy, by improving access to finance for smaller businesses. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK Government.

The British Business Bank’s core programmes support over £17.4bn 1 of finance to almost 64,000 2  smaller businesses.

As well as increasing the supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of finance options available to smaller businesses. The British Business Bank Business Guidance provides independent and impartial information to businesses about finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success.

The British Business Bank is also responsible for administering the Government’s three Coronavirus loan schemes and its Future Fund, together responsible for delivering £80.4bn in finance to 1.67m businesses. These schemes are now closed to new applications.

British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. It is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. With the exception of BBB Investment Services Limited they are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority. BBB Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at British Business Bank

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