Accelerating Women's Enterprise

Accelerating Women’s Enterprise (AWE) is a collaborative project funded by the European Union’s Interreg Programme to support women entrepreneurs who experience disadvantage in the UK and France. We are researching gender bias in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and delivering workshops and mentoring to develop entrepreneurs.

Our research has found that for women entrepreneurs:
The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem does not yet match the needs of women who experience disadvantage. They have told us that:
» The cost of childcare was prohibitive, which impacted upon opportunities for business growth;

» The limited financial support available often comes with complex bureaucracy, which
disadvantaged female entrepreneurs do not find accessible or user-friendly;

» The cost of access to the internet and the lack of e-skills led to a digital divide for
disadvantaged female entrepreneurs;

» Government regulation and social benefits created the unintended outcome of being a
disincentive to entrepreneurship for disadvantaged women;

» Disadvantaged female entrepreneurs did not suffer from a lack of confidence but were
resilient in their business efforts.