The Women’s Organisation CEO Maggie O’Carroll says the RBS Female Entrepreneurship Fund could be a major catalyst for change for women looking to start their own business. Tony McDonough reports

One of Liverpool city region’s leading business support experts has welcomed a new £1bn bank fund to support the next generation of female entrepreneurs.

State-owned RBS has launched its Female Entrepreneurship Fund with a target of helping to create at least 50,000 new businesses by 2023. The fund builds on one of the key finding of the The Rose Review into female entrepreneurship in the UK.

As founder and chief executive of Liverpool’s The Women’s Organisation, Maggie O’Carroll has supported more than 50,000 women over the past two decades, many of whom have gone on to start their own businesses.

And, since December 2015, The Women’s Organisation has been the lead agency for the Enterprise Hub, the Liverpool city region’s principal start-up support service. It has helped to created more than 1,000 start-up ventures.

On Monday Ms O’Carroll said the RBS fund offered a huge opportunity for women in Merseyside, and across the UK, who have ambitions to run their own business. She explained: “Across our 24 years we have seen so many organisations pay lip service to the equality agenda without taking any real action.

“This is real and positive action from our colleagues at RBS and we would like to commend Alison Rose in leading this initiative. To not invest financially in women-led enterprises is costly to our economy. The Rose Review evidenced this at deafening volume.

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“While we can offer women advice and support to start and grow their businesses, we need financial institutions to stand with us in order to see true equality in enterprise. We hope this is a catalyst for further initiatives that will continue to bring about change.”

According to The Rose Review, female-led businesses receive less funding than those headed by men at every stage of their journey. Women launch businesses with 53% less capital on average than men, are less aware of funding options and are less likely to take on debt. Maggie O’Carroll was a contributor to the report.

Open to both new and existing customers, the funding represents new lending into the UK economy and is intended to go some way to closing the gap with male entrepreneurs.

Alison Rose added: “As we build a purpose-led bank that champions the potential of people, families and businesses up and down the country, we are focussing on the areas where we can have the biggest positive impact across society.

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and we are backing Britain’s entrepreneurs and helping them to thrive by removing barriers to success. The funding and targets announced today will help support anyone who is thinking about starting a business throughout the UK.”