A recent report by J.P. Morgan Private Bank highlighted the top 200 businesses in the UK in which women hold key leadership positions. The bank researched over 6,000 growing companies in the UK with female managers, leaders, or founders.
The research showed that UK companies led by women have managed to raise £2.3 billion in equity investment in 2020. This was achieved during a time in which many companies were struggling due to the pandemic. The report even demonstrated a rise of 41% from the year before.
Starling Bank tops the Top 200 list
The company with the best results was Starling Bank, which was founded by Anne Boden and has achieved significant growth in the last few years. The bank, which has headquarters in London, managed to increase revenues from £13,000 in 2016 to £13.4 million in 2019.
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More Gender Diversity Is Needed
As promising as this report may sound, there is still evidence that many top UK firms are lacking in diversity. Research shows that very few women hold positions on the boards of private businesses.
However, there has been some progression over the last years. According to ICAEW, over a third of FTSE 350 board members today are women. Over the last five years, this number has increased by 50%.
Studies in the past ten years have also shown that many women in senior management positions don’t stay in their positions long enough to become board members but choose to become entrepreneurs instead. A more flexible work option is interim management, which may show why more women are now being referred by top-level interim recruiters for high-level projects.
Fewer Grants Received by Female-Led Companies
Another major problem is the distribution of innovation grants to companies led by female executives. Only 8% of such businesses have received large grants that are worth more than £100k. In general, among firms that have achieved high growth, the percentage is higher at 12%.
The region also impacted the number of companies that made the list. Most UK firms led, managed or founded by women are based in London. According to the J.P. Morgan Private Bank, 37% of these businesses have their headquarters in London. More than 2,000 are based in the city. The second largest number was found in the South East with 751. There were 520 companies with female leadership in Scotland.
The report provides key insights into the topic that will hopefully lead to more female leadership in private businesses.
