NatWest Group announced that it has now lent over £1.5bn to female-led businesses since 2021, and is on track to exceed its target to lend £2bn by the end of 2025.
This is a faster pace than anticipated, and highlights the appetite of successful, women owned businesses to scale. Regionally, women in the North of England have performed strongly in securing funding, as well as those in London and the South East.
In 2023, NatWest bank launched a €500 million issuance for a women’s bond, the first of its kind from a European financial institution. This has led to over 14,500 loans to women led businesses being made across the UK.
The bank’s track record also includes having over 1000 Women in Business specialists to support female entrepreneurs, as well as over 50% female startup founders being on its 13 nationwide accelerators. NatWest also partners with a number of brilliant organisations and initiatives that seek to support female entrepreneurs scale. Partners include, Buy Women Built, MPHERoes, The Gender Index and others which support 100,000s women.
Coutts, the private banking arm of NatWest Group, has also raised more than £112m through the UK Enterprise Fund. This provides Coutts client base with access to investment opportunities in privately-owned scaleup and early-stage businesses. Working with the BGF (formerly British Growth Fund) over 70% of investment has been outside London and the South East. And 15% of the money has been allocated to female entrepreneurs, in comparison to similar funds which normally lend 1-2% to women.
Julie Baker, Head of Strategic Partnerships at NatWest Group, said: “We’re proud to be the leading bank in the UK for backing women in business. To announce that we’re investing £2 billion in female led businesses faster than planned shows the strength of their companies and appetite to scale.
“We’re committed to supporting female entrepreneurs and have a long track-record in doing so. This includes having over 1000 Women in Business specialists in our bank, over 50% female start up founders being on our accelerators and launching the first ever women’s bond, worth €500 million.”
