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Ulster Bank brings new partners on board to drive female entrepreneurship

Ulster Bank has partnered with three leading organisations to promote female entrepreneurship and encourage more women to think about starting their own business.

Tuesday 22 September 2020

Ulster Bank has partnered with three leading organisations to promote female entrepreneurship and encourage more women to think about starting their own business.

Young Enterprise, Ulster University and Blick Shared Studios have been awarded a grant of £20,000 from Ulster Bank to fund projects and programmes which aim to drive more females towards a career in entrepreneurship.

Following the 2018 release of the Rose Review, a study into female entrepreneurship in the UK, Ulster Bank pledged to create 400,000 female-led businesses before 2025 under the umbrella of its parent company, NatWest.

To date, a number of successful initiatives have been organised by Ulster Bank, including Northern Ireland’s first Female Investment Day, and now the bank hopes to promote the idea of female entrepreneurship to an even broader audience with the help of these three partner organisations. 

Lynsey Cunningham, Director of Regional Entrepreneurship with Ulster Bank welcomed each of the partners on board and explained how the collective would have a positive impact on female entrepreneurship.

“We know from the publication of the Rose Review in 2018 and subsequent studies done in this area that females are still less likely to start their own business than their male counterparts. Estimates show that this untapped potential costs the UK economy £250 billion but it also further cements an unhelpful mindset, especially among young women, that entrepreneurship is not for them.

“By partnering with Ulster University, Young Enterprise and Blick Studios, our aim is to dismantle this narrative and show women and girls at all stages of their career that they have the necessary skills and talent to start and scale a business. We’re excited to work closely with our three new partners over the next 12 months and hope that by taking a collaborative approach we can level the playing field for female-led businesses.”

Christine James, CEO of  Blick Shared Studios, explained the organisation plans to use the money to help more women from ethnic minorities break into the creative industries.

“At Blick Shared Studios we have a dedicated academy programme which offers an ongoing series of events and workshops to creative industry start-ups, freelancers and small businesses. Our focus for the year ahead is to encourage more females, and especially those from ethnic minorities, to become involved with these programmes and to think about starting a business within the creative community.

“It’s obviously been a very difficult 6 months for businesses operating within the creative industry businesses so we’re grateful to have the support from Ulster Bank which will allow us to deliver our programmes and help shape the next generation of contributors to this very important sector.”

Tuesday 22 September 2020