Majority of UK’s young entrepreneurs are female

The UK is seeing a rise in young female entrepreneurs with the majority (59%) of business owners aged under 35 now female, according to HSBC’s latest report to mark International Women’s Day.

The research shows that the proportion of UK female entrepreneurs is almost doubling with each generation; up from 16% of founders over 55 being female, to 30% of founders between 35-54 being female, to 59% of under 35 year-olds.

This finding is supported by new data out today from Crunch Accounting which indicates that the number of women starting their own business has grown by 42% since 2010 with almost a third of new businesses now founded by women.

UK female entrepreneurs are also reported to be building businesses with a higher turnover than their male counterparts. UK female business owners achieved average turnover of $4.1m in 2015 compared to $4m for male business owners.

The study found that the common reason cited by female entrepreneurs for having started a business was to “do the best for their family” (78%).

HSBC Private Bank UK CEO, Chris Allen, commented:

“Gender diversity is changing among UK entrepreneurs.This emergence of female entrepreneurship reflects how women are forging ahead with their passions and succeeding in business.”