UK Economic Blueprint for Women

Diana Chrouch of Chrouch Consulting is a proud contributor to the UK National Economic Blueprint for Women.

Diana Chrouch of Chrouch Consulting is a proud contributor to the UK National Economic Blueprint for Women.

 

The UK Economic Blueprint for Women is a national strategy of practical measures to empower women business owners to take action to scale up and grow their businesses.

 

Spearheaded by the Pink Shoe Foundation, (patron RT Hon Theresa May MP), the initiative is being chaired by Jill Pay, former serjeant-at-arms of the Houses of Parliament.  The project is not party political, and is a collaboration of a network of business women owners, peers, MPs and influential collaborators such as the FSB.

Women-led enterprises already contribute around £70 billion to the UK Economy annually. This is despite the fact that women-owned businesses currently secure significantly less than 5% of corporate and public sector contracts.  It is estimated that if access to the marketplace was equalized, this would create a growth in our overall economy of 10% by 2030.  RBS has put the figure in absolute amounts and has calculated that boosting female entrepreneurship could deliver approximately £60bn extra to the UK economy. This is a huge potential growth, which could have a major impact on the prosperity of our nation through job creation and increased productivity.

To make this happen, we need a paradigm shift that will bring change and equal access to the market place. Success depends ultimately on UK business leaders collaborating to embrace the business case for change to ensure that the whole economy is properly able to contribute and drive growth.

 

Procurement Supply Chains

A key part of the strategy is the promotion of the business case for diversifying business supply chains so that more women business owners get access to larger and more lucrative contracts.

 

To maximise this strategy, the project aims to provide women business owners with access to the support and skills that they need to enable them to grow their businesses and win a greater share of the marketplace.

Access to Resources

In addition to providing mentoring and support, the project aims to provide women with greater access to finance, research and training resources.  Another key part of the plan will the provision of access to clear marketing and procurement strategies to help them build their capabilities, either as individual businesses or in collaboration with others to win more contracts.

 

Clearly the potential for the UK economy is exponential if women business owners are encouraged and supported to start up and scale up their own businesses.

 

To find out more about the UK Economic Blueprint for Women http://pinkshoeclub.com/economic-blueprint