Female Entrepreneurs are vital to Britain’s growth and Europe’s economic prosperity, yet women are still held back from launching businesses which the EU have now announced will be a key priority to support women’s business community.
Currently only 8% of businesses in the EU, are owned by a women, compared with over 16% male owned companies, and almost three times more have their own staff.
The Enterprise and Industry Commissioner, Gunter Verheugen says “This must change, we need to strengthen the role of women in our societies which will not only bring fresh business ideas but also increase economic growth”
The EU has planned to boost female businesses since 2004, and although in the past decade there has been a noticeable increase more still needs to be done.
A new initiative is a European network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors, which include 130 successful businesswomen from ten European countries, who will act as mentors and budding role models for female entrepreneurs and promote the entrepreneurship.
This new network has opened a Women’s Entrepreneurship portal, with links to contacts and networking opportunities and brings together over 30 countries to provide support, advice and information to female entrepreneurs, helping them to raise their profile and expand their businesses.
For more information, contact the Women Entrepreneurship portal: www.ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/promoting-entrepreneurship/women/portal
