Access to funding holds female entrepreneurs back
New report reveals Essex is fertile ground for fast-growing women-led businesses
Women entrepreneurs in Essex are growing businesses faster than their male counterparts in most parts of the county, but a persistent lack of access to funding is holding back their potential, according to a new research report by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).
The Female Entrepreneurship in Essex 2026 report, co-led by ARU’s Dr Wei Kang and Dr Frank Nyame-Asiamah in partnership with Essex Growth Agency and Ambitious Women in Essex, found that Essex is home to 23.5% of all female-led companies in the East of England – the highest share of any county in the region.
Researchers found female-led businesses in the East of England achieved an average turnover growth rate of 22.5%, with women-led firms outperforming their male-led equivalents in seven of Essex’s 12 council districts.
In Colchester, female-led firms recorded growth of 26.4% compared with 10.3% for male-led businesses, while in Braintree growth reached 23.9% compared with 19.2% for male-led businesses. Uttlesford had the highest growth rate among female-led firms at 31.7%.
However, the report uncovers a significant funding imbalance across the county. Female-led firms secured between 11.2% (in Basildon) and 17.8% (Tendring) of secured loans across Essex districts, compared with between 54.8% (Tendring) and 65.2% (Rochford) for male-led businesses.
Similarly, access to external equity finance – raising capital by selling shares to investors – was even more limited, ranging from just 1.9% (in Basildon) to 5.5% (Tendring) for women-led companies, compared with between 8.8% (Harlow) and 37.5% (Tendring) for male-led firms.
Researchers said the findings point to systemic barriers within the support and finance ecosystem, rather than any gender-based underperformance.
Female founders interviewed by researchers revealed challenges including caring responsibilities, loneliness, confidence issues, difficulties navigating funding opportunities, fragmented business support and unequal access to professional networks.
Many entrepreneurs reported discovering support programmes “by accident”, highlighting a lack of coordination across the business support landscape.
Informed by input from female entrepreneurs, policymakers and other stakeholders, the report puts forward six recommendations to help address the challenges faced by female-led businesses.
These include creating easier routes to funding through a single online portal or dedicated funding navigator; providing long-term mentoring, coaching and advisory services; designing support around women’s time constraints and caring responsibilities; investing in childcare-friendly co-working spaces; expanding mentoring opportunities for under-represented groups; and treating peer networks and community-led organisations as core business support infrastructure.
The report also advocates for a co‑design approach rooted in Cohered Emergent Theory, with funding providers and policymakers working closely with women to develop policies together, rather than imposing solutions from the top down. This approach helps ensure that policies are based on and reflect women’s real‑world experiences.
“Essex already has the talent, determination and entrepreneurial success needed to drive economic growth, but more accessible, coordinated and properly resourced support systems will be required if women-led businesses are to reach their full potential.
“Our report highlights that support systems should be designed alongside female entrepreneurs, rather than for them. It also shows the unique challenges that women-led businesses face, which need to be taken into account by policymakers.”
Dr Wei Kang, Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)
The report has been featured as a case study project in the Gender Index Report 2026 and will inform future work aimed at developing a county-wide model of support for female entrepreneurs.