Natwest on track to exceed target for investment in women-led businesses with £1.5 billion in loans granted to date

NatWest Group today announced that it has lent more than £1.5 billion to women-led businesses since 2021, and is on track to exceed its target of lending £2 billion by the end of 2025.

This is a faster pace than expected and shows the willingness of successful women-led businesses to scale. Regionally, women in the North of England have performed strongly in securing funding, as have those in London and the South East.

In 2023, the bank also launched a €500 million women’s bond issue, the first of its kind by a European financial institution. This has resulted in over 14,500 loans being made to women-led businesses in the UK. It has proven particularly popular with investors; it was 2.5 times oversubscribed at launch and continues to generate strong engagement.

The bank’s track record also includes having more than 1,000 Women in Business specialists to support women entrepreneurs, as well as more than 50% female startup founders who are part of its 13 accelerators nationwide. NatWest also works with a range of organizations and initiatives that want to help women entrepreneurs scale up and get the investment they need. This includes Buy Women Built, MPHERoes, The Gender Index and others supporting 100,000 women.

Coutts, the private banking arm of NatWest Group, has also raised more than £112 million through the UK Enterprise Fund. It offers the bank’s customer base access to investment opportunities in private scale-ups and start-up companies. Working with the BGF (formerly British Growth Fund), more than 70% of investments were made outside London and the South East. And 15% of the money has been allocated to women entrepreneurs, compared to similar funds that normally lend 1-2% to women.

NatWest is also a member of the recently launched Women Pivoting to Digital Taskforce, supporting more women in digital roles. Currently, less than 25% of AI and data science workers are women, with a prediction that by 2025 there will be one woman in every 115 tech jobs. The Taskforce wants to encourage companies to train women and make plans for finding female talent. for digital roles. This aims to future-proof the digital economy by ensuring digital products, roles and representation.

Julie Baker, Head of Strategic Partnerships at NatWest Group, said: “We are proud to be the UK’s leading bank in supporting women in business. To announce that we are investing £2 billion faster than planned in women-led businesses demonstrates the strength of their businesses and the willingness to grow.

“We are committed to supporting female entrepreneurs and have a long track record of doing so. This includes having more than 1,000 Women in Business specialists at our bank, having more than 50% female start-up founders in our accelerators and launching the first-ever women’s bond, worth €500 million .”