Women Entrepreneurs Face Challenges in Raising Finance

Feb. 15, 2011 - PRLog -- In the wake of the discussions in parliament about positive discrimination and a quota for female board members in FTSE 100 companies, the topic of women in business has never been more hotly debated. The scandal over the Andy Gray and Richard Keys’ story has added another dimension to this and placed the issue of gender at the heart of public discussion. Only this week, Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour launched its Women in Business series following the fortunes of three women building and developing their own companies.

Also this week, the leading corporate and technology law firm, White & Black Legal held a seminal debate on the problems facing women seeking finance for their businesses.  The debate, set in the magnificent surroundings of Drapers’ Hall in the City of London, saw some of the leading commentators in this field debate the problem with lawyers, venture capitalists, government representatives and industrialists.  

Amongst the distinguished panel of speakers were some of the country’s leading economists and commentators on the role of women in business today.  After being introduced by Victoria Wright of White & Black Legal, the panel discussion was chaired by Dr Vicky Pryce, former Director General, Economics & Chief Economic Adviser at BIS and now a member of the Secretary of State for Business Panel.  Dr Pryce was joined by Dr Rebecca Harding who appeared on Radio 4’ Woman’s Hour Women in Business Series the previous day and now MD of Delta Economics, Anne Glover CBE the CEO of Amadeus Capital and former Chair of the BVCA and by Ken Olisa OBE, founder of Interregnum and now Chairman of Restoration Partners.

The debate was very lively and covered issues as diverse as women’s attitudes to risk and the importance of finding appropriate mentoring for women.  The debate heard that women’s businesses tend to be under-capitalised when compared with those started by men, that women are more reluctant to access external finance and that, at least in the field of venture capital finance in the technology arena, quality business plans from female-led businesses were few and far between.  This proposition was challenged vigorously but Anne Glover confirmed it was her experience that female entrepreneurs were not bringing forward high-growth business propositions in the tech sectors.  White & Black’s managing partner, Phil Riman, told the audience that equality issues were of paramount importance in the legal profession and that White & Black was a conscious departure from the stereotypical 'traditional' law firm.  He said that White & Black was founded on principles of meritocracy and equality and had found that this resonated with clients and team members alike. The firm is a leading corporate and technology law practice in the UK and Riman said he was proud that the firm had been the catalyst for such an important debate.  

Video footage of the debate will be streamed from www.wablegal.com in the coming weeks.

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White & Black is a specialist corporate and technology law firm based in the UK. We advise clients from across Europe and the US on corporate transactions, disputes and contracts under English law. Our venture capital practice is rated as a UK leader .