Female entrepreneurs meet City Hall business chief for 'roundtable' in Southgate

Howard Dawber OBE hailed the “real contribution to growth across the capital” made by female-led businesses

Howard Dawber CBE meets female entrepreneurs with Enterprise Enfield — Howard Dawber OBE meets female entrepreneurs with Enterprise Enfield

One of City Hall’s deputy mayors has praised the “real difference” made by Enterprise Enfield in supporting female entrepreneurs.

Yesterday (Wednesday 23rd) Howard Dawber OBE – Sir Sadiq Khan’s deputy mayor for business and growth – joined a “roundtable discussion” on the topic of female entrepreneurship at Enterprise Enfield’s North London Business Hub in Southgate.

A group of successful businesswomen shared their journeys with Howard, including the specific challenges that female entrepreneurs face, the support that helped them and what more could be done to help women-led businesses flourish and thrive in the future.

The deputy mayor said afterwards: “London’s female entrepreneurs are making a real contribution to growth across the capital and it’s fantastic to meet so many women who are building and growing successful businesses.

“Enterprise Enfield has been supporting people to grow businesses for 40 years, and its focus on female entrepreneurship shows the real difference that targeted advice and support can make.

“The mayor [Khan] and I are committed to supporting businesses to succeed in every part of London, helping to create opportunities and drive growth as we build a better, more prosperous city for everyone.”

Some of the women attending yesterday’s roundtable represented sectors including gardening, home décor, cookery, human resources and fashion.

In 2019, the government’s independent review of female entrepreneurship, the Rose Review, stated that £250billion could be added to the UK economy if women were to start and scale businesses at the same rate as men.

The ‘gender gap’ is still significant, with some of the particular challenges faced by women entrepreneurs including access to funding and financial support, childcare, caring responsibilities and work-life balance.

Enterprise Enfield has been empowering both men and women to start, grow and thrive in business for over 40 years. But the government-approved enterprise agency has a special focus on female entrepreneurship, with 62% of its clients being women, and its bespoke start-up programmes for women have been running for over 19 years, inspiring hundreds of women to develop their ideas into viable businesses.

Enterprise Enfield CEO, Despina Johnson said: “We were delighted to welcome the deputy mayor for business and growth to our female entrepreneurship roundtable – it was a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the successes of these fantastic female founders and hear their journeys – including how they have overcome barriers, what has helped them the most and what support would make the biggest difference going forward.

“Enterprise Enfield is committed to continuing its support services to help women unlock their potential – enabling them to start, grow and develop viable, sustainable, resilient and successful businesses.”

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