10 YEARS OF WOMEN'S ENTERPRISE SCOTLAND
For the last 10 years, Women’s Enterprise Scotland has been at the forefront of the drive to close the gender gap in enterprise participation.
Through our sector leading research and data bank, we have consistently highlighted the actions and resources that are needed to ensure Scotland’s women fulfil their economic potential. We have championed policies which challenge gender inequality in enterprise at a Scottish and UK level. Our accessible, practical support services have empowered thousands of women to play their rightful role in transforming Scotland's economy.
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10 years of unlocking women's unrealised
economic potential
10 years of supporting women at every stage of their entrepreneurship journey
Scotland's first digital Women's Business Centre
With over 1k members and 10k site visits since its 2021 launch, our digital Women's Business Centre is Scotland's leading gender-aware resource for new and established women entrepreneurs.
Members are supported through:
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Expert training webinars
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Gender-aware coaching articles
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Free 1-to-1 mentoring session
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Practical business advice
The digital Women's Business Centre is the first step in an ambitious mission to establish a national Women's Business Centre with regional hubs across Scotland.
WES Ambassador Programme
Cited as best practice by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), our Ambassador Programme challenges limiting stereotypes and boosts awareness of the potential for all women to partake in entrepreneurship.
Marking 10 years of WES, we have added 35 women to our role-model programme. From the Borders to Orkney, our diverse Ambassadors champion women's entrepreneurship across Scotland.
In 2021 alone, our promotion of women’s enterprise has generated over 160 separate news reports, TV appearances, articles and interviews. This media reach inspires greater inclusion for Scotland's women.
Training across the entrepreneurship ecosystem
Over a two-year period, WES brought 100 men and women together for a four-phase training program in gender-aware leadership. We have provided consultancy and training to key players in Scotland’s ecosystem with courses on Boardroom Governance, helping them to construct diverse boards. WES Business Advisor Training ensures business support services understand and meet the needs of women, whilst our Leadership training helps businesses to successfully engage with women in digital spaces.
Our world-leading vision for Scotland
We are members of Think 20 (T20), which acts as the ‘ideas bank’ for the G20 Summit. Participating in events as far afield as Japan and Argentina, we are the only Scottish organisation in the T20 and our team have contributed to papers presented at the 2018 and 2019 summits.
Created in partnership with the Scottish Government, our Strategic Framework and Action Plan was highlighted as best practice by both the OECD and WEgate, the European gateway for women’s entrepreneurship, of which we are a founding council member.
The next 10 years
Our Manifesto
We will continue to advocate for 5 priorities to overcome gender inequality in entrepreneurship:
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Greater access to finance
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A more gender-aware business support structure
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Champion digital inclusion
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Deliver improved data collection
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Create a gender equal economy
Changing Culture
In 2020 we formed a partnership with Scotland’s leading media brand, STV.
With support from the STV Diversity and Inclusion Growth Fund, we will launch a £25k campaign to advocate for diversity and inclusion, which will enable us to reach up to 3.2 million viewers per month upon release in 2022.
Missing Millions
Increasing by 76% from 2012, women owned businesses contribute £8.8bn GVA into the Scottish economy (FSB, 2018).
In partnership with the Scottish Government, enterprise agencies and fellow advocates for Scotland’s women, we will continue to work to recover the ‘missing millions’ that would be generated by women owned businesses in a gender-equal Scottish economy.
World Leaders
In 2022, we will host our third International Conference, with the theme 'The Path to Economic Equality'.
International experts and delegates will explore sustainability, technology, education and wellbeing, in order to develop inclusive comprehensive solutions on the path to economic equality.