Women are increasingly becoming the job creators and growth drivers in the UK, according to new research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) (www.fsb.org.uk).

A new report — Supporting Women’s Enterprise in the UK: The Economic Case — shows that women-owned businesses are now estimated to contribute £105 billion to the UK economy, an increase of 40% since comprehensive data was last collected and analysed.

This equates to women-owned businesses contributing £36,000 of Gross Value Added (GVA) for each person they employ — 6.3% of the UK’s total GVA.

Despite the rise in female founders overall, the proportionate GVA contribution from women-owned businesses in manufacturing has declined from 14.9% to 11%, and the proportion of employment from 8.7% to 7.1%.

The FSB says this is concerning, because manufacturing is a relatively high-profit sector. The contribution women make to the UK economy is even more significant when the estimated GVA of women-led businesses is included.

The research shows that the combined contribution by women-led and women-owned businesses is estimated to be £221 billion, representing 13.3% of total GVA.

Carolyn Currie, CEO of Women’s Enterprise Scotland (www.wescotland.co.uk), which compiled the report for FSB, said: “Our research shows that women-owned businesses are providing critical employment in communities across the UK and now represent 11% of total private-sector employment.

“We must ensure that this momentum continues; we are calling for economic development organisations to step forward and provide the support that these businesses need to continue growing.”