When the Rose Review of female entrepreneurship published its findings in 2019, it set an ambitious target: 600,000 more women running businesses in the UK by 2030. Seven years on, the Rose Review has shaped policy, funding programmes, and public discourse. But has the lived experience of women starting and running businesses in the UK actually changed?

The honest answer is mixed. Some metrics have moved in the right direction. Others have barely shifted. And the gap between headline announcements and what women founders experience day to day remains wide. For a fuller picture, see our regularly updated facts and figures on women in business.

What the Rose Review Promised

Alison Rose, then a senior NatWest executive who later became CEO, led the independent review published in March 2019. The report found that women were only half as likely as men to start a business. It identified three principal barriers: access to funding, caring responsibilities, and a confidence gap rooted in cultural norms.

The review set six recommendations. These included better funding access, a relatable role model campaign, and targeted support for women returning to work after career breaks. The headline goal was clear: if women started businesses at the same rate as men, the UK would gain £250 billion in economic value.

Government backed the review. The British Business Bank, NatWest, and several regional growth hubs pledged support. A decade-long programme was underway.

The Numbers: Targets vs Reality

So where do things stand in 2026? The most recent data from the Department for Business and Trade (2025) shows approximately 1.6 million women-led businesses in the UK. That figure is up from around 1.1 million in 2019, representing genuine growth of roughly 45% over seven years.

However, the Rose Review target was specifically about the total number of female entrepreneurs reaching 600,000 more by 2030. By 2026, the increase sits at approximately 500,000. On the surface, that looks on track. But the underlying picture is more complicated.

The total early-stage entrepreneurial activity rate for women rose from 5.6% in 2018 to 8.4% in 2024, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor UK report (2025). The male rate stood at 11.2% in the same year. The gap has narrowed but not closed.

Funding Progress Is Real but Fragile

One area where the Rose Review has produced measurable results is funding. The British Business Bank’s 2025 Small Business Finance Markets report found that female-founded companies received 5.2% of total equity investment in 2024, up from 2.3% in 2019.

The Investing in Women Code, launched alongside the Rose Review, now has over 200 signatories. These include banks, venture capital firms, and angel networks (Investing in Women Code, 2025). Signatories commit to tracking and publishing gender data on their lending and investment decisions.

Yet the absolute numbers remain small. All-female founding teams received just £1.4 billion of the £27.8 billion invested in UK startups in 2024, according to Beauhurst data cited in the British Business Bank report. Mixed-gender teams fared better, securing around 16% of total investment.

For women seeking alternatives to venture capital, the picture is somewhat brighter. Grants and funding programmes for women in business have expanded, and the Start Up Loans programme reported that 40% of its loans went to women in 2024, a figure that has held steady for several years.

Where Progress Has Stalled

Despite the funding improvements, several structural barriers identified in the original review remain stubbornly in place.

Childcare and Caring Costs

The Rose Review identified childcare as a critical barrier. In 2026, the UK has some of the highest childcare costs in the developed world. The average cost of a full-time nursery place for a child under two is £15,000 per year, according to Coram Family and Childcare’s 2025 survey.

The government’s expanded free childcare offer, which now provides 30 funded hours for children from age nine months, has helped. But eligibility requires parents to meet minimum earning thresholds. This creates a Catch-22 for women trying to start a business while their children are young. New founders often cannot demonstrate consistent income during the early months.

Confidence and Role Models

The Rose Review called for a national role model campaign to challenge the perception that entrepreneurship is a male domain. The Rose Review annual progress reports have highlighted campaigns like the Invest in Women Task Force and the #BackHerBusiness initiative.

Yet research from NatWest’s Rose Review progress report (2024) found that 37% of women still cite fear of failure as a primary barrier to starting a business. For men, the figure is 28%. The confidence gap has narrowed but persists, particularly among women aged 25 to 34. The evidence suggests that women bring distinctive strengths to entrepreneurship once they clear that initial hurdle — but the hurdle itself remains intact.

Regional Disparities

Progress under the Rose Review is not evenly distributed across the UK. London and the South East account for a disproportionate share of women-led startups. The Rose Review recognised this and called for regional investment. However, the 2025 GEM data shows that female entrepreneurial activity in the North East and Wales still trails London by more than 3 percentage points.

Manchester has emerged as a bright spot, with strong local support networks and university incubation programmes. But the Rose Review’s recommendations have not solved the pattern of London-centric growth that plagues UK business investment overall.

What Has Actually Worked

Not everything has stalled. The interventions that have produced measurable results share a common trait: they changed the system rather than trying to change women.

The Investing in Women Code has forced financial institutions to confront their own data. Signatories who track gender in their investment decisions are more likely to address gaps. Transparency, it turns out, is a more reliable motivator than goodwill.

The Start Up Loans programme tells a similar story. Its consistent 40% female participation rate demonstrates that women will use funding when it is accessible, simple, and does not require collateral or an existing track record. The programme works because it removes friction, not because it persuades women they are capable.

The Rose Review’s annual tracking has also kept the issue on the political agenda. Each year, the progress report generates media coverage and prompts fresh commitments. Without this regular accountability mechanism, female entrepreneurship could easily have slipped down the policy priority list.

The lesson is clear: the interventions that work are structural. They change the rules of the game rather than asking women to play harder.

What Needs to Happen Next

If the Rose Review is to hit its 2030 target, the next four years need to deliver more than the last seven. Several things must change.

First, childcare policy must work for women who are not yet in employment. The current eligibility criteria for funded hours exclude many aspiring founders. A founder-specific allowance, or a grace period during the first year of trading, would remove a barrier the Rose Review itself identified.

Second, the Investing in Women Code needs teeth. Signatories should face consequences for failing to meet transparency commitments. Voluntary reporting has moved the needle, but mandatory disclosure would move it further.

Third, regional investment must be more than a slogan. The British Business Bank’s regional funds should set explicit targets for women-led businesses, not just track outcomes after the fact.

Fourth, the confidence gap requires sustained, long-term cultural change. Role model campaigns help, but they need to reach girls in schools and women in early careers, not just those already considering entrepreneurship.