The Prowess Flagship Award recognised best practice in women’s enterprise development across the UK. These archive case studies from 2009 show how universities, women’s business centres and enterprise agencies used the quality mark to raise standards, win funding and improve support for women founders. Although the award landscape has evolved, the principles of accessible, tailored and high-quality business support remain central to helping women start and grow businesses in the UK today.

According to the 2024 Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship progress report, women-led businesses account for around 32% of all UK businesses and contribute an estimated £105 billion a year to the economy. Yet women entrepreneurs still face barriers. The British Business Bank’s Small Business Finance Markets 2024/25 report shows that all-female founder teams received just 2% of UK equity investment in 2023, while all-male teams received 86%. Access to finance, childcare responsibilities and under-representation in high-growth sectors remain persistent challenges. The Prowess Flagship Award case studies below illustrate how targeted support can help address these gaps.

University of Bath: Division for Lifelong Learning

The University of Bath’s Division for Lifelong Learning ran a “Women into Enterprise” course from 2004 and, in 2006, became the first UK university to achieve the Flagship Award for Business Support Providers. The programme offered a flexible timetable that took school times, holidays and evening classes into account.

Kirsty Lovell, Project Officer, said: “Achieving Prowess Flagship status gave us an internationally recognised quality mark based on the work we have and continue to do. It is also a valuable development tool, enabling us to measure what we are doing and look at how we can improve our services still further.”

“The award is a reflection of the support we provide. A lot of women who come on our course say they would not be able to attend if we didn’t provide a free crèche. We see ourselves as part of the local community and want to enable people to develop enterprises and business skills of value to the local economy.”

Businessworks: Women’s Business Centre

The Women’s Business Centre provided tailored, professional business support services in a supportive and inspirational environment, offering real options for women wishing to improve their lives through business, education and training.

According to Director Gill Fennings: “Being a member of Prowess and a flagship organisation has helped us to set standards way above the average and that has brought us a notoriety within enterprise that precedes us. Often I go to a meeting and the person already knows all about what we do. This is invaluable as there is so much that you don’t have to explain once you mention that you have Flagship and are part of Prowess. It has opened doors and led to better partnership working for sure. The Flagship quality standard certainly helped us to secure the funds to build the first ever purpose-built Women’s Business Centre in London. It also gives us a great benchmark for our services and a model for continuing improvement.”

Bolton Business Ventures: Supporting Women in the North West

Established in 1983, Bolton Business Ventures (BBV) provided financial, technical and management assistance to help local people start, run and grow their businesses, creating wealth and employment.

CEO Sylvia Philips said: “The Prowess Flagship Award has enabled BBV to demonstrate its commitment both to supporting more women in business and to service excellence in meeting the needs of our female clients. It has also enabled BBV to be at the forefront of championing women’s enterprise across the North West region, which has been recognised by being invited to join the consortium delivering the regional business start-up and survival contract.”

MENTA: Women-Only Business Support in Suffolk

MENTA is a not-for-profit organisation that offers one-to-one business advice, workshops and master classes for pre-start-up through to established small businesses. WoMenta provided women-only training, advice and networking events, along with fully serviced incubation units at two locations in Suffolk.

“Undertaking ‘commitment to Flagship’ was the start of our Flagship journey,” explained Business Development Manager Rosanne Kilbourn. “It focussed us as a team on what, how, why, when and where we delivered advice and support to our clients. The standard has helped to confirm our commitment to outstanding business advice and support to women and has led to a number of private sponsors supporting some WoMenta events.”

“I would whole-heartedly recommend the Flagship process to other organisations as it was a vital (and steep) learning curve that helped us look at our delivery and approach as a team and develop our strengths.”

Lessons for Women’s Enterprise Support Today

The organisations above show that quality marks and peer networks can help business support providers secure funding, build partnerships and demonstrate their commitment to women founders. The same principles are visible in current initiatives such as the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans Female Founders programme, regional Growth Hubs, and sector-specific networks for women in business.

The economic case has also grown stronger. The 2024 Rose Review estimates that if women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men, up to £250 billion of additional value could be added to the UK economy. Closing that gap requires support that fits around caring responsibilities, accessible finance, and advisers who understand the sectors where women are under-represented.

For women considering starting a business, the lessons from these archive case studies are still practical. Look for support that fits your circumstances, ask about childcare or flexible delivery options, and seek out advisers who understand the specific challenges women can face. You can explore our Women in Business: Key UK Facts page and our guide to the British Business Bank: New Funding Rules for Women Founders for up-to-date guidance.

Prowess has supported women in business since 2001. While the Flagship Award itself belongs to our archive, these examples remain a useful record of how UK organisations have led the way in women’s enterprise development. The underlying message has not changed: when support is designed around women’s real lives, more women start and scale successful businesses.