WES and STV team up to help female bosses in Scotland

Women’s Enterprise Scotland (WES) and broadcaster STV have unveiled an “ambitious” new strategic tie-up to help develop and grow women-led businesses in Scotland.

STV and WES are supporting female bosses with resources, training and insights. Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto.

They cited a recent report finding that as the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic has continued, more and more male-founded businesses have found ways to expand – whereas the number of women-led start-ups reporting growth has seen a sharp decrease.

The two organisations are providing support with resources, training and insights to help boost their business aspirations and enable them to play a leading role in the Scottish economy.

The partnership will include STV Masterclasses for subscribers to the Women’s Business Centre website, a new, free support platform helping women across Scotland to start up and grow a business.

Also on the list are WES expert presentations at STV Growth Academy events to catalyse business innovation and growth, and Women’s Business Centre presentations at STV Growth Academy events.

Furthermore, on offer is STV training and support for the WES Ambassador programme, which unites more than 50 female entrepreneurs to provide visible, relatable role models for women who are considering starting a business or are growing an existing one.

WES and STV said women-owned companies contribute £8.8 billion to the Scottish economy every year and have created more than 230,000 jobs in local communities – but still make up just 15 per cent of the business base north of the Border.

Carolyn Currie, chief executive of WES, said: “We are delighted to be working with STV to give women business owners access to its wealth of media skills and to the STV Growth Academy and its experience in supporting SMEs.

“We look forward to collaborating with STV on a number of initiatives which will enable women business owners from across Scotland to access a new range of expert resources to boost their business growth.”

Peter Reilly, commercial director at STV, said: “We’re thrilled to partner with Women’s Enterprise Scotland as an ‘agent of change’, helping to provide a strong network of support for women business owners to develop, scale up and thrive during this challenging time.

“This collaboration will unleash the potential of women business owners across the country and, in turn, help tackle the unacceptable gender gap in Scottish enterprise participation.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.