Scotland’s economy, along with the rest of the UK, is in a fragile state. In May of last year, the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) forecast Scottish GDP growth of 1.1% in 2025 rising to 1.8% in 2026, which is broadly in line with the more recent forecast from the Fraser of Allander Institute in October.

Uncertainty over – amongst other things – inflation and global trade policy, geopolitical tensions, and concerns over forthcoming non-domestic rate rises are hampering growth, opportunity and ambition. There is constant talk of the need to strengthen and grow our economy and we know that women’s entrepreneurship has a key role to play in this.

Much is made of the fact that for the past decade, businesses led by women have been starting up at a similar rate to those led by men. In 2025, businesses led by women represented 54% of all start-ups, highlighting the ambition women have to progress their ideas from paper to reality.

Scotland can be rightly proud of its strong start-up culture, yet this success is not translating into the post-start-up phase. The gulf between the number of women starting up in business and those scaling up and growing remains stubbornly wide and has increased in recent years.

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While women-led businesses are 54% of business start-ups, just 16% of employer businesses in Scotland are women-led, down from 20% the previous year. The high attrition rate is something we should all be concerned about.

Why the persisting and increasing gap? Research from Women's Enterprise Scotland (WES) from the early part of last year highlighted a number of reasons, many of which have already been well-researched during the past 30 years.

Women have distinct........

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