Scotland is heading into the 2026 Holyrood elections with a brutally crowded in‑tray. Fragile health and care services, stretched schools, a housing squeeze, global shocks from war and tariffs, and resurgent energy prices are all jostling for attention.

In this environment, a £50 million ask for women’s business centres might sound like a worthy accessory rather than a frontline priority, but it isn't.

Women’s Enterprise Scotland (WES) is making a hard‑headed economic case that this relatively modest investment would support more than half of Scotland’s start‑ups, shore up a leaking enterprise pipeline and unlock returns that help, not hinder, the funding of public services. If ministers are serious about economic growth, then support for female-led businesses is not a distraction from the "real issues", but rather one of the cheapest ways to strengthen the tax base that pays for them.

Alarm as women-led businesses 'fail to thrive' in Scotland

That was the argument playing out yesterday at the cross-party group on women in enterprise where Corinne Goble, chief executive of the Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC), set out the evidence from the US.

"For every taxpayer dollar that is invested, new businesses created $6 in revenue," Ms Goble said. "An additional $7.50 in private capital is lent, resulting in $15 in economic activity. There’s hardly a better investment anywhere.”

WES has done the rough translation. Applying that 15:1 ratio to Scotland’s long‑promised £50m women’s business centre programme........

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