Published: September 18, 2025 at 2:31 pm
Are you surprised that women exit from their businesses for 25% less than their male peers?
The latest ‘No Diversity, No Deal’ event in Glasgow last night saw business founders, investors and advisers from across Scotland gather together at The Ivy to discuss the preliminary findings of a research study from wealth management firm Evelyn Partners which showed that male business owners exited at an average of £5.2m, compared to £3.9m for female-owned businesses.
Alison Fitzsimons, head of entrepreneurs business development at Evelyn Partners, said the entrepreneurs at the event were “disappointed but not necessarily surprised”.
“This seems indicative of structural barriers, such as access to funding in order to scale and negotiation bias when it comes to an exit. Anecdotally, from years of advising business founders, we know these are both headwinds that can leave female entrepreneurs with lower returns from their hard graft in building businesses.
“Securing funding is no easy task for all entrepreneurs, but especially for female founders: less than 2% of venture capital funding, and only 3% of equity capital overall in UK, goes to women-led businesses. Can we as a business community in Scotland do more to support those women who want to fundraise, and equally, those who may have decided this is not the route for them?”
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