Yahoo Finance The UK's female-owned business hotspots
London, the south-east and the north-west are the UK's top three female-owned businesses hotspots, research suggests.
Across all UK regions, new companies – those less than five years old – with only male directors far outweigh those with mixed genders or only female directors, according to analysis of new companies – those under five years old – by Tide and DueDil.
However, the research found that London has the highest percentage of companies with only female directors, despite still being less than one in five – just 17.7%,
It is followed by the south-east (16.4%) and north-west (15.8%). Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, just 12.9% director boards are female-only.
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More than half of new companies across the UK have only male directors – and this remains true for all regions, the study found.
The north-west has the highest percentage of male-only boards – some 63.9%. It is followed by north-east (63.8%) and then London (63.5%), the research found.
Mixed-gender boards are most common in the south-west (24.6%), south-east (21.3%) and east midlands (21.3%). They are least prevalent in London (14.3%), north-west (17.7%) and west midlands (18%).
The study also found companies with mixed-gender directors were “much more stable” than those with solely male or female directors. However, this may very well be due to companies with multiple directors faring better than those without, Tide and DueDil said.
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Looking at the data for businesses formed less than a year ago, London still has the most companies with female only directors, followed by South East and then West Midlands – however, all came in at under a fifth.
Meanwhile, in the east midlands, just 6.4% of companies have only female directors, the study found.
Among companies less than a year old, mixed-gender directors boards are most prevalent in the east midlands, at 69.7%. They are least prevalent in London, at just 10.1%.
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