The Gender Index

Friday 2nd April 2021

Jill Pay and mnAI to create the first UK female entrepreneurship benchmark report

Jill Pay and mnAI announce the creation of the UK’s first and largest UK female entrepreneurship report

The Gender Index is being created to form a benchmark of the current level of activity undertaken by SMEs across the UK that are owned and led by female founders.

The inaugural report will cover 8m companies and over 12.8 million people. It will be the largest report of its kind ever produced for the UK, with the ambition of setting the standard for gender-disaggregated reporting.

The report is being formulated as we speak, and will be launched on International Women’s Day in 2022 to celebrate the step forward in female entrepreneurship recognition.

Using real-time information from the award-winning data technology provider, mnAI, The Gender Index will:

• Identify the gender gap between male and female company founders nationally by country, region, county, LEP, and across sectors.
• Understand the economic impact of female-owned and led businesses on a local and national basis.
• Understand the impact that venture capital has on female founders.
• Make this information public to ensure that greater support is provided to female-founded companies, helping to accelerate corporate growth.
• Establish the metrics and protocols required to track future growth simply and easily.
• Provide a framework that can collate international data.

Chairman of The Gender Index, Jill Pay, said:

“Mapping the impact that female-founded businesses have on the UK economy, uncovering their potential and supporting their growth is paramount to a more inclusive, diverse and stronger economy, yet until now, the ability to do so has remained stubbornly out of reach. The collaboration with mnAI to produce The Gender Index changes this. We now have the ability to map every business in every village, town, city, region and local authority across the UK, by sector, in real-time, and crucially, to support those who need it most in these uncertain times.”

For mnAI, CEO, John Cushing:

“The creation of The Gender Index marks a significant milestone in the support provided to female business owners, and we’re delighted to collaborate on this incredible initiative.”

Learn more about this innovative UK female entrepreneurship report at www.thegenderindex.com