More women must lead high growth enterprises, Zandra Moore tells Ward Hadaway Yorkshire Fastest 50 awards

Zandra Moore, the CEO of Leeds-based Panintelligence, who is also a member of the Government-backed Women-Led High Growth Enterprise Taskforce, said the UK needs to do a better job of selling its regions, to prove there is a critical mass of early-stage companies worth supporting.

The taskforce’s report found that 13 per cent of investment companies still do not have a single woman on their investing teams, and for every £1 of equity investment in the UK, only 2p goes to fully-female founded businesses.

The taskforce described this as a “shocking waste of talent and innovation and a significant loss to the economy”. The group’s report found that eight out of 10 young people cannot name a single female entrepreneur.

Ms Moore highlighted her work on the taskforce, which calls for action to increase the proportion of investment going to women-led high-growth enterprises, when she delivered the keynote speech at the Ward Hadaway Yorkshire Fastest 50 awards at Aspire in Leeds.

She told the audience: "I had the real privilege of sitting on a Government task force to try and get more women-led high growth enterprises in the UK. I didn't realise when I started my own business how rare I was.

"Nor did I realise that the funding landscape when growing a business was actually all stacked against me. There is work to be done. I want to see diversity in all aspects of our economy. We need to make sure we have more women leading high growth enterprises."

Earlier, Ms Moore told The Yorkshire Post that regional boards, which have been piloted in Leeds, have attracted support from the public and private sectors.

She added: "There is no lack of confidence and ambition among female founders, but there is a lack of support; it's a systemic issue with women often locked outside male-dominated networks. If we can convene female founders together, we can create a critical mass that will attract investors."

In 2023, the taskforce set up a pilot female founders growth board in Leeds supported by Leeds City Council, the British Business Bank, Lloyds Bank, Investor Ladder, Panintelligence, Bruntwood, North Invest and Data City.

It was launched at the Leeds Digital Festival and “energised the female founders of Leeds to continue a peer community, with the core aim to create a safe, trusted environment in which to learn from each other”.

The taskforce report states: “Following the great success of the Leeds pilot, and the sustainable blueprint for female founder growth boards and dashboards set up by the taskforce, the taskforce encourages the establishment of a team of sponsors keen to drive this agenda.”

"Going forward, the taskforce would like to see the model rolled out across further areas of the UK. These growth boards will then become a driving force for women-led high growth enterprises across all regions of the UK, and they will evolve over time with the needs of women and other diverse groups.”