London a top city for female entrepreneurs, according to research

London has been named as one of the top cities globally for female entrepreneurs in research from Dell Technologies.

The 2017 Women Entrepreneur Cities Index revealed the top 50 global cities for creating and fostering an environment for high-potential women entrepreneurs (HPWE), with London earning a place in the top five.

Characteristics

The index was compiled using research that was built over the past five years, with cities being ranked on characteristics such as capital, technology, talent, culture and markets. These were placed into the operating environment group and the enabling environment group, with London being ranked third place on the index for scoring highly in both.

New York City took the top spot, whilst cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong also made the index, coming in eighth place and 16th place respectively.

Female entrepreneurs contribute £3.51 billion to the UK economy and women entrepreneurship is increasing worldwide.

Barriers

According to Dell EVP and Chief Customer Officer Karen Quintos, women’s entrepreneurship rates are growing more than 10 per cent each year worldwide and women are as likely as or more likely than men to set up their own business in many markets. However, she added that the success of these businesses can be limited by financial, cultural and political barriers.

“By arming city leaders and policymakers with data-driven research and clear calls to action, we can collectively improve the landscape for high-potential women entrepreneurs, which in turn dramatically lifts a city’s economic prospects – as what is good for women is good for the economy,” she said.