NOON is delighted to have partnered with HSBC to provide research for its Midlife Female Entrepreneurs Report, “Fearless and Thriving”. Read the full press release below and find the full Midlife Female Entrepreneurs Report here.
SHE MEANS BUSINESS: HOW MIDDLE-AGED FEMALE ENTREPENEURS CAN GROW THE UK ECONOMY
New research from NOON, commissioned by HSBC UK, reveals the financial barriers female entrepreneurs face and the potential value those in mid-life can contribute to the UK economy.
The report contains funding insights from 320 mid-life female business owners, including Trinny Woodall and Emma Bridgewater, and reveals two thirds (69%) fund their own businesses through personal savings or remortgaging, and 44% launched their businesses by bootstrapping.[1]
Female entrepreneurs are twice as likely to seek government funding or charitable grants than bank loans or VC funding put together. Only 4% have angel investment, 3% of women receive a loan from a bank, 2% get access to venture capital investment.
Trinny Woodall, CEO and Founder of global, digital-first beauty brand, Trinny London, shared: “Fundraising wasn’t easy at first, and I often was the only woman in the room, some investors couldn’t see the vision because they weren’t the target market.”
Despite the barriers to investment, around 8 in 10 (84%) of women want to scale up their businesses within the next two years, according to the report, with nearly half (44%) saying they have identified a gap in the market to power this growth.
Although 62% of women express a desire to start their own businesses, current data shows that only one in five (19%) of businesses in the UK are female led.[2] Middle-aged women founders in particular can create impact in the business world according to HSBC UK and Noon.
Pauline Healey, founder of financial consultancy Logical BI, said: “I believe that midlife women have a significant advantage over youth.
“With experience comes wisdom, resilience, and insights that only time can teach. By mid-life, we’ve all made our share of mistakes – but that’s part of the journey. The key to success is learning from them and pushing forward.”
HSBC UK and NOON’s findings echo those from last year’s HSBC UK study which found one in five (18%) female business leaders view access to funding as a barrier to growing their business.3
The HSBC Women’s Business Growth Initiative aims to help plug the credit gap for women-led businesses, estimated to be valued at $1.7 trillion globally.4
Stephanie Betant, Head of Global Trade Solutions, HSBC UK said: “We recognise the immense talent, creativity, and leadership that women bring to the business world, and we are passionate about breaking down barriers that stand in their way. Supporting women-led businesses is a commitment to a future where ambition is met with opportunity, no matter one’s background or age.
“This is why we are proud to launch this report, keeping the conversation alive and driving change. It follows the success of our £250m Women and Business Growth Initiative, through which we have engaged with over 390 entrepreneurs since its launch in September. Each connection, each story, and each success reminds us why this work matters — and why we must continue to champion women entrepreneurs as they turn their visions into reality.”
Eleanor Mills, journalist and founder of NOON, added: “Midlife women are a lucrative and underserved market – Forbes Magazine calls us Super Consumers and we are behind over 90 per cent of all household consumer spending decisions yet appear in less than 10 per cent of advertising.
“Midlife female entrepreneurs understand this audience and can see the gaps in the market – with funding these founders could add billions to UK PLC. These women are a pioneering generation, redefining midlife and what 50 plus looks like. We need to be funding their businesses and encouraging them to fly.”
Read the full report Fearless and Thriving: how midlife, female entrepreneurs are changing the game.
For HSBC UK media enquires please contact:
Hannah Langston
hannah.langston@hsbc.com
(0)7384 792 248
Sephora Landu
Sephora.ineza.landu@hsbc.com
About HSBC UK:
HSBC UK serves over 15 million active customers across the UK, supported by 23,900 colleagues. HSBC UK offers a complete range of retail banking and wealth management to personal and private banking customers, as well as commercial banking for small to medium businesses and large corporates. HSBC UK is a ring-fenced bank and wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc.
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is headquartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 58 countries and territories. With assets of US$3,054bn at 31 March 2025, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.
About NOON:
NOON.org.uk is the UK’s premier network for women in midlife and beyond, it runs supportive circles, events, retreats and sources insights from its 40,000 strong community of Queenagers to inform policy and debate.
[1] Bootstrapping could be using personal savings, but also reinvesting early profits back into the business, often with the goal to avoid debt or external funding.
[2] Gender Index Report 2025, p.17: TGI-2025-report.pdf
3 All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from research conducted by YouGov on behalf of HSBC UK. Total sample size was 1,014 female business owners. Fieldwork was undertaken between 30 August – 10 September 2024. The survey was carried out online.
