Business loans for women in the UK

No mainstream UK lender offers a business loan priced differently for women: the government's Investing in Women Code report says banks do not differentiate between men-led and women-led businesses when they lend, and approval rates are similar. What does exist is help around the loan: Start Up Loans of £500 to £25,000 with free mentoring, Innovate UK grants of up to £75,000 for women founders, and community lenders that made 38% of their 2024 business loans to women-led firms.

Sources are official only (gov.uk, UKRI, Start Up Loans and the Investing in Women Code report), checked 1 November 2026.

What genuinely exists, at a glance

Option	What it is	Women only?
Start Up Loan	Personal loan, £500 to £25,000, fixed 7.5%, 1 to 5 years, 12 months of mentoring	No, open to anyone eligible
Women in Innovation Award	Grant up to £75,000 plus support, three sectors only, competitive	Yes
Community lenders (CDFIs)	Loans for businesses the banks decline	No, but 38% of 2024 business loans went to women-led firms
Bank programmes	Mentoring, coaching and networks from NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds and others	Yes, but the loans themselves are the standard products

Many results for this search describe American SBA loans or schemes in other countries. They are not available to UK businesses.

Start Up Loans: the most useful option for new businesses

A Start Up Loan is a government-backed, unsecured personal loan for business purposes. It is not reserved for women, but its fixed 7.5% is below the lowest representative APR published by the 5 high-street banks we track (8.5%), and the free mentoring is the kind of support women-only schemes tend to offer. The published eligibility rules:

aged 18 or over
a current UK resident with the right to work in the UK
starting a business or trading for up to 60 months
unable to get finance elsewhere (a self-declaration is accepted)
passing a personal credit check and affordability assessment

No application, set-up or early repayment fees. You apply with a business plan, cash flow forecast and personal survival budget.

What a Start Up Loan costs

These are the repayment figures Start Up Loans publishes at the fixed 7.5% rate:

Borrow	Term	Monthly	Interest	Total repaid
£10,000	60 months	£200.38	£2,022.77	£12,022.77
£25,000	36 months	£777.66	£2,995.60	£27,995.60

Check the arithmetic on the first row: £200.38 × 60 = £12,022.80, within a few pence of the published £12,022.77 total, of which £12,022.77 − £10,000 = £2,022.77 is interest. Because it is a personal loan, you owe it even if the business closes. The full rules are in our Start Up Loans guide.

Grants for women founders

Innovate UK Women in Innovation Awards: a grant of up to £75,000 plus business support for women founders of late-stage start-ups in advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, or life sciences. The 2025 to 2026 round closed on 4 February 2026. Winners also commit to role-model activity and training, so treat it as a programme, not just a cheque. If your business is outside those three sectors, it does not apply to you.

Community lenders if the bank says no

Community Development Finance Institutions are social lenders that fund businesses the banks will not. 38% of CDFI business loans in 2024 went to women-led businesses, a higher share than women-led firms' share of companies overall (19.1% of active UK companies in 2024). Rates and terms are set by each CDFI and are not covered by the report, so compare the offer on its total cost.

What the banks offer women-led businesses

290 finance providers had signed the Investing in Women Code by 2025, committing to report their lending to women and improve access. In practice that means support, not cheaper loans. NatWest’s Women in Business accreditation programme has over 1,000 trained Women in Business Specialists. Barclays’ stated ambition is to help 250,000 women start, run and grow their business by the end of 2026. Lloyds runs a dedicated website and free programmes for women-owned businesses. Use them for the mentoring and introductions; compare the loan itself on price like anyone else would.

Our view: the published data points to a gap in applying rather than in approval. Only 34% of female owners said they were happy to use external finance to grow, against 40% of male owners. If the numbers for your business work, apply.

Looking for funding for your business?

We pass your enquiry to our specialist commercial finance broker partner, which works with a panel of more than 200 UK lenders. The same lending criteria apply to every applicant.

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Frequently asked questions

Is there a special business loan for women in the UK?

Not from the mainstream lenders. The government's Investing in Women Code report says banks do not differentiate between men-led and women-led businesses in the lending process, and that approval rates are similar. The targeted help sits around the loan: grants, mentoring, community lenders and bank support programmes.

Is there a loan for business for ladies starting out?

The closest thing is a Start Up Loan, which is open to anyone but comes with 12 months of free mentoring. It is a personal loan of £500 to £25,000 at a fixed 7.5% a year over 1 to 5 years, for people starting a business or trading for up to 60 months. £10,000 over 60 months costs £200.38 a month.

Are there grants for women-led businesses?

Innovate UK's Women in Innovation Awards offer a grant of up to £75,000 plus business support to women founders of late-stage start-ups in advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, or life sciences. The 2025 to 2026 round closed on 4 February 2026, so watch UKRI's funding finder for the next one. Grants like this are competitive and sector-limited; most women-led businesses will fund themselves with ordinary loans.

Are women less likely to get a business loan approved?

Not on the lenders' own data. Code signatories report similar approval rates for women-led and men-led businesses (2024 data). The bigger gap is in applying: 34% of female business owners said they were happy to use external finance to grow, against 40% of male owners.

What if a bank turns me down?

Ask the bank for the reason, then look at Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), which lend to businesses the banks decline. 38% of CDFI business loans in 2024 went to women-led businesses. A broker can also place your application with lenders outside the high street.

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Sources

Every figure on this page comes from the provider's own website or terms, or a named primary source, read on 1 November 2026. Where a provider does not publish a term we say "Not published" rather than fill the gap from a comparison site.