Every year, International Woman's Day provides both an opportunity to reflect on the progress made towards achieving gender equality and a stark reminder of the work that needs to be done. Indeed, only one in five businesses in the UK is run by a woman, with access and awareness of funding and family responsibilities often listed as top reasons that prevent women from making the decision to launch a business.

It is encouraging, however, to see that the tide seems to be turning. According to the 2023 Women Entrepreneur Cities (WE Cities) Index, women-led start-ups have grown at a colossal rate during the pandemic, and for the first time London has overtaken New York and San Francisco as the best city in the world for female entrepreneurs. Amongst the reasons cited for this boom are our capital's leading education and business environment.

It is great to see London's ecosystem providing a supportive environment for business, and this is a trend that we've observed elsewhere in the country. One such success story is in the North West, which has received more than £110 million in funding over the past decade, of which more than £40 million has been to women business owners and over £16 million to start up owners from ethnic minority backgrounds. We've also been pleased to see that since the start of our programme in 2012, 40% of all loans, worth more than £347 million, have been taken out by women.

There is, however, more to be done. Empowering women to start and build their businesses is central to our mission. It is why we are part of the Investing in Women Code and have also made a commitment to reaching a 50/50 split of male and female loan recipients as soon as possible. As part of this we are aiming to support more women from ethnic minority backgrounds to build on our success to date.

I hope the stories below from two of our Start Up Loans ambassadors can inspire potential female entrepreneurs to take the leap and fulfil their dreams of owning a business.

Chloe Bruce, founder of Chloe Bruce Academy:

Chloe Bruce took out a loan of £12,500 to launch the Chloe Bruce Academy in 2020, a business offering virtual martial arts classes and tutorials. The academy, which offers on-demand and live classes, has taught hundreds of thousands of people, ranging from beginners to professionals, including actors learning new skills for action roles.

Before launching her business, Chloe was a stunt double for some of Hollywood's leading actors such as Zoe Saldana in Guardians of the Galaxy and Daisy Ridley in Star Wars. However, after having had her fair share of being thrown around on wires and fighting some of Hollywood's biggest baddies, she decided to take on a new type of challenge - launching her own business.

Chloe said "As a mum of two juggling work and childcare, having an online business has been essential in ensuring I maintain a work-life balance. My dream was always to launch a virtual platform, and when Covid-19 meant that people were forced to stay at home, it felt like the right time to formally launch to the public after years of planning.

Emma Hamlett, founder of Collected:

Emma Hamlett took out a £25,000 loan to open Collected, an independent bookshop specialising in work written by women. Describing herself as a "Covid cliché", Emma exited stage left from her career as a museum curator in 2020 and began to explore what else might be possible, realising in the process that, for her, there was no getting away from books.

"At Collected, we simply love books and reading - and talking books and reading. We're also passionate about championing work by female writers, much of which - through imbalance and bias in publishing, literary journalism, and prize giving - has historically been overshadowed and overlooked."