British Business Bank Lends £20 Million to Welsh Female Founders

The British Business Bank has provided more than £20 million to 2,081 female entrepreneurs across Wales through its Start Up Loans programme. New analysis from the state-owned economic development bank shows the strongest growth is not in Cardiff or Swansea. It is in North Wales.

Flintshire ranks among the top five Welsh local authorities for both the number and the value of Start Up Loans received by women over the last five years. Between 2021 and the first quarter of 2026, 42 female entrepreneurs in Flintshire received loans worth a combined £459,000.

Where is female entrepreneurship growing fastest?

Wrexham, Conwy and Gwynedd all saw the number of Start Up Loans going to female recipients increase between 2021 and 2025. In 2025, both Wrexham and Flintshire recorded more female Start Up Loans than Cardiff, the Welsh capital.

Cardiff still leads on the lifetime totals. It remains the Welsh local authority with the highest number and total value of female Start Up Loans since the programme began in 2012. But the latest five-year data shows strong activity across a much broader range of communities, including areas across North Wales.

Jess Phillips-Harris, Director, Wales - Local Growth Team at the British Business Bank, said: "Reaching the £20 million milestone is a significant achievement for female entrepreneurs in Wales, and it is particularly encouraging to see strong levels of activity emerging across communities throughout the country."

She added: "The data shows that female entrepreneurship is not concentrated to Wales' largest cities, with North Wales in particular showing strong levels of activity."

What kinds of businesses are being built?

The loan recipients span sectors from software to food production.

• Corevelio, Wrexham. Founder Laura Clinton built an animal rehabilitation software platform, formerly named Equicantis, that helps equine and canine physical therapists manage their businesses and create tailored rehabilitation plans for clients.
• Catra, Gwynedd. Photographer-turned-entrepreneur Kristina Banholzer used a Start Up Loan to launch a community-focused estate agency designed to showcase not only properties but the distinctive qualities of the areas they are found within.
• Bwblin, Anglesey. Founder Anna Lloyd creates fermented products using locally sourced Welsh ingredients.

Phillips-Harris named all three ventures in her statement, noting that women across Wales are building successful businesses in a wide range of sectors.

How does a £5,000 loan move a business forward?

Lloyd's case shows the mechanism. She developed Bwblin alongside her career, as a side project. When demand grew, a £5,000 Start Up Loan paid for equipment and a dedicated production space.

She said: "Obtaining a Start Up Loan gave me the financial firepower I needed to take Bwblin seriously as a business. I had been developing the idea as a side hustle and, as demand grew, the funding gave me the confidence and practical support to invest in the right equipment and move into a dedicated production space."

Lloyd also pointed to timing. "Starting a business is obviously very daunting and you certainly don't have everything figured out at the beginning but having the right financial support, at the right moment is a huge part of the journey and one that makes all the difference," she said.

The Start Up Loans programme, running since 2012, does not stop at cash. Every borrower receives 12 months of free mentoring and support to help them start and develop their businesses.

Phillips-Harris framed the programme's goal in geographic terms: "Through Start Up Loans, we want to ensure aspiring entrepreneurs have access to the finance and support they need to turn their ideas into businesses, wherever they are in Wales."

The £20 million milestone suggests that commitment now reaches well beyond the big population centres. If the 2021-2025 loan trend in Wrexham, Flintshire, Conwy and Gwynedd holds, North Wales will keep narrowing the gap with Cardiff.