UK Bets £310 Billion on Getting Women Into Tech

Women-founded businesses growing at the same rate as men's could add £310 billion to the UK economy — the figure anchoring a package of measures announced at the Budget on 28 October 2026 to break down barriers facing women in technology.

The government will develop two voluntary standards through its Women in Tech Taskforce: a "Tech Forward Standard" on workplace culture and an "Inclusive Investment Standard" on funding practices. In 2027, it will also launch a scale-up women's programme run jointly by DCMS and BIST to help women founders of high-growth businesses secure investment.

The caveat sits in the wording. Both standards are voluntary, their final content is not yet decided, and full ambassador cohorts will only be published "in the coming months." What exists today is a set of intentions, not rules.

How bad is the participation gap?

Women make up just 22% of the UK's IT workforce — 433,000 female IT specialists in 2025, according to BCS analysis of the ONS Labour Force Survey. Government-cited research claims closing participation gaps could add up to £4 billion a year to GDP.

The £310 billion figure carries its own history. It is the Alison Rose review's 2019 estimate of £250 billion, adjusted for inflation by HM Treasury — a projection of unrealised value, not a forecast of what these measures will deliver.

The funding gap is starker still. Only 2p of every £1 of UK venture capital goes to women-founded businesses, per the Investing in Women Code Annual Report 2026. In plain terms, for every £100 of VC money deployed, female founders receive £2.

What would the standards actually do?

The Tech Forward Standard could include trusted harassment reporting routes so workers feel safe to come forward, alongside broader commitments on workplace culture. The government's call for evidence found 74% of respondents believe better workplace culture would support women's progression in tech.

The Inclusive Investment Standard could require signatories to broaden deal sourcing channels and to track women-led businesses from pitch to funding decision — making it visible where founders drop out of the process.

Early ambassadors for the workplace standard include BT Group, Revolut, Sage, Arm, Virgin Media O2, the TUC and techUK. Investment-standard backers include Balderton Capital, Octopus Ventures, Ada Ventures and Innovate Finance.

Digital Inclusion Minister and Taskforce co-chair Vicky Foxcroft said: "Too many talented women are leaving tech or never getting the chance to build a career in it in the first place. That's not just unfair, it's a waste of talent our economy can't afford."

Women in Tech Envoy and Stemettes co-founder Anne-Marie Imafidon was blunter on conduct: "Too many women have told us about facing misconduct like harassment and discrimination in tech. That is unacceptable and a key driver of poor participation in the sector."

What comes next — and when?

The Taskforce reconvenes in November 2026 to begin co-creation of the standards with industry and investors, ahead of formal launch. The scale-up programme follows in 2027, offering workshops, peer learning, networking and investor introductions.

Three further initiatives run alongside:

• TechFirst Girls Competition — registration now open, giving UK girls the chance to build tech skills and explore tech careers.
• Get Tech Certified — public-sector upskilling running 1 October to 31 December 2026, with a new Women in Tech strand of events, mentoring and career stories.
• TechFirst Women's Programme — mentoring and skills support for 300 women, targeting paid roles of at least six months in AI, cyber security and other growth sectors by March 2027.

The package is ambitious in scope but light on compulsion: no quotas, no regulation, no funding figures attached to the standards themselves. Whether 29 named ambassadors and two voluntary codes can shift a sector where women hold 22% of jobs and 2% of VC funding will only be measurable years after the 2027 launches.