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DataGardener

DataGardener

Diversity Index - Gender

Active Companies

5.2M+

Female-Owned Businesses

768K+

Male-Owned Businesses

2.61M+

  • Industry Distribution of Female-Owned Businesses

The top three SIC industries for female-owned businesses are Wholesale And Retail Trade; Repair Of Motor Vehicles And Motorcycles (G), Professional Scientific And Technical Activities (M), and Administrative And Support Service Activities (N), which together comprise 41.7% of the female-owned businesses.

  • Industry Distribution of Male-Owned Businesses

The top three SIC industries for male-owned businesses are Wholesale And Retail Trade; Repair Of Motor Vehicles And Motorcycles (G), Construction (F), and Information And Communication (J),which together comprise 40.9% of the male-owned businesses. 

* The Percentages & Counts may not add up due to a company being able to trade under multiple SIC Codes.

  • Industry Distribution of Female-Owned businesses vs Male-Owned Businesses
Female-Owned Businesses Male-Owned Businesses
SIC Code SIC Industry Count Percentage Count Percentage
A Agriculture Forestry And Fishing 5,173 0.67% 20,573 0.79%
B Mining And Quarrying 596 0.08% 4,327 0.17%
C Manufacturing 26,283 3.42% 120,201 4.6%
D Electricity Gas Steam And Air Conditioning Supply 558 0.07% 6,391 0.24%
E Water Supply, Sewerage Waste Management And Remediation Activities 1,230 0.16% 9,779 0.37%
F Construction 29,441 3.83% 375,276 14.38%
G Wholesale And Retail Trade; Repair Of Motor Vehicles And Motorcycles 118,970 15.49% 408,444 15.65%
H Transportation And Storage 17,957 2.34% 110,165 4.22%
I Accommodation And Food Service Activities 46,234 6.02% 134,427 5.15%
J Information And Communication 46,693 6.08% 257,544 9.87%
K Financial And Insurance Activities 15,056 1.96% 89,576 3.43%
L Real Estate Activities 62,220 8.1% 221,758 8.5%
M Professional Scientific And Technical Activities 118,732 15.45% 332,690 12.75%
N Administrative And Support Service Activities 82,637 10.76% 220,985 8.47%
O Public Administration And Defence; Compulsory Social Security 2,837 0.37% 4,670 0.18%
P Education 23,879 3.11% 32,721 1.25%
Q Human Health And Social Work Activities 72,007 9.37% 66,769 2.56%
R Arts Entertainment And Recreation 23,072 3% 58,702 2.25%
S Other Service Activities 64,230 8.36% 108,218 4.15%
T Activities Of Households As Employers; Undifferentiated Goods- And Services-producing Activities Of Households For Own Use 9,571 1.25% 24,179 0.93%
U Activities Of Extraterritorial Organisations And Bodies 87 0.01% 356 0.01%

The SIC industry with the highest ratio of female-owned to male-owned businesses is Human Health And Social Work Activities (Q), where female-owned businesses make up 51.9% of the total businesses in that industry. The SIC industry with the lowest ratio of female-owned to male-owned businesses is Electricity Gas Steam And Air Conditioning Supply (D), where female-owned businesses make up only 8% of the total businesses in that industry.

  • Regional Distribution of Female-Owned businesses

The region with the highest number and percentage of female-owned businesses is London, where there are 221,622 female-owned businesses, making up 28.85% of the total female-owned businesses in the UK. The region with the lowest number and percentage of female-owned businesses is Northern Ireland, where there are only 10,194 female-owned businesses, making up 1.33% of the total female-owned businesses in the UK.
  • Regional Distribution of Male-Owned businesses

The region with the highest number and percentage of male-owned businesses is also London, where there are 727,547 male-owned businesses, making up 27.87% of the total male-owned businesses in the UK. The region with the lowest number and percentage of male-owned businesses is also Northern Ireland, where there are only 39,864 male-owned businesses, making up 1.53% of the total male-owned businesses in the UK.
  • Regional Distribution of Female-Owned businesses vs Male-Owned Businesses
Region Female-Owned Businesses Male-Owned Businesses
Count Percentage Count Percentage
Scotland 35,019 4.56% 126,748 4.86%
North East 15,627 2.03% 61,353 2.35%
Yorkshire and The Humber 44,409 5.78% 162,181 6.21%
East Midlands 41,821 5.44% 144,398 5.53%
East of England 70,124 9.13% 243,805 9.34%
London 221,622 28.85% 727,547 27.87%
South East 103,352 13.45% 337,632 12.93%
Northern Ireland 10,194 1.33% 39,864 1.53%
North West 75,917 9.88% 266,144 10.2%
West Midlands 65,241 8.49% 210,215 8.05%
Wales 15,618 2.03% 57,769 2.21%
South West 48,866 6.36% 164,205 6.29%
There are some regional variations in the gender distribution of businesses, with London being the most dominant region for both female-owned and male-owned businesses, and Northern Ireland being the least dominant region for both genders. Wales and North East are the regions with the most and least balanced gender ratios respectively.
  • Risk Profile of Female-Owned Businesses

The pie chart highlights the risk profiles of female-owned businesses, with the majority of these businesses (45.94%) in the Very Low Risk or Low Risk bands. This distribution indicates that the majority of female-owned businesses are perceived to operate in low to very low-risk environments, signalling a stable and secure business landscape for female entrepreneurs to thrive and succeed.

  • Risk Profile of Male-Owned Businesses

The pie chart highlights the risk profiles of male-owned businesses, with the majority of male-owned businesses (43.77%) are also in the Very Low Risk or Low Risk bands. Surprisingly, the Very High Risk category captures 20.68% of male-owned businesses, challenging conventional expectations. Moderate Risk ventures make up 34.26%, while High-Risk enterprises are the smallest group at 1.25%. This data underscores that male entrepreneurs, much like female, have a notable presence in the safer risk categories.

  • Risk Profile of Female-Owned businesses vs Male-Owned Businesses
Risk Band Female-Owned Businesses Male Owned Businesses
Count Percentage Count Percentage
Very Low Risk 1,87,456 24.4% 5,30,463 20.32%
Low Risk 1,65,498 21.54% 6,12,037 23.45%
Moderate Risk 2,66,348 34.67% 8,94,169 34.26%
High Risk 7,912 1.03% 32,709 1.25%
Very High Risk 1,40,643 18.31% 5,39,832 20.68%
The risk distribution between female-owned and male-owned businesses shows some variations across different risk bands. Female-owned businesses tend to have a higher proportion in the very low-risk category, while male-owned businesses have a higher proportion in the very high-risk category. However, the differences are relatively small in most cases, indicating that risk levels are somewhat comparable between the two categories. 
  • Turnover of Female-Owned Businesses

The table indicates that the majority of female-owned businesses, comprising 41.88%, operate within the £1 to £1 million turnover range. This insight sheds light on the prevalence of smaller and medium-sized female-owned businesses when it comes to turnover.

  • Turnover of Male-Owned Businesses

The table shows that most male-owned businesses have turnovers in the £1 to £1 million range, making up 40.88% of companies. The data suggests a similar distribution of turnover ranges between male and female-owned businesses, with a prevalence of smaller businesses in both cases.
  • Turnover of Female-Owned businesses vs Male-Owned Businesses
Turnover Range Female-Owned Businesses Male-Owned Businesses
Number of Companies Percentage Number of Companies Percentage
1 to 1M 318,510 41.46% 1,070,000 40.88%
1M to 5M 27,440 3.57% 133,880 5.13%
5M to 10M 2,790 0.36% 15,750 0.6%
10M to 100M 1,960 0.26% 13,380 0.51%
100M to 500M 62 0.01% 567 0.02%
500M to 1B 1 0.0% 37 0.0%
Greater than 1B 4 0.0% 21 0.0%
Greater than 10B 0 0.0% 4 0.0%

The data on female and male-owned businesses highlights interesting trends in turnover. Women tend to own a slightly higher percentage of businesses compared to men in the turnover range of £1 to £1 million. However, as turnover increases, the proportion of female-owned businesses decreases. This suggests that while women are actively involved in entrepreneurship across different turnover ranges, challenges or barriers may limit their representation in larger-scale businesses.

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