A new group to support women in business has got off to a great start.

Inverclyde Women In Business has been set up by the council with the aim of supporting local female business owners, as well as those keen to set up their own venture.

The first meeting took place in person earlier this month at The Beacon Arts Centre with more than 40 attendees, where proposed plans for how the group will work were presented.

Councillor Lynne Quinn, Inverclyde Council’s Women’s Champion, said: “This is a positive venture by Inverclyde Council and I fully support it.

“Women make up 51 per cent of the population but only one in five of Scotland’s entrepreneurs are female. With women led business start up receiving only two per cent of capital investment. We must do what we can here in Inverclyde to address this imbalance.

“Creating an Inverclyde Women In Business network will help female entrepreneurs meet others in similar situations to learn from each other, have support and make connections to grow and develop their businesses and ideas.

“It’s great that so many women from across Inverclyde have shown an interest and I am sure this will continue to grow and develop.”

A Scottish Government study, ‘Pathways: A new approach to women in entrepreneurship’, published in February was commissioned because only one in five of Scotland’s businesses are female-owned  and just 2% of institutional investment goes to women-led companies in Scotland.

Part of the recommendations are to provide a local, more accessible eco-system to support both women considering setting up their own businesses and existing female business owners.

Inverclyde Council conducted an online survey and organised a focus group to establish if female business owners would welcome a group in the area.  There was a very positive response with the majority indicated that they’d like a hybrid-style group, meeting both in person and online.

Funding from the group has come from the UK Government’s  Shared Prosperity Fund.

Meetings are planned with guest speakers on topics of interest and a “spotlight on” slot for a local business to have the opportunity to tell the group more about what they do.

They’ll initially take place on the last Wednesday of each month with the next meeting scheduled to take place on Microsoft Teams on Wednesday, November 29, 9.30am – 11am.

To find out more about the group and upcoming meetings, go to Inverclyde Council’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/InverclydeCouncil