UK Budget Doubles British Business Bank Women-Led Backing to £200 Million

Chancellor John Healey announced in the Budget on 28 October 2026 that the British Business Bank will double its commitments to women-led businesses and funds, to £200 million. The Budget also includes a scale-up programme for female founders across the UK.

The measures sit within a wider package for founders that also changes capital gains tax and the tax-free trading allowance.

What the Budget announced for women founders

Startups Magazine reports that the British Business Bank will double its commitments to women-led businesses in funds, to £200 million. BM Magazine reports the Treasury says the bank has built a pipeline of more than £100 million in commitments to women-led funds, including first-time fund managers identified through Investor Pathways Capital.

The scale-up programme for women founders builds on the Investing in Women Code and the Invest in Women Taskforce, according to BM Magazine’s account of the Budget document.

The Budget also sets out voluntary Tech Forward and Inclusive Investment Standards. The Women in Tech Taskforce leads them. They aim to address barriers women face in raising capital and working in tech, BM Magazine reports.

The taskforce is a government advisory group launched in December 2025 by then-Technology Secretary Liz Kendall. Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, founder of Stemettes, co-leads it and serves as Women in Tech Envoy.

Founders’ relief at a glance
HMRC’s proposed founders’ relief, in a technical consultation launched on 28 October 2026, sets a 10% capital gains rate on up to £10 million of lifetime gains for qualifying founders from 6 April 2027, and expects about 600 people a year to qualify.

The funding gap behind the policy

BM Magazine cites the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) as saying female-founded start-ups receive 5.9 times less funding than male-founded ones. It also reports, citing the Budget document, that women make up 21% of the digital workforce, and that DSIT estimates women leaving tech or changing jobs costs the economy £2 billion to £3.5 billion a year.

The Invest in Women Taskforce secured more than £250 million for female entrepreneurs in 2024, according to the same report. The British Business Bank was among its backers, alongside Barclays, M&G, Morgan Stanley, Visa Foundation, BGF and Aviva.

A June survey of 1,000 female entrepreneurs for National Women’s Enterprise Week, cited by BM Magazine, found lack of funding and low visibility were the joint top challenges. Each was named by 27% of respondents.

Startups Magazine reports the wider Budget package for the bank includes £1.4 billion in additional capacity for equity funds, £450 million for a new venture debt product and a £165 million expansion of the Community ENABLE Funding programme.

How the founders’ relief and other tax changes work

HMRC launched a technical consultation on 28 October 2026 on a founders’ relief. Qualifying gains would be taxed at 10% instead of the current 18% and 24%, up to £10 million of lifetime gains per individual. It applies to qualifying disposals on or after 6 April 2027.

The relief has several conditions. A founder must have held 25% of the ordinary share capital when the company’s trade, or preparation for it, began. The shares must have been held for at least five tax years, and the founder must have been UK resident for at least five continuous tax years before the disposal.

The company needs turnover of at least £10 million and at least 15 qualifying full-time equivalent employees in the accounting period ending in the year before disposal. It must also meet at least two of three conditions: 25% average annual compound growth in turnover over three consecutive periods, the same growth in employees, or at least £1.5 million of qualifying research and development spending.

Sectors excluded from the Enterprise Investment Scheme, including land dealing, financial services and property development, are also excluded. Companies may be listed or unlisted.

HMRC expects about 600 individuals a year to be eligible, and about 400 businesses a year with founders or investors eligible for the relief. Claims are made on the Self Assessment return. Claims to Business Asset Disposal Relief and Investors’ Relief made from 6 April 2027 reduce the £10 million limit.

BM Magazine reports that the Business Asset Disposal Relief lifetime limit falls from £1 million to £500,000. It also reports the trading allowance triples from £1,000 to £3,000 from 6 April 2027, and that a young entrepreneurs’ allowance will cover a year of living costs for young founders. Startups Magazine also reports the £3,000 trading allowance.

Reaction and what happens next

Michelle Ovens CBE, founder of Small Business Britain, told Startups Magazine that support for female entrepreneurs through the British Business Bank is “an important step” toward unlocking women’s business potential. She said the higher trading allowance makes it easier for people to grow side projects into full businesses.

James Cobb, founder of Crowd Connected, told the same outlet the £10 million headline came without clarity on who is eligible. He asked whether the relief covers billion-pound companies or smaller profitable ones.

Keith Griffiths of The Entrepreneur Festival welcomed the backing for female-led businesses, saying underrepresented groups still struggle to reach experienced founders and support networks.

HMRC opened a technical consultation on the founders’ relief design on 28 October 2026. Questions can be sent to cgtbudget@hmrc.gov.uk. HMRC says legislation will come through amendments to the Finance Bill 2026.