Women given £50,000 each to lead way in innovation
SOME OF the UK’s top women innovators have been given cash injections to scale up their plans and tackle global crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change.
Science Minister Amanda Holloway announced the grants today, International Women’s Day, with 40 female visionaries across the UK to receive £50,000 and mentoring so that they may develop ideas. It is thought that boosting the number of female entrepreneurs could deliver £180bn to the UK economy.
Business innovations receiving Government backing include a company creating sustainable furniture for the airline industry and a technology to help organisations reduce their waste.
The funding is part of the government’s flagship Women in Innovation Awards. Ms Solloway said: “As we build back better from Covid, it is a priority of mine to continue equipping our brightest female innovators with the tools they need to succeed, while encouraging a new generation of women to come forward and pursue their ambitions.
“Today we are supporting 40 of our most trailblazing female entrepreneurs, helping them to turn their innovative ideas and aspirations into a reality, creating the products and services that will help improve our lives and boost our economy.”
CALLS ARE being made for more women to be appear on the reverse of Bank of England notes as just three have been celebrated in the past 50 years.
Historical figures have featured on its banknotes since 1970 with the first woman – Florence Nightingale – appearing in 1975.
Prison reformer Elizabeth Fry was next, featured from 2002 to 2016. Her replacement by Sir Winston Churchill – raising the prospect of a men-only line-up – sparked a row.
Since 2017, Pride And Prejudice author Jane Austen has appeared on the £10 note, with men featuring on the £5, £20 and £50 notes.
Felicia Willow, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said:
“According to the Bank of England, our notes feature those who have ‘shaped UK society through their thought innovation, leadership or values’ – so where are all the brilliant women who have done just that?
“Women make up 50 per cent of the UK population and yet just 25 per cent of our currency celebrates their achievements... it’s about time our cultural iconography reflected this.”
Sarah Coles, from Hargreaves Lansdown, said that women’s achievements have often been played down by society in the past, adding: “It’s not just a problem with how people are selected; it also comes down to society itself, and the way women have been sidelined in history.”
The Governor of the Bank of England has the final say on who appears on the back.