Less than 20% of all active UK companies are led by women, and the pace of new business registrations is slowing down.
That’s according to analysis of Companies House data by Prowess, which also found women-led companies receive just 5.8% of all investment.
In our Women in Business series, we speak to women who are bossing it in their respective fields as they tell us how they’ve overcome challenges and how others could do the same.
Today Money live reporter Jess Sharp speaks to Lemon Fuller, a former dancer, choreographer, singer and the founder of Lemonade Dolls.
Lemon’s business grew from an Instagram page she created while heading back to London after living in LA for three years.
Having spent a decade in the entertainment industry being criticised, her aim was to build a community that uplifted women.
“I was being told whether I was good enough, pretty enough, thin enough, fat enough – you name it. I think that was really the heartbeat of building a brand that was so inclusive,” she says.
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She had spent a lot of her life working on shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and Comic Relief, and with global music stars.
She toured around the UK as a support act for Little Mix before being signed by a record company in LA.
“I have no regrets at all, it was absolutely amazing and I worked very, very hard to get where I got. I worked my bum off every single hour of every single day, but after 10 years I needed to change.”
‘The Nike of lingerie’
After her Instagram page gained thousands of followers, she decided to shift the account into the lingerie business that we now know as Lemonade Dolls.
Starting off with no money and no team, she has gone on to raise more than £3m in investment and create a business she tells Money is worth £17m.
Her aim now is to become the “Nike of lingerie”.
“I want it to be mass market done better where everything is recycled, and it’s sustainable. I want it to be as accessible to as many…
