On 28th March 2026 our founder and CEO, Birgit Kehrer, joined female entrepreneurs from across the country, at a special networking event at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, as part of a partnership between Small Business Britain and Starling, celebrating the very best of UK small businesses.
More than 100 women were celebrated at Emirates Stadium, enjoying a day of networking, food and drinks ahead of Arsenal Women vs Tottenham Hotspur.
As part of the partnership aimed at boosting UK female entrepreneurship, Small Business Britain and Starling surveyed more than 1,000 female entrepreneurs and asked about their barriers to success. The results showed a huge amount of ambition amongst the group, with 82% planning to scale their business in the next year and over half (53%) reported increased revenue since 2025.
Many of those in attendance took part in Small Business Britain’s and Starling’s Female Founder Fundamentals programme, a free 6-week course aimed at helping female founders grow in confidence, find investment, define their brand and eventually scale, with a module specifically around new markets and international trade.
The programme attracted more than 800 female founders covering topics including confidence building, securing investment, marketing and branding, AI for productivity, the power of networking, and scaling and growth – all tailored specifically for female entrepreneurs by female entrepreneurs. The programme is built to help women scale and offers specific training based on our research findings, specifically concerns around financial literacy, with 44% of women saying they do not feel they have received decent financial education and 51% do not plan to hire in the next year.
On being part of the #iAlso100 community, Birgit said: “What an honour to be invited by f:entrepreneur as one of the 2026 women recognised as an inspiring female founder in the UK. Meeting other female leaders and having the opportunity to connect, talk, recognise and celebrate the achievements being made by women across business and sport was joyous.”
Michelle Ovens, CBE, CEO and Founder of Small Business Britain, said: “The results of our research confirm a lot of what we see here at Small Business Britain. The female entrepreneurs we help have drive, ambition and focus but need additional support to take things to the next level. Bringing all these women together in a celebratory event shows the power of female entrepreneurship, and what can be achieved with the right guidance and information.
We are proud to offer that helping hand and to help unlock the potential that these small businesses have.”
Michele Rousseau, Chief Marketing Officer at Starling, said, “We are delighted to partner with Small Business Britain to deliver the Female Founder Fundamentals programme, providing necessary training to women looking to start and scale their own businesses. Research shows that if women were to scale at the same rate as men the economy would enjoy a boost of £250 billion [1] and we’re happy to help unlock this potential.”
Small Business Britain has a stated mission to increase the number of female small business owners from 15% of all entrepreneurs to 30% by 2030. As part of this mission Small Business Britain will be working with Starling Bank to offer a range of support for female founders across the country.
Thanks go to Michelle Collins of Pink Spaghetti for these fabulous images of the day!
