PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to quantify the impact of women's enterprise on Scotland's economy and to provide policy recommendations to the Scottish Government on increasing women's business ownership.Design/methodology/approachThe paper has been developed in collaboration with the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS Group) and has utilised existing business data and research sources which have not recently been analysed to provide gender‐based information on businesses within Scotland. Where possible, calculations of gross value added (GVA) contribution by gender have been made. In addition, a review of relevant entrepreneurship data was carried out and comparative studies from other parts of the UK and North America were used to benchmark findings.FindingsThe impact of women's business ownership on Scotland's economic performance is not consistently measured by the Scottish Government. An increased commitment to women's enterprise policy development from the UK Government has not been emulated in Scotland despite devolved responsibility for economic development.Practical implicationsPractical outcomes from this research include: policy recommendations for the Scottish Government; practical recommendations for business support providers; actions for the RBS Group “Women in Business” team; recommendations for improved data disaggregation.Originality/valueThis is the first report to evaluate the impact of women's enterprise on the Scottish economy since 2005. Its findings and recommendations are of value to the Scottish Government and Scotland's economic development and business support agencies.

Purpose -This is a short article on the origins of the Women's Enterprise Policy Group in the UK. The purpose of the article is to illustrate the need for a historical context for policy development on key issues. Design/methodology/approach -The approach is based on the authors' practical experience and knowledge of the women's entrepreneurship policy context in the UK. Findings -The coherence of the Women's Enterprise Policy Group, in both its membership and agenda, comes from a shared experience of enterprise policy development over a period of 15 years in the UK. Originality/value -The value of this article is to highlight the importance of historical context in policy development and to introduce and share the work of the Women's Enterprise Policy Group.

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