Chief Entrepreneur Ana Stewart is facing criticism that her Pathways Forward initiative, aiming to improve opportunities for women business leaders, has not published data showing what its participating businesses have achieved.
Those involved in the programme pledge two actions and publish what they have accomplished after 12 months.
Several female entrepreneurs and academics have told Daily Business they were frustrated at the lack of information on what has been achieved.
Asked about the lack of published data, Ms Stewart said: “That’s a good shout. We are in the middle of trying to professionalise how the initiative measures and reports its impact.”
The initiative was launched in September 2023 to drive gender diversity and inclusion in Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem following work by her predecessor Mark Logan.
The co-founder of iDesign, which was floated on the stock market, took over from Mr Logan on an unpaid basis and her position was renewed by the new government in July.
She said she hopes the collective impact of the scheme will help influence government, rather than relying solely on her own advocacy.
Speaking to Daily Business at last week’s Venture Cafe event, she said she had become frustrated after receiving no response from the Scottish Government to a report she authored. “I finished the report and then got annoyed that nobody in government was responding.”
Asked about the Government’s approach to scaling businesses, Ms Stewart said the issue was included in its Programme for Government, but would take time to address.
“The problem is structural. It’s not just going to be government policy to fix it – there needs to be a lot of other things too. I’m an entrepreneur myself. I’ve got a lot of businesses. I want to make sure we get things done.”
Ms Stewart is preparing for a summit bringing together female founders from Scotland and the wider UK, with participants representing at least £4bn in combined revenue.
“There’s quite a lot of activity in start-ups and early-stage businesses among men, but there’s very few women in scaling, so I started to connect them,” she said.
The summit will focus on the practical challenges of growing and scaling companies, rather than simply hearing founders’ personal stories. The event will include clinics and practical sessions designed to give attendees “actionable takeaways”.
She added: “I’m all about action. We don’t want to be talking. We’re leaping on that opportunity.”
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