ACCESS to funding remains a “persistent barrier” to female entrepreneurs, according to new research offering a range of recommendations to help more women set up their own firms.

The research, commissioned by The Entrepreneurs Network in partnership with Barclays, found women-led businesses tend to achieve far lower levels of funding, with male entrepreneurs more likely to be venture capital funded and 56 per cent more likely to secure angel investment.

The report calls on more females who have launched their own business to invest in fellow female entrepreneurs and for the media to cover more women-led businesses.