BLOOM Gin is giving hopeful female entrepreneurs the chance to win a share of £25,000 to fund their ‘Passion Project’ – taking their passions in life and turning them into a business reality – to increase the number of female-run businesses in the UK.

To be in with a chance of winning, entrants must visit www.bloomgin.com/passion-projects and follow the steps to submit their business proposal.  Suitable candidates will have until midnight on 11th December 2020 to submit their entries. Entrants must be aged 25 or over. Terms & conditions apply.

Finalists will then be announced in January and invited to the grand finale, which will take place in February 2021. Here finalists will have the opportunity to meet the judging panel, including the Founders of Double Dutch, Boom Cycle and Social Fixt, before pitching their business proposal to the judges in front of a live audience.

Equality in the workplace

The initiative follows research from BLOOM Gin, which found that an overwhelming majority (84%) did not believe that women had yet achieved true equality in the workplace; with 65% stating that there need to be more women in senior management positions and 50% want to see more female entrepreneurs.

While nearly half (45%) of women had considered starting their own business, just under a fifth (18%) had gone on to do so, with 60% admitting they had been unable to progress their ambitions. The main reasons cited for this included not having the funds to get going (55%), a lack of confidence (51%) and the need to juggle existing work and children (49%).

BLOOM Gin’s new initiative aims to inspire, motivate and support budding female entrepreneurs, teaming up with some of the UK’s most inspiring female business leaders and owners to encourage the next generation of female entrepreneurs to take their Passion Projects to the next level. Over the next month, these successful female entrepreneurs will share their journeys, including the highs and lows they experienced along the way, through a content series hosted on BLOOM Gin’s Instagram page (@BLOOMGIN).

Support from other women can help unlock the potential of hopeful female entrepreneurs, says Elaine Maher, BLOOM Gin Brand Director: “With BLOOM Passion Projects, we’re aiming to inspire other women to go for it, and support them to achieve their potential. The women who are joining us on this initiative are truly inspirational, and we’re all looking forward to helping the next generation of female entrepreneurs to bloom.”

Supporters of the campaign include:

• Joyce & Raissa De Haas – Founders of tonic brand Double Dutch
• Hilary Rowland – Founder of the fitness movement Boom Cycle
• Steph Douglas – Founder of gifting website, Don’t Buy Her Flowers
• Orlagh McCloskey and Henrietta Rix – Co-Founders of the global fashion label, Rixo
• Eshita Kabra-Davies – Founder of the UK’s first peer-to-peer fashion rental app, By Rotation
• Lauren Dallas – Co-Founder and CEO of Future Females
• Abi Oyepitan and Liha Okunniwa – Co-Founders of sustainable beauty brand, Liha Beauty
• Mercedes Benson – DJ and Founder of Social Fixt, an organisation connecting black talent to jobs in creative industries
• Ria Hebden – Presenter and regular on ITV’s Lorraine, also the founder of Wonder Women TV

Female entrepreneurship

More needs to be done to achieve the Government’s pledge to increase female entrepreneurship in Britain by 50% by 2030. When it comes to the help and advice that women would like to receive around starting their own business, financial support came out on top in the research (45%), followed closely by help with a business plan (39%), advice on marketing (32%) and access to ongoing business coaching (27%).

BLOOM Gin will be partnering with Future Females, a global movement with 50,000 members, that exists to increase the number of and success of female entrepreneurs. Together they will launch ‘Bloom in Business’ – a skills workshop series to help female entrepreneurs develop the personal and technical skills needed to start and grow a thriving business.

All resources will be free, and you can sign up for them here.