The Whole Point: Why Supporting Women Founders Matters

At Square One Law, we recently supported the launch of The Whole Point and its North East board not only as sponsors, but as active participants in a movement focused on creating fairer access to opportunity for women founders.

As a board member, what stands out most to me about The Whole Point is its commitment to driving meaningful change through data, insight and action. This is not about representation for the sake of looking good. It is about understanding where inequalities exist, why they exist, and what we can collectively do to change them.

The numbers speak for themselves. In Newcastle, only 7.3% of funding currently goes to women-led businesses, despite women founders making up around 20% of businesses in the region. That gap is huge and represents missed innovation, lost potential and businesses that are not being given equal opportunity to grow and succeed.

The Whole Point exists to challenge that.

What makes the initiative so powerful is that it combines strategic thinking with genuine support from the wider community. Founders need access to investment, networks, visibility and commercial opportunities, but they also need an environment where they feel supported to take risks, grow and (sometimes) fail.

One of the most powerful moments from the launch event came during the panel discussion when Michelle Jones spoke about changing the way we view failure. The reality is that innovation and growth require people to try, test and challenge themselves — and that becomes far more achievable when strong support networks exist around them.

That sense of support was clear throughout the evening. The room was full of founders, advisors, investors and businesses all committed to creating positive change across the North East. It was a reminder that while the challenges facing women-led businesses are well documented, there is also enormous momentum behind improving things.

At Square One Law, we work with ambitious businesses every day and we know how important diverse thinking and leadership are to long-term commercial success. Supporting women founders is not simply the right thing to do – it is good for business, innovation and the wider economy.

The launch of the North East board felt like an important step forward, but more importantly, it felt action-focused. The conversations in the room were not about acknowledging problems we already know exist; they were about what comes next and how we collectively create lasting change.

We are proud to support that ambition and to be part of a community that is committed to helping more women-led businesses start, scale and succeed.

With thanks to everyone involved

Thank you to Zandra Moore and Alex Beardsley for driving the initiative forward, alongside North East board chair Debra Leeves and fellow board members Nina Walton, Jo Clough, Maxine Fox, Marie Whitehouse, Joanne Lant, Dr Anupama S., Naomi Allen Seales, Rebecca Minchella and Michelle Jones.

Thank you also to The Biscuit Factory and Kathryn T. for hosting the event, to The Data City, Lloyds Banking Group, Perspective Financial Group Ltd and Square One Law for sponsoring and supporting the initiative and to James Carss for hosting the panel discussion.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Amy Wanless.