The Whole Point Launches in Newcastle - Because When We Back Women-Led Businesses, Everybody Wins

Female leaders in Newcastle are ambitious, innovative and talented. Anyone who's spent time in our city's business community knows that to be true. And yet, women-led businesses in Newcastle currently receive just 7.3% of the city's total funding (May 2026 data from The Data City).

Now that The Whole Point has officially launched in Newcastle, it’s time to fix that economic injustice.

What is The Whole Point?

The Whole Point is a UK-wide, government-aligned initiative to increase the flow of capital to high-growth women-led businesses. Backed by Lloyds and with data partners The Data City, The Whole Point pushes past performative allyship and well-intentioned gestures, instead focusing on data, ecosystems and collective action to get women-led businesses what they deserve.

On a national level, only 2% of equity funding reaches women-led businesses. And more than half of that never leaves London. The Whole Point’s five regional boards in Newcastle, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and Edinburgh were established to boost the visibility of women-led businesses in the regions and get more funding to flow to women outside the capital, too.

Because the opportunity isn't small. In 2019, the Rose Review found that closing the funding gap for women-led businesses would add £250 billion to the UK economy - that’s £310 billion today, accounting for inflation. 

As Zandra Moore MBE, Co-founder of The Whole Point, put it at the Newcastle launch event: "I've been in too many rooms where there's lots of nice talking. Now, we need to act. If we close the funding gap, that's more money for the economy, and more money for jobs, so everybody wins."

The launch of The Whole Point Newcastle

On 13th May, The Whole Point's Newcastle board celebrated their official launch at The Biscuit Factory. More than 100 leaders, founders, investors, and connectors filled the venue’s beautiful Garden Room, brought together by a shared belief and a shared drive to change the landscape for women-led businesses in Newcastle.

It was an evening of honest conversation, real energy, and the kind of alignment that happens when the right people come together. Guests were welcomed with drinks and canapés, thanks to the evening's sponsors: Lloyds, Perspective Financial Group, Square One Law, and The Biscuit Factory.

But it was the discussion that really set the tone for what comes next.

Meet the Newcastle board

Leading The Whole Point Newcastle are Chair Debra Leeves and Vice Chair Nina Walton.

Their goal is to increase the capital invested in Newcastle's high-growth women-led businesses by 5% and to attract new funds to the region. Ambitious? Yes. But with a powerful regional board spanning venture capital, law, banking, marketing, and pharma behind them, the focus remains on closing the funding gap and building a formidable ecosystem that pulls together to create the change and direction needed. 

As Debra Leeves shared at the launch: "Women-led businesses do not have lesser ideas or products - they're just as good or better. But often they are less able to scale because of a lack of funding. We need to open more doors for women. We need to lift each other up."

Where community meets accountability

What makes The Whole Point different is its commitment to evidence. Working with data partner The Data City, The Whole Point tracks real numbers in real time. That way, The Whole Point ecosystem can truly measure progress, not just promise it.

Alongside that data focus, The Whole Point Newcastle has launched its Elevate Series: profiling high-growth women-led businesses in the region, celebrating their female leaders, and illuminating the way for others to follow. Alex Longton of Tiba Tempeh, Dr Fozia Saleem of Magnitude Biosciences, Nic Greenan of Tyneside Cinema, Dr Tallie Bush of Circadacare, and Jacqui Kell of Live Theatre have all been interviewed to date. Read their stories via The Whole Point's LinkedIn.

How you can get involved

Closing the gap won’t be easy. But as the Newcastle launch showed, there are enough of us here who want to see it done. Whether you're an investor, leader, or connector, or simply someone who believes that Newcastle’s women-led businesses deserve better, there's a place for you in The Whole Point ecosystem. Join it. Champion it. Help build it.

Because when we back women, everybody wins. That's the whole point.

Learn more about Whole Point at www.thewholepoint.co.uk or join the ecosystem