On International Women’s Day, it is customary – and important, and valid – to celebrate those who have excelled in their respective fields, who have made a significant impact in some way or have perhaps shown outstanding character in others.

The Independent’s Influence List for 2025 for example features those who shape society; that therefore doesn’t necessarily mean there are all solely positive reasons behind their inclusion, but certainly they are prominent for high-profile reasons across the board.

Yet it’s also vital not to overlook those making contributions at… a lower level of prominence, perhaps. Namely, the women who shape the nation by virtue of being the nation: workers, employees, business owners, people who earn and spend money.

Have your say on what gender equality means for you.

So here’s the thing: the UK has been improving in encouraging and empowering women to become entrepreneurs, in promoting those who excel into positions of power and in seeing growing numbers of investors.

Yet there’s more to go for even parity, let alone maximising potential. It should be obvious why that matters, but a wider range of businesses should generally benefit the economy, as should more people, not just more men, having greater wealth.

Consider a partner affording to maintain the lifestyle you both want in retirement, perhaps, or whether a daughter can pay for care in old age, get on the property ladder or have a career taking precisely their own route?

Role models are, increasingly, there in the business world and in FTSE 100 chief executives – step forward Margherita Della Valle at Vodafone, BT’s Allison Kirkby, Debra Crew at Diageo and more besides – but there are far more SMEs than public listed companies in the UK and it’s there that bigger steps are still needed.

Gender Index research shows there are more women founders of businesses than ever before – yet as anybody with a small business, a side hustle or a freelance gig knows, starting is just a single step on a very long road.

What comes afterwards – and all the support, the information, the ability to reach out and find what is needed to allow founders to push further and higher with their businesses – still needs plenty of work. Too often, those processes and decision-makers are still based on yesteryear when women were, shall we say, not quite the workplace priority at all times.

“To drive real change for female entrepreneurs and business leaders, we need to prioritise access: access to funding, networks and decision-making opportunities,” said Laura Wiggins, investment director at YFM Equity Partners.

“Too often, women face barriers in securing investment, not due to a lack of talent or ambition, but because traditional systems haven’t evolved to be truly inclusive.

“Government and industry must work together to actively champion female-led businesses, increase representation in investment firms and foster a culture where women’s businesses are backed with the same confidence and capital as their male counterparts. When we invest in female founders, we invest in stronger businesses and a more balanced economy.”

Investment in female-led businesses received just 5.8 per cent of all investments last year, reported Gender Index.

YFM led a case study which highlighted further issues where women-led businesses must benefit further in future, including access to mentors, making knowledge accessible at a younger age and investment decisions being taken by group which aren’t necessarily reflective of the businesses seeking funding – and that goes beyond just the male-female divide, too.

“To drive real change, we must address the lack of diversity in investment decision-making. Too often, funding decisions are made by uniform groups that don’t reflect the founders pitching to them,” said Karen Barrett, the CEO of Unbiased.co.uk.

“In my own experience, it’s significantly harder as a female founder to secure investment when presenting to an all-male panel that neither looks nor thinks like you. Improving diversity among investors is critical to breaking this cycle. Alongside this, we must expand access to mentorship, networks and leadership development – equipping more women with the resources and opportunities to scale their businesses.”

Investing in businesses which have high potential is one thing, but there’s also individual investment to consider: investing in yourself, your future, your wealth-building journey.

Data from investment platform Nutmeg shows the number of women investing has increased by 71 per cent over the last decade, with their “risk profiles” – how much risk they are willing to take with their investments, essentially – now almost exactly the same as that of men investing. Historically, it has been lower, potentially leading to lower returns on their money.

“While it is a positive step that more women are considering different ways to achieve their long-term financial goals, it is not an excuse for complacency. We can still do more to reframe what risk means when it comes to money,” said Claire Exley, head of financial advice and guidance at Nutmeg.

“The industry must continue to make investment products and services accessible and appealing to female investors to ensure participation continues to increase. This can take many forms – increasing the visibility of female role models in the industry, improving access to financial education, and offering investment portfolios that resonate with investor priorities, whether in terms of risk or social responsibility, for example.”

It isn’t only about broad areas or approaches either, such as “investment” as a whole.

Belinda Inocco, head of investor relations at ASK Partners explains that while the “growth of women’s wealth is expected to continue outpacing that of men’s”, there are pockets where investments remain heavily slanted.

Only around a third of investors in real estate are women, while “when it comes to commercial real estate, this drops to about 3 per cent according to research. As women’s wealth grows, there is clearly more to be done in encouraging women to deploy their capital in real estate opportunities,” Ms Inocco said.

Add in an Opinium survey for Zest showing 55 per cent of women in the UK feeling their benefits package at work was inadequate and a third wanting better pensions contributions and it’s clear businesses at large have more yet to do.

Massive national issues like a new airport runway, renewable energies investments and stock market listings are of course vital subjects when it comes to improving the national economic state, but it’s just as crucial to not lose sight the people who use (and fund!) those services, and to do everything possible to allow them to maximise their ability to thrive and grow wealth – for themselves and in turn the economy at large.