The UK’s greatest untapped economic asset is its women.
The 51% Club is a national community for female founders and leaders. We’re not here to encourage women to start businesses: plenty of brilliant organisations already do that. We’re here for what comes next: growing, scaling, exiting, and leading at the very top.
That’s why we’ve built four rooms, each designed around a different stage of ambition, and each full of women who understand exactly where you are. Because when women-powered businesses thrive, the entire economy gains.
We believe that…
Growth happens
faster together
The right people in the right room will do more for your business, and your career, than any amount of going it alone.
Money should be
talked about
Pay, profit, equity, and wealth. The conversations women are expected to have privately, we have out loud.
Change starts with
being heard
Through our Female Enterprise Forums and partnerships, what happens in our rooms reaches the people making decisions.
The opportunity
£310bn
could be added to the UK economy if women
started and scaled at the same rate as men.
started and scaled at the same rate as men.
35%
higher return on investment from businesses
founded by women.
founded by women.
The gaps we’re closing
Meet our founder
Tara Attfield-Tomes is on a mission to help more women get rich.
A PR and visibility strategist – and founder of award-winning agency EAST VILLAGE. – she is passionate about women being seen, heard, and valued.
Alongside her agency and The 51% Club, Tara is also chair of The Whole Point’s Birmingham Board, a UK-wide, government aligned initiative to increase funding to women-led businesses.
She is the ultimate power broker: connecting the ecosystem to drive lasting change.
Our hubs
Our mission is national, but our impact is local. We meet in person across the Midlands and London, and each hub is run with ambassadors who know their business community inside out.
Where The 51% Club was born. Our home is The Wilmot, a beautifully restored building in the Jewellery Quarter, and the site where we offer co-working to female founders and leaders.
Ambassadors: Becky Benbow, Charlotte Bowden, Clare Radford, Krishna Ruparelia, Lily Samuels, Sana Saddique, and Yvvy Chideya.
1 Mill Street is our Leamington home, a vibrant co-working space in the heart of the action. With private offices, meeting rooms, and a podcast studio, this is where community really comes to life.
Ambassadors: Holly Nixon, Katie Jones, and Nadi Pankovska
Our first East Midlands hub, supported by Leicester City Council through LCB Depot, the city’s creative industries hub and home to 150 businesses, and its brand new space, The Canopy.
Ambassadors: Emily Smith, Erica Whiteman, Joanna O’Neill, Lorna Taylor, Nadia Rafiq, and Susan Murchison.
Soho Works is our London home, hosting us at both Shoreditch and White City. Part of the Soho House family, it’s sophisticated, high energy, and exactly the right backdrop for ambitious women to connect. We’re also delighted to be working with The Hearth, giving our London community a second place to gather.
Ambassadors: Becky Emery, Pinky Gupta, Rebecca Leppard, and Romana Raj.
We’ll be launching in Manchester early next year – watch this space for more details.
If you’re interested in becoming a local ambassador, get in touch: girlpower@the51percent.club.
We’ll be launching in Solihull later this year – watch this space for more details.
If you’re interested in becoming a local ambassador, get in touch: girlpower@the51percent.club.
We’ll be launching in Wolverhampton later this year – watch this space for more details.
If you’re interested in becoming a local ambassador, get in touch: girlpower@the51percent.club.
The Kiln is our Worcester home, a founder-led co-working space in the city centre and a hub for the creative and tech community. Warm, connected, and full of people doing brilliant things. We’re now also joined by 31 The Cross, our newest venue partner in the city.
Ambassadors: Becky Turner, Catherine Goodwin, Mimi Fisher, and Vanda Szabo.
The Female Enterprise Forum
Every quarter, our West Midlands Female Enterprise Forum brings together more than 60 senior leaders from banking, investment, law, education, and local government. Supported by West Midlands Combined Authority through Business Growth West Midlands, it takes what founders are experiencing and puts it in front of the people making decisions about the regional economy.
Members include HSBC, Barclays, KPMG, Lloyds Bank, Innovate UK, and the British Business Bank, and we’re now bringing the Forum to our other hubs.
“Enabling businesses to thrive is what Business Growth West Midlands is about, and to reach our full potential as a region we want to unleash the potential of female entrepreneurs and female-led businesses.”
Ian McLaughlan, Business Growth West Midlands
Partner with us
Our partners don’t just put their name on an event. They host our rooms, send their leaders, back our programmes, and help us change the numbers. If your organisation is serious about women in business, let’s talk.
Our charity partner
Smart Works Birmingham helps unemployed women into work, using clothing and coaching to prepare them for interview success. 69% of their clients secure a job within a month. We promote the charity’s work, support its fundraising, and connect women who want to volunteer their time.