The firm points that female representation on FTSE 100 boards currently stands at 28%, whereas last year 31% (187,340) of directors at UK SMEs were women.

Moore Stephens says the high percentage of female SME directors reflects the surge in the number of women starting businesses in recent years as the ‘enterprise gap’ starts to close.

However, the firm cautions that the bias amongst investors towards funding businesses that are founded by men means it can be more difficult for women to get a business off the ground, pointing to research showing that the proportion of funds invested in UK businesses with at least one female founder fell from 15% in 2016 to 9% last year.

Sarah Friend, partner at Moore Stephens, said: ‘Over the last decade, the number of women starting businesses has accelerated rapidly and SMEs are now outperforming the biggest businesses in delivering female business leaders.

‘However, more needs to be done to address the funding gap between men- and women-led start-ups in order to level the playing field.

‘Various solutions have been put forward to address this gap, such as increasing the number of women working for venture capital firms and raising media awareness of women entrepreneurs – both are achievable.’

Report by Pat Sweet