Women's Work is a UK shop and editorial platform for women-founded brands: a single place to discover businesses founded by women, read the stories behind them, and buy directly from them. This guide explains how to find women-founded brands in the UK, how to check a brand really is women-founded, and where to start.
Why buying women-founded matters
Female founders receive less than 2% of venture capital funding globally, a figure that has barely moved in a decade. Most women-founded businesses grow on revenue, not investment, which means every purchase lands differently: it goes to the woman who built the thing, funds her next production run, and does more for her business than any amount of applause. Buying well is the most practical form of backing there is.
How to check a brand is women-founded
A women-founded business is one started by a woman, whether she still owns all of it or has since taken on partners or investment. Three quick checks: the About page (founders are usually named), Companies House (UK directors and persons with significant control are public record), and curated platforms that verify before featuring. Women's Work checks every brand before it appears: the business must be founded by a woman, actively trading, and meet our standards. No brand can pay to be featured.
Where to find women-founded brands in the UK
The Women's Work brand directory lists every brand on our platform, grouped by category, each with the founder named and a direct route to shop. The collection currently spans health and beauty, clothing and accessories, baby and children, gifts and home, jewellery, and food and drink; 37 brands at launch, growing as applications come in.
A few places to start
Six brands whose founder stories we have written in full: Bare Kind, bamboo socks funding conservation, founded by Lucy Jeffrey; Botanycl, plant-based skin supplements, founded by Caroline Sims; Legology, the world's only dedicated leg care brand, founded by Kate Shapland; Raw Beauty Lab, vegan collagen, co-founded by Sonia Bainbridge; Etta Loves, science-backed baby essentials, founded by Jen Fuller; and Don't Buy Her Flowers, care package gifting, founded by Steph Douglas.
What's next
The Women's Work marketplace opens in stages through 2026: one basket, one checkout, every product from a women-founded brand. Founding brands join free before 1 September 2026 and keep 80% of every sale. If you run a women-founded product business, there's a place for you here; if you want first access as the shop opens, join the mailing list.
Lucy Chadwick is the founder of Women's Work. Every brand linked here is women-founded and editorially selected; some links earn us a small commission at no cost to you.