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A record number of female entrepreneurs make up the latest cohort of NatWest’s entrepreneurship accelerator in Wales.

Some 66% of the cohort are women business founders aiming to scale-up their enterprises.

They include Caerphilly-based motivational speaker and life coach Zoila Garman who is the founder and director of Zyger Fit.

Ms Garman, who was previously a software developer and is based in Caerphilly, joined the accelerator programme to help her work towards her goal of scaling her business further.

She said: “I can already see the difference the accelerator is making to my business. I can always come to the co-working hub and find somebody who knows something about a topic I’m interested in.”

NatWest’s Wales accelerator is also leading the way when it comes to supporting increasing numbers of black and minority ethnic entrepreneurs. The bank has set a target for at least 20% of places on its º£½ÇÊÓƵ-wide accelerator programmes to be taken-up by black or minority ethnic entrepreneurs. In this year’s Wales cohort that figure has been surpassed reaching nearly 24%.

Nicholas Powell, Wales enterprise acceleration manager, said: “Our latest cohort underlines the breadth of entrepreneurial talent that exists in Wales. These businesses are helping fuel the Welsh economy and inspiring new opportunities within our ecosystems.

“Our purpose as a bank is to help entrepreneurs thrive and achieve their potential. It’s therefore hugely encouraging to see so many women entrepreneurs leading the way in Wales as part of our programme. NatWest is working to empower more women and black and minority ethnic entrepreneurs and so it is exciting to be supporting so many pioneering businesses.”