On Tuesday, 2 December, Seema Flower represented Blind Ambition at Barclays’ Disabled Entrepreneurs’ Growth Session at Canary Wharf — an inspiring morning dedicated to celebrating and amplifying the achievements of disabled-led businesses across the UK.
Hosted at Barclays’ global headquarters, the event brought together disabled entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and banking professionals to explore how the UK can better support disabled founders to start, grow, and scale their businesses. Seema was invited as a panel speaker, offering insight grounded in her lived experience as a totally blind entrepreneur and her work tackling the 75% unemployment rate faced by blind and partially sighted people.
A Panel Focused on Real Change
During the panel discussion on Disability and Entrepreneurship, Seema responded to a series of powerful questions about the current landscape for disabled founders. Her contributions resonated strongly with the audience, highlighting both the challenges and the untapped opportunities.
1. What barriers do disabled entrepreneurs face when starting or scaling a business?
Seema emphasised that disabled entrepreneurs—particularly blind and partially sighted people—encounter structural barriers long before they reach the marketplace. Business support systems, funding platforms, and online resources are still too often inaccessible, with poorly designed websites, screen-reader-incompatible forms, and locked PDFs.
Beyond technology, misperceptions from investors and support organisations undermine disabled founders’ confidence and access to finance. She also highlighted the delays disabled entrepreneurs face with Access to Work, which should be a powerful enabler but is frequently slow or inconsistent, impacting early growth.
2. How can SMEs leverage the unique strengths of disabled founders?
Seema reminded the room that disabled entrepreneurs live in a world built for other people — and therefore become exceptionally skilled problem-solvers. Blind and partially sighted founders develop resilience, creativity, and adaptability as a matter of survival.
She encouraged SMEs to harness these perspectives by involving disabled founders as advisors, testers, strategic partners, or board contributors, noting that their insight uncovers risks and opportunities others may overlook. Inclusion, she said, “is not charity — it is innovation.”
Seema also shared how Blind Ambition is putting this into practice through recruitment.blindambition.co.uk — the UK’s first employment platform designed specifically to connect blind and partially sighted jobseekers with inclusive employers. By creating accessible talent pipelines, the platform helps businesses access the problem-solving mindset and resilience that disabled professionals bring.
3. What role can businesses play in creating an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem?
Seema highlighted three practical and immediate actions:
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Remove the accessibility barriers you directly control, from websites to procurement portals to events.
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Actively include disabled entrepreneurs in supply chains and partnerships — visibility creates opportunity.
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Advocate for structural change, using your influence to challenge inaccessible systems across the wider business community.
She stressed that SMEs have more power than they realise to influence industry norms.
4. How can SMEs embed accessibility and inclusion into their business models?
“Accessibility must be designed in, not bolted on,” Seema explained.
She encouraged organisations to build accessibility into all processes — onboarding, digital platforms, recruitment, and service delivery. Co-design with disabled people from the earliest stages prevents costly redesigns and leads to better products for everyone. The message was clear: inclusion is a commercial strength, not a compliance exercise.
5. What strategies help raise visibility and representation for disabled entrepreneurs?
Seema called for more authentic visibility: showcasing disabled founders in case studies, events, programmes, and leadership cohorts — not as tokens, but as business leaders delivering impact.
She emphasised the importance of mainstream inclusion and the power of mentorship and sponsorship, noting that, “Opening the door is not enough — disabled founders need people already inside the room championing them into meaningful opportunities.”
Why This Event Matters
The session was held in a fully accessible environment, complete with BSL interpretation, captioned screens, quiet rooms, guide dog facilities, and knowledgeable staff. For Seema, this was a visible sign of commitment:
Barclays demonstrated that when banks take accessibility seriously, disabled entrepreneurs gain not just visibility, but a voice.
The morning showcased what’s possible when disabled founders are invited to share their expertise and when major institutions step up and lead by example.
Seema Flower’s Quote
“It was inspiring to see Barclays take disabled entrepreneurship seriously — not just in words, but in action. When disabled entrepreneurs are heard, real change becomes possible. Events like this help shine a light on the barriers we still face, but they also show the incredible potential of disabled founders when we are backed, believed in, and invested in.” — Seema Flower
Looking Ahead
Blind Ambition will continue partnering with banks, employers, and industry leaders to:
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Break down barriers for disabled entrepreneurs
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Champion inclusive recruitment and accessible business practices
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Increase employment for blind and partially sighted people
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Elevate disabled founders across mainstream business networks
A major part of this mission is recruitment.blindambition.co.uk, Blind Ambition’s dedicated employment platform designed to tackle the 75% unemployment rate among blind and partially sighted people. The site enables organisations to advertise accessible roles, connect with skilled candidates, and demonstrate a genuine commitment to inclusion.
This work supports Seema’s broader vision: an ecosystem where disabled people can start businesses, access employment, and build long-term economic independence.
