Their data showed that companies run by women chief executives delivered higher revenues using less capital.

“The average company run by a woman had annual revenues of €12.5m last year compared to €11m for those run by men. Extraordinarily, this was achieved using an average of just €9m of committed capital compared to more than €14m in companies run by men,” the service said.

Only five per cent of companies backed by venture capitalists are run by women, according to Library House, a private company monitoring service.

However those companies run by women appear to perform better than those run by men, leading Library House to conclude there is "no rational explanation for female entrepreneurs not leading companies”.

“It is surprising to see such a lack of women in senior positions. If women are delivering such good results why are there so few in top positions around Europe?” asked Doug Richard, chairman of Library House.