Welcome to the Make Your Mark’s Enterprise Insights where only the most interesting enterprise developments and stories are delivered to you fortnightly.
 

Can entrepreneurs change the world?

‘Whatever the difficulties of today, and the lessons we have to learn, there are huge opportunities both for enterprise and for social action in the future’ – Click here to watch Gordon Brown speaking at an event to kick-off Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for BERR, spoke about the Government’s continued commitment to enterprise: ‘It’s vital that during this difficult time we don’t lose course. Our aim is to make Britain the best place in the world to start up and grow a business’. Also speaking at the debate was Richard Lambert, Director-General of the CBI, the PM’s Global Fellows and successful entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs, including Peter Jones and Sophi Tranchell.
 

The event was just one of 6,799 events across the UK during Global Entrepreneurship Week.
 

Growing good business/ social enterprise

Social enterprise action plan: Two years on (Office of the Third Sector - pdf: 0.4MB)

An internal review of the government’s Social Enterprise Action Plan, launched in 2006, has praised the work done so far by partnership organisations in the third sector. The report also lays out new initiatives for the OTS, including further research and four projects to promote social enterprise within other government departments.
 

Driving up innovation in businesses

The failure of market failure (NESTA - pdf: 0.5MB)

Government must intervene in markets to maximise dynamism and innovation in the economy, rather than leaving markets free to organise themselves, say Will Hutton and Philippe Schneider in a new NESTA publication. They argue that innovation is the key wealth creator in the economy, but has been hampered by an overemphasis on the need for competition, fast outcomes and protectionist strategies.
 

Recent MYM Policy Blog Posts

The voice of youth
Jonathan interviews two young entrepreneurs

Planes, trains and automated, entrepreneurial robots…?
Peter discusses 'nudging' people into being enterprising

What I learnt at skool today…
Jonathan looks at the state of education

Creating enterprising places

Entrepreneurs, British business and the credit crunch (Make Your Mark - pdf: 2.4MB)

Businesses believe that entrepreneurial skills, including determination and the ability to spot new opportunities, are the key to succeeding in a recession, according to a report by Make Your Mark. The report, based on research by YouGov and ComRes, also found that the majority of people (70%) believe that there are still opportunities for new businesses and ideas in the downturn and half (52%) believe that entrepreneurs and business will be the ones to pull the UK through it.

In the media

Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report has included a number of measures to help SMEs through the current economic climate, including a £1 billion Small Business Finance Scheme, offering flexible payment of tax, the ability to offset losses against profits made up to three years ago and a deferment of the planned 1% rise in corporation tax.

Women’s Enterprise Day (19 November 2008) saw the launch of a new government-funded ‘Aspire Fund’, offering investments to women-led businesses.

The first University Enterprise Network (UEN) has been launched, partnering businesses, RDAs and universities in encouraging more entrepreneurialism amongst graduates in the area of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

The Government has launched a loan scheme for businesses in the West Midlands having difficulty raising finance. The scheme is being piloted through Advantage West Midlands RDA. Other RDAs could offer similar schemes in the future.

Birmingham has seen the launch of the newest Premier League Enterprise Academy at Aston Villa Football Club. Launching the academy, which sees Make Your Mark working with West Midlands RDA and the Premier League, Lord Mandelson said that, ‘Aston Villa's scheme will have a tremendous impact on the local community and will provide a range of exciting opportunities to help develop the next generation of top entrepreneurs’.
 

Recent Make Your Mark Publications

Tansforming Places; Changing Lives - a framework for regeneration

In response to the Government’s new proposals for a regeneration framework, Make Your Mark said that the framework should more explicitly recognise and address the role of enterprise culture in regeneration. Regeneration activity should link into efforts to improve and support enterprise education and tap into the power of networks, which are known to increase social capital and contribute to the survival and growth of businesses.