Welcome to the Make Your Mark’s Enterprise Insights where only the most interesting enterprise developments and stories are delivered to you fortnightly.
Creating enterprising places
The Economic Future Just Happened (Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation – pdf: 615KB)
Over half of the companies listed on the 2009 Fortune 500 list of the largest companies in the US, and just under half of the 2008 Inc. list of the fastest growing companies, were started during a recession, according to research by the US-based Kauffman Foundation. The organisation, who partnered with Make Your Mark to found Global Entrepreneurship Week , discovered that whilst recessions may ‘bring pain and often lead to short-term declines in business formation’, they nevertheless ‘do not appear to have a significantly negative impact on the formation and survival of new businesses’. They suggest that rising unemployment may lead to individuals becoming entrepreneurs because they have ‘nothing to lose’, as well as creating pools of talent that are usually unavailable for entrepreneurs.
The Future of EU Competitiveness: From Economic to Sustainable Growth (BIS –pdf: 4.4MB)
The Government has called for the European Union to cut the administrative burden of regulation on businesses by 25% in the next three years, in a new report by BIS. Citing the Government’s recent ‘New Industry: New Jobs’, strategy, the report argues that the EU must invest more in research and innovation, where ‘Europe still lags behind other leading economies’, as well as improving skills across the workforce, and investing in key growth areas, such as low-carbon, advanced manufacturing and the digital economy.
Monitoring the impact of the recession on various demographic groups (DWP – pdf: 170KB)
Young people aged 18-24 are being hardest hit by the recession – with a drop of almost 4% in their rate of employment, according to a report by DWP based on Great Britain’s Labour Force Survey. Other demographic groups that suffered more than the national average – a decline of 1.2% in the employment rate – were men(-1.7%), those with the lowest qualifications(-1.6%) and those living in deprived areas(-1.6%).
Driving up innovation in businesses
Digital Britain (BIS – pdf: 300KB)
The Government has announced a £300m internet ‘Home Access scheme’ for low income families to get online, as part of plans to deliver inclusive broadband across the UK, in the final report of its Digital Britain strategy. Other measures announced include a commitment to delivering 2Mbps broadband across the UK, and the appointment of Martha Lane Fox, founder of Lastminute.com and Make Your Mark Ambassador, as ‘Champion for Digital Inclusion’. In its response to the report, the CBI, has supported these commitments, saying they are ‘critical if the UK is to emerge from the recession as a world leader’.
In the media
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has merged with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) to create the new Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS); with Lord Mandelson continuing to lead the Department. Sir Alan Sugar has been appointed as the UK’s ‘Enterprise Tsar’ – advising the Government on how to help SMEs through the recession and beyond.
The countdown to Global Entrepreneurship Week 09 was launched at the London Stock Exchange this month - 14 year old international entrepreneurs gave to tips to city traders. Read the full story
Three different organisations have suggested a smooth and imminent recovery from the UK’s recession. The OECD’s recession indicators suggest a decline in the pace of the world’s major economies’ slowdowns. Looking at the UK, the CBI has suggested the country will return to moderate growth at the start of 2010, whilst the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) claims that the economy has already started to grow again – by 0.2% in April and 0.1% in May.
The Government is asking businesses and other organisations to respond to a review on access to finance, a measure taken forward from the Government’s ‘New Industry, New Jobs’ strategy for Britain’s economic recovery. The deadline for submissions is 17 July 2009. Respond Now
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