On Wednesday we launched Ambition Unlimited, the inaugural report of our Young Entrepreneurs Forum.
Speaking at the launch in the House of Lords were Callum Anderson MP, Sean Kohli, Chair of the Young Entrepreneurs Forum, Dana Denis-Smith OBE, Founder of Obelisk Support, and our Research Director, Eamonn Ives, who all set out a positive case for why we need to back the next generation.
As I wrote in Forbes, Eamonn delivers a compelling suite of policies which would deliver a platform upon which entrepreneurs can flourish:
“The UK must double down on openness, dynamism and stability. That means ensuring tax and investment incentives stay internationally competitive, designing regulation that adapts quickly to new technologies, and keeping visa routes navigable and attractive so that founders like Lin continue to choose Britain as their base. Above all, government should give entrepreneurs the confidence to plan for the decade ahead, not just the next fiscal statement.”
I would, as you would expect, encourage you all to dig into the report, but I want to take a slightly different tack today and share one lesson I’ve learned from the events we’ve undertaken with the Young Entrepreneurs Forum project: that Britain has no shortage of talent nor ambition to take on the world.
We’re not alone. Matt Clifford CBE expressed similar sentiments in a speech at the recent LFG conference, arguing that, as the birthplace of modern science, democracy, industry, medicine, computing, and even sport and literature, Britain can be so once again.
It goes without saying that we believe in the importance of policy change to drive change. But it’s also worth acknowledging that much can still be achieved despite these constraints.
To that end, it’s worth sharing a list of organisations that support the next generation of entrepreneurs that our Adviser and the Small Business Commissioner, Emma Jones CBE, put together following our event, including Young Enterprise, Founders for Schools, Kickstarter and LaunchIt. Emma encourages you to share other organisations that support young entrepreneurs, which you can do so here.
It’s vital to attack the challenge of renewal on both fronts. Policy change and practical efforts reinforce each other – not least because launching a report with over 100 of the most ambitious young entrepreneurs in the country gives you the inspiration to keep up the policy work to support them.
500 Smiles
Without much of a push, our WhatsApp community has now grown steadily to over 500 people. We still have some work to do in thinking about how we can make the most of the groups (answers on a postcard, please), but it’s proving a useful avenue to share our latest work, events and opportunities. Join our community here.
Express Yourself
To coincide with some polling they’ve commissioned on the importance of networking for small businesses, American Express is looking for case studies of entrepreneurs with positive stories to tell.
Perhaps networking helped you to land a big client, navigate a rocky period, or make connections necessary for international expansion. Whatever it was, if you have benefited from networking in the past and want to be considered for a case study, let us know by emailing us with a few sentences about yourself and how networking helped your business.
Trading Places
The Department for Business and Trade has asked us to share that next week is the fifth edition of International Trade Week (ITW) – five days of free online and in-person events designed to help businesses grow through exporting. Find out more here.