First up, if you’re not one of the hundreds of founders who’ve already completed our Entrepreneurs Survey, now is the time to do so. It will take less than ten minutes, and the anonymised results will help us tell politicians and civil servants – as well as the rest of the country through the media – what entrepreneurs are currently thinking about the state of the economy. This is the most efficient way to have an impact (you’ll also be invited to the launch event). Most of the questions can be answered with a single click, but for those who really want to get into things, there is also the opportunity to write in your own words what entrepreneurs need from politicians.
I don’t want to sway you, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a fair few mentions of the ongoing R&D Tax Credits debacle. For background, you may be interested in my thoughts on this matter from last year. Without wanting to sound overly dramatic, the fact is that the vagaries of HMRC are destroying the livelihoods and lives of entrepreneurs up and down the country, and denting innovation in the process.
As our Research Director, Eamonn Ives, wrote in his latest Big Idea, “it isn’t enough for a firm to suddenly decide that it can flip a magic R&D switch and have innovation follow as a result. Rather, […] innovation requires time, trial and error, and consistency to yield results.” He cites fresh academic research that finds that “persistent investment in R&D is critical for small firms to fully realise the innovation gains derived from the ‘learning effects’ and ‘success breeds success’ mechanisms.”
In short, HMRC is constraining the compounding effect of investment.
We’ve already heard enough horror stories to fill a Stephen King novel, but the more you let us know about your challenges, the stronger our case becomes when we’re advocating for you. We’ve already connected some of you to journalists to share your experiences in the media, and we will continue to do so. And we’ll soon be hosting a roundtable on this issue, so whether you’re able to add to the weight of evidence – or would like to be part of technical discussions about how to fix things – let me know.
Good News Travels
It’s the nature of our trade that we talk about problems, and how to fix them. But from time to time we need to celebrate what’s working, which is why I’m happy to share an opportunity to do exactly that from the Department for Business and Trade.
On the back of our input into the forthcoming SME Strategy, the Department for Business and Trade is looking to feature some success stories and case studies from entrepreneurs to reflect different themes of the strategy alongside innovative and impactful support programmes.
In the first instance they’re looking for a 100-150 word teaser which should include:
Brief description (business or programme name, sector, location, type of government support you’ve already received);
Impact highlight (across growth, productivity or community benefits);
Innovation or unique approach that sets it apart (i.e., new product/service);
Contact details of business for follow-up.
If you send them to us, we’ll forward them straight on to the Department.
Loud Voices
Many entrepreneurs are – or will become – parents, yet the intricacies of managing a business while raising children are seldom talked about in depth. We would like to change that, and to create a space where parents feel safe to explore the challenges of running a business while also running a household. It is all being led by our brilliant Adviser, Kajal Sanghrajka – herself an entrepreneur and new parent.
First off, on 4 June we’ll be hosting the first in an online series on Parenting and Entrepreneurship. Kajal will be joined by Anna Sofat of One Loud Voice for Women and Zoë Dagless of Meliora Financial Planning. As you might expect, there are a lot of thorny policy issues to be discussed here. Find out more here.
WhatsUpdate
The ball is now rolling on WhatsApp. Anyone can join here for occasional announcements. Patrons and Advisers can join here for a closed group to coordinate on strategy, while Patrons, Advisers and Supporters can join here for a closed group for early event invites and ad hoc media requests. Our other groups are slowly getting off the ground, but we’ll develop these further following meetings and in-person events.
The TL;DR is this: if you’re keen to get early invites to our events and the chance to talk to the media, now’s the time to join us as a Supporter.
Policy Updates
Our Policy Updates newsletter is back. The first was in partnership with Kingsley Napley and focused on the Immigration White Paper. Read it here, and drop me an email if you want to partner with us on future updates.