Westminster has spent much of this week focused on political survival. Moments like these tend to sharpen political attention around groups, voters and constituencies that parties believe they cannot afford to ignore. A core aim of ours is to ensure founders command more of that attention.
Entrepreneurs are economically important but politically diffuse. They’re often too busy building companies to organise as a bloc, despite the fact that the decisions made in Westminster often shape whether businesses start, scale or stay in the UK.
But founders have power — not least because they create jobs and wealth, but also because they’re often unusually mobile. A company can be incorporated in one country, funded in another and built across several more. Countries increasingly compete for them not just through tax rates or regulation, but through narrative and ambition. The question is whether the UK can convincingly present itself as a good place to build.
The new wave of our Entrepreneurs Survey is focused on exactly that question. We are asking you how the UK compares with rival hubs such as New York, Paris, Dubai and the Bay Area; whether Britain still communicates a compelling offer internationally; and what story you would tell someone deciding whether to build in the UK.
Previous waves have garnered serious media attention and shaped conversations in Westminster and beyond. We showed, for example, that seven in ten founders knew another entrepreneur considering leaving the UK over tax policy, and that employment taxes were viewed as a greater barrier to hiring than skills shortages or regulation. That’s the kind of evidence we can only produce when founders tell us.
Whether you have completed previous waves or this is your first time taking part, we would value your perspective. It takes around ten minutes to complete and you can do so anonymously or opt in so your comments feed into a short paper we’ll write on this topic.
Whoever is sitting in Number 10, completing this survey gives us the evidence to push for the changes entrepreneurs need.
Breakfast Club
No policy agenda; no panels; and definitely no pitches. Just coffee, pastries and a dozen or so entrepreneurs talking openly about what’s on their minds. That’s the idea behind our No Agenda Breakfasts.
This new format is inspired by the fact that some of the most useful things we hear come from unstructured conversation rather than formal research. It’s also a way for us to meet the growing demand from you, ensuring more entrepreneurs are able to attend an event during the year.
The first one takes place on Tuesday, 2 June at Forsters’ Baker Street offices, from 8.45am to 10am. Spaces are deliberately limited — request a place here.
We’ll be looking for four partners to host one breakfast a month over the course of a year. If your organisation works with founders and you’d like to support the series, get in touch.
Of Bourse
Our Adviser Juliet Gouldman has shared an opportunity for female founders considering public markets. The Aquis IPO Academy — created through a partnership between Aquis Stock Exchange and Barclays Eagle Labs — is a free, six-month programme starting in September to help UK growth companies get public-market ready. If you’re a female founder or co-founder running a business with £1 million+ turnover, applications are open until the end of May. Find out more here.
Source Material
We’re delighted to welcome Geeta Sidhu-Robb as an Adviser. Geeta is the founder and CEO of WCorp, which works with companies globally to improve workplace culture, leadership and retention for women. She founded her first business, Nosh Detox, in 2008 from a £2,000 overdraft, and since retraining as a coach has advised founders and CEOs through IPOs and exits — most recently, Mia Drennan of GLAS Agencies, through a private equity exit valued at over £1 billion.
On why she’s joined us, Geeta says: “The best policy comes from people who’ve actually built something. The Entrepreneurs Network takes entrepreneurial experience seriously — not as a backdrop, but as the source of real insight.” Welcome, Geeta.
Find out how you can join us as an Adviser here.