Commanding Officers

This week I want to turn inwards, with an update on a few opportunities to get more involved in The Entrepreneurs Network.

On Tuesday, we held our virtual AGM for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Entrepreneurship. I’m pleased to announce three new Officers of the group: Saqib Bhatti MBE MPGagan Mohindra MP and Jerome Mayhew MP.

Saqib was previously President of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce; Gagan has a great deal of experience in leadership roles in local government; and Jerome was previously managing director of Go Ape. They join our chair, Seema Malhotra MP, Lord Leigh of Hurley, Dr Lisa Cameron MP, Baroness Kramer, Lord Cromwell, Lord Bilimoria, Bim Afolami MP, and Baroness Neville-Jones. 

We have exciting plans for the APPG over the next 12 months, building the programme around a number of key themes. So far we will be running three, on Levelling Up, The Sharing Economy, and Space Entrepreneurship (which I’m particularly excited about). For each, we are running webinars/events, putting out a Call for Evidence, and then producing a briefing paper. If you want to get involved in any of these, or if you’re keen to sponsor a theme, get in touch with me.

We’ve just put out the Call for Evidence on the Levelling Up theme. Entrepreneurs can find out more here, and researchers and business groups here. You don’t need to answer every question – just wherever you have something to add. We want the final briefing paper to be purposely and mercilessly brief, so that politicians and their advisers can easily digest them.

For the Sharing Economy theme, we have our opening webinar next week. We already have an awesome lineup of MPs and entrepreneurs, but we might be able to squeeze you in if you get in touch quickly.  

APPG for Entrepreneurship: Sharing Economy
25 May 2021
10am to 11am
Complimentary
The Sharing Economy is a large and growing part of the UK economy. Join a mix of MPs, Peers, entrepreneurs and policy experts to discuss the policy issues facing it.
 

On Wednesday, we are hosting a virtual drinks roundtable with Selaine Saxby MP and some of the UK’s most ambitious hospitality entrepreneurs. If you’re an entrepreneur in the industry please get in touch, as we have a couple of places still up for grabs.
 
Entrepreneurs' Drinks – with Selaine Saxby MP
26 May 2021
6.30pm to 7.30pm
Speak with the Vice Chair of the Hospitality and Tourism APPG on how to ensure the UK is the best place in the world for hospitality entrepreneurs.


On Thursday we are hosting our next Female Founders Forum webinar on Preparing for a Crisis. Given so many businesses are still trying to bounce back from the pandemic, you could be forgiven for not wanting to think about future problems. However, I promise this won’t all be doom and gloom, and will include some practical tips from the government’s National Cyber Security Centre on a few easy things you can do to mitigate cyber risks.

Female Founders Forum: Preparing for a Crisis
27 May 2021
10am to 11am
Complimentary
Sign Up
A webinar from the Female Founders Forum about how to prepare your business for a crisis.

Finally, we are always looking to grow our network of entrepreneurs – particularly with so many new businesses starting. To that end, if you find this newsletter useful, it would be great if you could share it with people you will too. Spread the word!