In this week’s issue of Perennial Gale, I argue that if we’re serious about fixing Britain’s sluggish productivity, we need to stop speaking in vague platitudes about growth and start focusing on business dynamism. As the latest State of Small Business Britain Report makes clear, the link between dynamism and productivity is no longer up for debate. When businesses start, scale, adapt, or even exit at a healthy clip, the result is more innovation, more competition, and a more vibrant economy.
Yet Britain’s dynamism is faltering. Fewer startups are breaking through, and job churn – a key indicator of economic vitality – is declining. The challenge for policymakers is to support not just more startups, but a wider range of firms at different stages of growth. That means targeted policies for everything from high-growth early-stage businesses to mid-sized firms boosting productivity and creating new jobs. However we frame the debate, one thing is clear – business dynamism is not a nice-to-have, it’s the engine of progress.
In addition, we gave our reaction to the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, issued a call for entrepreneurs to speak their minds at our event on e-invoicing with Enterprise Nation, and said hello to Julian Cork as our latest new Adviser.