This week, the UK’s annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor hit the press. The largest single study of entrepreneurial activity in the world has been running for 25 years, and for the first time 30% of working age individuals (well almost) either intend to start a business within the next three years, are actively trying to start a business, or already running their own business.
Driving this has been a remarkable threefold increase in the level of early-stage entrepreneurial activity by women in the UK since 2002 – from just over 3.5% to 10%. This is above France and Germany (both 8%), but lagging the US on 18%. More women now highlight the desire to build wealth as an important driver of their engagement in early-stage entrepreneurial activity. Well, to misquote Adam Smith, it is not from the benevolence of the female founder that we expect our innovation, but from their regard to their own interest. As the resort suggests, this may be attributable to shifts in society with old gender-based perspectives changing.
That said, as serial entrepreneur, Chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce and Member of our Female Founders Forum Debbie Wosskow notes in response: “these entrepreneurial efforts can only go so far if they don’t then receive the funding to scale. There is still significant gender disparity in accessing investment, with fully female founded teams receiving only 2% of total capital in the UK, and we need to break this decades-long cycle.”
The next generation is increasingly entrepreneurial too, with the entrepreneurial activity rate for 18-29 year olds, which was stable at around 5% for the decade until the global financial crisis, rising and more than doubling to just over 13%. And despite changes in the demographic composition of migration due to the post-Brexit overhaul of the immigration system, immigrant and non-white ethnic populations continue to be the most entrepreneurial groups in the UK. (Watch with space for an update to our influential Job Creators report for more on this.)
London increasingly dominates the entrepreneurial landscape. And while we shouldn’t do anything to dent our megacity – without which the country would be significantly poorer – the ecosystem is more than able to sustain other entrepreneurial hubs.
While the term levelling up is being unceremoniously dumped by the new Government, whatever rubric you put it under – rebalancing, regional development, bridging the North-South divide, industrial strategy, devolution – the challenge remains the same (as do the overarching solutions).
As luck would have it, we’ll have a new report out soon to offer fresh insights on what entrepreneurs across the UK say they need to succeed – including where they agree and where they diverge. We’ll be launching it in the House of Lords.
What’s Up?
We’re trialling out a public WhatsApp group to share updates on our reports and events. Anyone can join – sign up here.
In addition, Patrons, Advisers, Supporters, Partners, and long-term sponsors, partners and collaborators who want to join our “friends” Slack channel, drop me an email and I’ll send you an invite.
Coming to America
Are you the leader of a high-growth firm that exports to the US? Or are scaling fast but reticent about expanding to the US? Or perhaps you’re a leading investor or someone who provides professional services for businesses working across both jurisdictions? Or a past or present policymaker with expertise on international growth? Or are you a trade expert or in a leadership role facilitating UK-US relations?
If you’re any of the above – or something else relevant – we would love to interview you for an upcoming report delving into the special relationship. Your insights will form the backbone for the report, and with your agreement some interviews will be turned into case studies and shared with the media.
Drop Eamonn Ives an email to share your interest and we will be in touch.
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