HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : Chancellor Gordon Brown calls for enterprise for all – New figures show differences in small business creation around the country [June 2000]

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 23 June 2000.

Enterprise for all in every region should be a reality, not a dream, said Chancellor Gordon Brown today, as he announced a new package of help for anyone in Britain wanting to start up in business.

Speaking in Birmingham, the Chancellor set out the next stage of reform to equip Britain with the skills and knowledge needed to compete successfully in the modern global market place. He announced that making enterprise open to all will be a priority for the Government’s spending review, with:

•  a major new package to make sure that anyone anywhere who seriously wants to start a business can get the advice and assistance they need; deprived areas will get extra help;
• a new initiative aimed at getting more private sector investment to tackle the problems of our poorest communities, with an initial fund target of £20 million, including a matched contribution by Government;
• a new drive to encourage enterprise in schools, with a call to all businesses to ‘Adopt a School’, particularly in disadvantaged areas.

Speaking as figures published today show a sharp difference in business creation between different areas around the country, the Chancellor said:

“Opportunity for all means a Britain where all have the opportunity not just to work, but to work their way up, to gain promotion, start a business, become self-employed, upgrade their skills, and rise as far as their talents and potential can take them; a Britain where there is not so much a narrow ladder of opportunity for the few, but a broad and expansive highway of opportunity for all.

“When the most important resource of a firm or country is not its raw materials or favourable location, but the skills, talents and potential of its workforce, we need to develop the talents of the best people and get the best out of people. Only 16% of people in the UK think there are good opportunities to start a business, compared to 57% in the US. And figures published today show dramatic variations in business creation around the country. It is clear that the denial of opportunity has become a barrier to prosperity.

“We cannot stress enough the importance of individuals making the most of their talents and contributing to their community around them. The Government’s aim is to help people help themselves.

“That is why I can announce that in the spending review, we will make it possible for anyone anywhere who seriously wants to start a business to get a free package of advice, information and access to mentoring through the Small Business Service, worth up to £500. And in the high unemployment areas of the country, we will support intensive programmes of help worth up to £2000 for each business start-up. Our priority in the spending review will be to extend enterprise to all and finance new measures in the poorest areas.”

The Chancellor outlined the barriers to getting private sector investment into deprived areas, and announced a new scheme to help overcome this: “I have asked the Social Investment Taskforce, led by Ronald Cohen of Apax Partners & Co, to plan a new social venturing initiative targeted at promoting investment in our low income areas. As a first step we have agreed to invest £10 million on a matching basis, making an initial target fund of £20 million.”

The Chancellor stressed the need for a culture change, starting in our schools:

“I want to see all schools encourage our young people to consider enterprise as a career, and we have begun to improve the national network that brings schools and businesses together. But I want to see more businesses get involved with their local schools, especially in disadvantaged areas. So today I urge all businesses throughout the country to ‘Adopt a School’ – by taking students on work experience and teachers on work placements, sending employees into schools to help run enterprise classes, or being business governors. By adopting a school, every business in the country will be helping to build the new enterprise culture that we all want to see.

“Our mission is to make a reality of enterprise for all.”

The Chancellor also announced that:

“We will fund the new Regional Development Agencies to work on pilot projects with experts from the USA – learning from hands on experience of developing entrepreneurship in inner cities as part of urban renewal.

“We will also sponsor – with the private sector – a survey of the 25 fastest growing firms in deprived areas, to show that there is real growth potential here. For too long, that has been neglected.”

A table of VAT registration figures around the country is attached. These show a sharp regional and local divergence in small business creation, with VAT registration up to six times higher in richer than poorer areas.