Enterprise Insights

Welcome to the new-look Enterprise Insights, where we continue to deliver to you the most interesting enterprise stories fortnightly. Avid readers will spot that we are now dividing developments by their relevance to current economic and employment issues or to educating the workforce of the future.

Now A New Economic Model: Eight benchmarks for Britain (Conservatives – PDF: 974 KB) The UK needs ‘a private sector recovery driven by business investment and exports’, a new policy paper by the Conservative Party argues. In it, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne outlines eight benchmarks against which a future Conservative Government can be judged, including improved international rankings for tax competitiveness and business regulation; a more balanced economy with higher exports and business investment and increased economic prosperity in all regions of the country. Exporting out of Recession (Business, Innovation and Skills Committee – HTML) All Government departments, not just UK Trade and Investment, need to involve themselves in the effort to boost exports, according to a new report by a cross-party group of MPs. Released in the same month that the UK officially emerged from the recession, the report examines what Government can do to sustain and increase Britain's export strengths to stimulate economic recovery. Future Unleashing Aspiration (BIS – PDF: 1 MB) The Government has reiterated its commitment to social mobility and promoting young people’s aspirations in its response to the final report of the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions. The Panel, led by the Rt Hon Alan Milburn MP, challenged policy-makers to do more to ensure that people with ability, creativity and talent can succeed in the professions, regardless of their social or economic background. A number of its recommendations will be taken up by the Government, including measures to widen participation in higher education and open up new routes to professions and the creation of a new Social Mobility Commission to monitor progress. Doing Things Differently: Step changes in skills and inclusion (Policy Connect – PDF: 1 MB) The National Skills Forum has published the final report of its inquiry into disadvantaged groups’ exclusion from vocational learning and training opportunities. Chaired by Gordon Marsden MP and Jacqui Henderson CBE, the inquiry focused on three groups: black and minority ethnic people, offenders and ex-offenders and people with disabilities. The report proposes recommendations to policymakers and employers on ways to increase skills and employment opportunities for those groups. News Britain has officially emerged from the recession with an economic growth of 0.1% in the last three months of 2009. Meanwhile, a report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research predicts that growth should accelerate in the coming months, with the economy expanding by 1.1% in 2010 that will be more due to exports than consumer spending. National Apprenticeship Week (1– 5 February) has seen a number of new with initiatives launched by government and businesses, including a grant of £2,500 to businesses for each apprentice they take on. The new Social Enterprise Mark was unveiled at Voice10, the annual social enterprise conference that took place this week in Cardiff. The Mark, which comes with the strap-line of 'Trading for People and Planet', is an identifier of products and services delivered by social businesses. Almost half of London’s entrepreneurs who are trying to develop small businesses do not have a website, according to a poll by Business Link. Manufacturing, retail, catering and leisure businesses topped the list of businesses without a website. A new initiative to address this issue will launch on February 18. Getting British Business Online is a partnership between Google, Enterprise UK, BT, Business Link, The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and e-skills UK, which will help 100,000 British businesses get online with a free website and free online tools. The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting took place last week in Davos, Switzerland. The main focus of the meeting was economic recovery from the global recession and building sustainable economic growth. Under the theme ‘Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild’, the Forum challenged participants from over 90 countries representing business, government and civil society to work together on global challenges. Enterprise Alliance UK has been launched by Enterprise Educators UK, The Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) and National Consortium of University Entrepreneurs (NACUE) to actively promote and support enterprise in higher education. The Alliance aims to act as the voice of education providers and students and to ensure that enterprise education is embedded within the curriculum.