Labour will launch a review of measures to boost the success of British start-ups at The Times CEO Summit today.
The review, commissioned by Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow chancellor, and led by Lord O’Neill of Gatley will look into fresh attempts to unlock access to patient capital, the role of universities and ways to increase diversity among British entrepreneurs.
Reeves, a former economist at the Bank of England, will tell business leaders at the summit that there remains a “real worry about the small number of start-ups listing in the UK and the stubborn obstacles preventing many of them from scaling up”.
Labour is seeking to rebuild its reputation with business at a time of strained relations between the government and business groups.
Those present will include Charlie Nunn, the chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, David Potts, the boss of Wm Morrison, Sir Martin Sorrell, the founder and executive chairman of S4 Capital, and Chris O’Shea, the chief executive of Centrica.
The summit will also hear from Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities.
The review comes as Labour seeks to rebuild its reputation with British business at a time of strained relations between the government and business groups.
Lord O’Neill, 65, the crossbench peer, chairman of Northern Gritstone, an investment company founded by the Universities of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield, and former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, will be joined on the panel leading the review by Julie Devonshire, 53, director of the Entrepreneurship Institute at King’s College London, Alex Depledge, 41, co-founder of Resi, a home improvement business, and Tom Adeyoola, 45, an entrepreneur and angel investor.
The review will also focus on improving access to public procurement; ensuring a better geographical spread of start-ups; whether the right incentives are in place to grow businesses and how they compare overseas; and whether more companies should be encouraged to list in London.
Among the largest flotations of UK companies on the London Stock Exchange last year was Oxford Nanopore Technologies, founded and led by Gordon Sanghera, who is also speaking at today’s summit and opted to float the company in London over New York.
The panel is set to meet next month and produce its report in the autumn.
Lord O’Neill said: “The more all political parties support the eco-system of start-ups for the UK, the more they become entwined in the DNA of policy thinking for the future.”
The Treasury previously commissioned a review into patient capital, led by Sir Damon Buffini, a former partner at Permira, the private equity firm, which in 2017 led the government to pledge support to unlock more than £20 billion of investment over ten years.
Figures released this week, coinciding with London Tech Week, found UK tech startups raised £12.4 billion in venture capital funding in the first five months of this year, second to the US and ahead of China.
A 450 000 000 customer base with no red tape or tarrifs, would certainly bring the best out of our entrepreneurs.
They could do a world of good by changing the rules and more importantly the culture of government procurement.
There are so, so many good little UK companies that could fulfill government tenders but they simply don’t have the legal personnel/expertise to navigate the maze of reporting to get awarded a tender.
Of the ones that do try and attempt it, some commercial manager, will award it to usual suspects, even if they know serco/Sodexo/capita or whoever are going to absolutely botch it, and they’re protected from criticism because “That’s what every other department uses”.
Labour don’t have the guts or smarts to change this. They’ll just start a few committees, create some kind of pot to encourage “BAME entrepreneurs” and we’ll end up with a load of government funded chicken shops and Carribbean food stands instead of having a domestic drone industry or something else that actually has strategic and commercial value for international trade.
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Labour will launch a review of measures to boost the success of British start-ups at The Times CEO Summit today.
The review, commissioned by Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow chancellor, and led by Lord O’Neill of Gatley will look into fresh attempts to unlock access to patient capital, the role of universities and ways to increase diversity among British entrepreneurs.
Reeves, a former economist at the Bank of England, will tell business leaders at the summit that there remains a “real worry about the small number of start-ups listing in the UK and the stubborn obstacles preventing many of them from scaling up”.
Labour is seeking to rebuild its reputation with business at a time of strained relations between the government and business groups.
Those present will include Charlie Nunn, the chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, David Potts, the boss of Wm Morrison, Sir Martin Sorrell, the founder and executive chairman of S4 Capital, and Chris O’Shea, the chief executive of Centrica.
The summit will also hear from Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities.
The review comes as Labour seeks to rebuild its reputation with British business at a time of strained relations between the government and business groups.
Lord O’Neill, 65, the crossbench peer, chairman of Northern Gritstone, an investment company founded by the Universities of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield, and former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, will be joined on the panel leading the review by Julie Devonshire, 53, director of the Entrepreneurship Institute at King’s College London, Alex Depledge, 41, co-founder of Resi, a home improvement business, and Tom Adeyoola, 45, an entrepreneur and angel investor.
The review will also focus on improving access to public procurement; ensuring a better geographical spread of start-ups; whether the right incentives are in place to grow businesses and how they compare overseas; and whether more companies should be encouraged to list in London.
Among the largest flotations of UK companies on the London Stock Exchange last year was Oxford Nanopore Technologies, founded and led by Gordon Sanghera, who is also speaking at today’s summit and opted to float the company in London over New York.
The panel is set to meet next month and produce its report in the autumn.
Lord O’Neill said: “The more all political parties support the eco-system of start-ups for the UK, the more they become entwined in the DNA of policy thinking for the future.”
The Treasury previously commissioned a review into patient capital, led by Sir Damon Buffini, a former partner at Permira, the private equity firm, which in 2017 led the government to pledge support to unlock more than £20 billion of investment over ten years.
Figures released this week, coinciding with London Tech Week, found UK tech startups raised £12.4 billion in venture capital funding in the first five months of this year, second to the US and ahead of China.
A 450 000 000 customer base with no red tape or tarrifs, would certainly bring the best out of our entrepreneurs.
They could do a world of good by changing the rules and more importantly the culture of government procurement.
There are so, so many good little UK companies that could fulfill government tenders but they simply don’t have the legal personnel/expertise to navigate the maze of reporting to get awarded a tender.
Of the ones that do try and attempt it, some commercial manager, will award it to usual suspects, even if they know serco/Sodexo/capita or whoever are going to absolutely botch it, and they’re protected from criticism because “That’s what every other department uses”.
Labour don’t have the guts or smarts to change this. They’ll just start a few committees, create some kind of pot to encourage “BAME entrepreneurs” and we’ll end up with a load of government funded chicken shops and Carribbean food stands instead of having a domestic drone industry or something else that actually has strategic and commercial value for international trade.