Land of Hope and Technology February 2016 | Page 14

ISSUE 1

What’s new?
But there is something new. This chapter
has already hinted at it. Open up your nasal
passages and inhale the aroma. You will pick
up the scent best of all if you stand in parts
of London, but there are clusters scattered
across Britain. They exist in Manchester,
Bristol, Cambridge and Brighton, for
example, across the border to the north hubs
are emerging in Scotland. The fragrance is
strong in other regions too.
So what is the bouquet to which I refer?
It is the tantalising smell of energy, of
entrepreneurial spirit? Open up the rest of
your senses, and you will hear the new hum
of digital industry, the sight of entrepreneurs,
many of whom are from the millennial
generation, their enterprise touching your life
in many ways, the taste of prosperity.
The evidence of this revolution is
growing. Take as an example the Global
Entrepreneurism Index. This ranks
countries across the world by their order
of entrepreneurism. The index takes into
account attitudes of entrepreneurs – looking
at such measures as fear of failure, abilities
– including quality of human resources – and
aspirations.
The UK was the fourth most
entrepreneurial country in the world.
For the version of the index published in
2015, the UK was in fourth place, behind
the US, Canada and Australia. The really
encouraging bit is this: In 2012, the UK
was in 12th place. So that was quite an
improvement. If there is something in the
air that has changed in the UK, making the
country more entrepreneurial, it would seem
that this change has occurred in this decade.
You may be interested to note that while
the UK scores highly for ability in this
entrepreneurial index, it sits in a lowly
16th place for aspiration. The Global
Entrepreneurism Index report, stated: “The
UK’s strongest pillar is competition, followed
by human capital and opportunity start-up,
suggesting that the UK’s greatest strengths
are in ability. The UK also exhibits strengths
in attitudes, whereas many of its aspirations
pillars show relative softness. Overall,
therefore, the UK appears to have some
catching up to do in terms of improving the
ambitions and aspirations of its start-ups.
The most notable aspect remains the overall
evenness of the UK’s entrepreneurial profile.”

You could put it another way: Good at startups, less good at risk capital and creating
technology giants.
Meanwhile, the Global Innovation Index of
2014 had the UK sitting in second place,
behind only Switzerland. In 2011, the UK was
in 10th place.
2014 saw the highest number of new
companies being formed in the UK ever
Other data shows that 2014 saw the highest
number of new companies being formed
in the UK ever. In total 581,000 companies
were formed, compared to 526,000 the year
before and 484,000 the year before that.
According to the Connected World Survey,
from Boston Consulting, the internet
economy accounts for 8.3 per cent of UK
GDP, the highest percentage across the G20.
But, the most staggering change to
occur in the UK in recent years relates
to the explosion in a support network for
entrepreneurs. It has