UK needs more youth start-ups
The kids aren’t alrite, according to a new Manifesto for Youth Enterprise, published today by the RSA and RBS.
One in seven young people in the US are in the early stages of starting a venture, compared to just one in 17 in the UK.
5:24PM BST 15 Oct 2013
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Parents, teachers and enterprise support organisations need to work closer
together to encourage young people in the UK to start up businesses, a
report has found.
The Manifesto for Youth Enterprise, which is is based on the findings from the
first year of RBS’s Inspiring Enterprise initiative, argues that more
could be done to help young people at every stage of their “entrepreneurial
journey” – from instilling idea of entrepreneurship at an early age through
popular media, to developing entrepreneurial abilities in school and helping
them start and scale their own venture.
RBS Inspiring Enterprise and the RSA spoke to over 120 young people to find
out more about the barriers facing young entrepreneurs. It also cites recent
research from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, which showed that the UK
lags behind France, Germany and the United States in terms of start-up rates
among young people.
One in seven young people in the US are in the early stages of starting a
venture, compared to just one in 17 in the UK.
The Manifesto aims to help 100,000 more young people discover entrepreneurship
by 2015, say the report's writers. To that end, it sets out a list of 15 key
“principles” designed to help more young people realise their
entrepreneurial potential.
These include: “shining a light on the everyday entrepreneurs that young
people can more easily relate to and be inspired by”. This will replace the
current trend of focussing purely on ‘celebreneurs’, as the report argues
that this “puts entrepreneurship on a pedestal”.
The UK schools system also needs to expose more young people to enterprise-related learning by embedding it throughout school curricula and FE/HE courses, it argued.
Another important concern regards the so-called “unsexy sectors”. Ensuring support for young entrepreneurs gets beyond London and the "vogue industries" like the creative and technology sectors, is key to boosting young enterprise.
The Manifesto calls for UK government, school and organisations to help young people to sustain and grow their businesses throughout their entrepreneurial journey – not just in the early stages of establishing their venture.
In practical terms, it adds, encouraging large corporations to build youth enterprises into their supply chains or helping them win contracts with local authorities would give the sector a boost.
Lord Young, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Enterprise, voiced his support for the Manifesto: “Raising levels of aspiration among young people, and giving them the confidence to work for themselves, has been a key priority of mine,” he said. “I know the Prime Minister shares this view.
“Support needs to start at a young age in schools and colleges, and continue right the way through to higher education where students can gain inspiration and access to practical help to be their own boss. The UK is the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and if young people want to take that step we need to make sure they have every chance available to them."
A story gotten from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/young-enterprise
The UK schools system also needs to expose more young people to enterprise-related learning by embedding it throughout school curricula and FE/HE courses, it argued.
Another important concern regards the so-called “unsexy sectors”. Ensuring support for young entrepreneurs gets beyond London and the "vogue industries" like the creative and technology sectors, is key to boosting young enterprise.
The Manifesto calls for UK government, school and organisations to help young people to sustain and grow their businesses throughout their entrepreneurial journey – not just in the early stages of establishing their venture.
In practical terms, it adds, encouraging large corporations to build youth enterprises into their supply chains or helping them win contracts with local authorities would give the sector a boost.
Lord Young, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Enterprise, voiced his support for the Manifesto: “Raising levels of aspiration among young people, and giving them the confidence to work for themselves, has been a key priority of mine,” he said. “I know the Prime Minister shares this view.
“Support needs to start at a young age in schools and colleges, and continue right the way through to higher education where students can gain inspiration and access to practical help to be their own boss. The UK is the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and if young people want to take that step we need to make sure they have every chance available to them."
A story gotten from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/young-enterprise
