Cutting tax and red tape is not enough for Britain's entrepreneurs

There is no doubt that the coalition government could do more to cut taxes and red tape, but this alone is unlikely to dramatically improve the number of globally successful entrepreneurs and businesses.

We need action on four fronts:

First, Britain needs to get better at providing working capital to those thinking of setting up or scaling their business. 

Second we need an immigration policy that is more welcoming to the talent that entrepreneurs need to grow their business. 

Third, we need to be less risk averse, and recognise that most successful entrepreneurs will fail before they succeed. 

Finally - and most importantly - we need to encourage our entrepreneurs to think big. There is evidence that only 1% of small businesses in the UK have high growth potential, compared with 3% in the US. 

A version of this was published as a letter in the Daily Telegraph 29 April 2014

Britain's universities are serious about business

Tim Farron MP, President of the Liberal Democrats, was right to highlight some of the challenges facing all entrepreneurs in this country - but the idea that Britain's scientific community is failing at business is simply not accurate.  

MOOCS - too big to succeed?

It seems that rumours of the imminent demise of campus-based higher education - in favour of free online MOOCs - have been greatly exaggerated. Well - apparently according to an article in the Financial Times, Stanford University President, John Hennessy claims that MOOCS are neither massive nor open.

Want to be a successful entrepreneur? try a doctorate

The recent sale of London tech start-up DeepMind to Google for a reported £400m is the latest in a series of deals highlighting the ever-increasing entrepreneurial spirit of Britain's scientists - and does much to dispel the myth that the UK is good at science but poor at innovation and enterprise.

Antibiotic resistance & making medicines in Britain

The new Director of the Wellcome Trust, Jeremy Farrar is right to highlight the ticking bomb of antibiotic resistance and reminds us of the perils that we face if we continue to ignore this emerging public health issue (Britain is reaching 'a tipping point in its use of antibiotics', Jan 8). Part of the solution must inevitably involve greater working in partnership between commercial organisations such as biotech, pharmaceutical companies, charities, the NHS and central government.  But making new medicines is an expensive and risky business. 

Some personal memories of Professor Sir John Cornforth

I was deeply saddened to hear the news of the passing of a former colleague, Sir John Cornforth at 96. I first met, Sir John, known to all as Kappa in 1993 when I joined the faculty at the School of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences in Sussex. I thought I had seen the "great man" in a lab coat in the audience at my job interview, but not had a chance to meet him. And luckily he had not asked one of those deceptively simple questions!

Why higher education is this country’s secret industrial powerhouse

Published in CityAM

When considering the powerhouses of the British economy, most people’s minds flick to the City, or perhaps pharmaceuticals or retail. Yet it’s British universities – the envy of the world – which have the potential to save the British economy.

Higher education is the UK’s secret industrial powerhouse. UniversitiesUK suggests that our universities are responsible for generating 650,000 jobs, and contribute £60bn to UK GDP. In London alone, our international students are estimated to support over 100,000 jobs – roughly one per student.