The Week in Entrepreneurship


Your weekly summary of entrepreneurship news, comment, and features. Sent by the Centre for Entrepreneurs (home of StartUp Britain). Sign up here. Read the original newsletter here.

News

New YouGov EU referendum poll divides startups and small businesses
CityAM: New (but small scale) polling by YouGov finds big companies (15 of 16 leaders polled) and startups (seven to one ratio of 42 founders) want to stay in the EU while small businesses are more divided (47% of 500 polled). Read more

Tesco slammed over supplier payments 
Economia: Tesco deliberately delayed payments to suppliers to improve its financial position. In one case, a supplier had to wait two years for its payment, which was almost £2m. Read more

Skype founder on speed dial for startups as part of new Tech City initiative
Telegraph: The Upscale scheme will give 30 companies access to mentoring from the world’s top entrepreneurs, including Niklas Zennstrom, Simon Calver and Saul Klein. Read more

Calls for sharing economy to be counted in official ONS figures
CityAM: Official measures of UK productivity and economic growth are failing to take into account the contribution of the sharing economy, according to a new report calling for a radical overhaul of statistics. Read more. Read the report (pdf)

Opinion

Why brand Britain still lords it over heads and hearts in 2016
UK exporters could benefit from a premium of up to £2.1bn by simply branding products as ‘Made in Britain’, writes Will Butler-Adams (chief executive, Brompton Bicycle). Read more

Business owners need to consider what the EU referendum will mean
While Cameron is keeping his own referendum powder dry for a little longer, he’s given business the green light to starting firing off its views. It’s an invitation we should all grasp, writes Charlie Mullins (founder, Pimlico Plumbers). Read more

The sharing economy probably means much less inequality, not more
The future of the sharing economy lies with specialist companies owning most assets and hiring them out to individuals, writes Andrew Lilico (chairman, Europe Economics and author, ‘The cost of non-Europe in the sharing economy’). Read more

Google’s tax bill is not an excuse to bash big companies
This week’s debate should be about Google and its tax affairs and not a blank cheque for the chorus of corporate critics to cash in, writes Michael Hayman (co-founder, Seven Hills). Read more

The mayoral candidates must hardwire digital into visions of London’s future
The next four years represent a crucial juncture in London’s digital development and there is an opportunity to harness the tech scene’s expertise and influence to turn London from a digitally-friendly capital into a digitally-powered one, writes Charlotte Holloway (head of policy, techUK). Read more. Read the Tech London Advocates and Centre for London ‘mayoral tech manifesto’ (pdf)

Features

Seedcamp by the numbers
Tech.eu: Seedcamp, the London-based, pan-European early-stage investment company, has crunched its numbers after eight years of backing startups. Read more