Centre for Entrepreneurs chairman Luke Johnson appeared on Bloomberg TV’s “The Pulse” earlier today to discuss the contribution of entrepreneurs to the UK economy and why the country fosters such talent.
Discussing the state of entrepreneurship in the UK, Johnson commented:
“The news is good. This year we should see half a million new companies start in the UK which is an all-time record and the number of people aged between 18 and 25 who are involved in a startup in one way or another is twice what it was in 2008, so yes, the signs are positive. This down to a number of things – the digital revolution making it cheaper to start, fail and experiment. It’s also cultural – I think we are embracing a more entrepreneurial mindset. And I think some of it is necessity because people can’t get the jobs they wanted so they are having to freelance.”
Luke went on to discuss ongoing barriers for entrepreneurs, the need to build clusters across UK cities and alleviating funding gaps. Speaking on the contribution of migrant entrepreneurs to the UK economy, Luke commented:
“Immigrants have a disproportionate impact in entrepreneurship and you get a lot of very high quality, high qualified individuals who are more likely, for example, to raise venture capital. They come to London because it is seen as a diverse global hub particularly in certain areas like technology and increasingly in finance. It is great news for the economy because we attract money and wealth.”
Watch the full interview here