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
‘Flat white economy’ has overtaken finance and retail
CityAM: The UK’s digital economy is driving the country’s economic growth, according to updated research from the Centre of Economics and Business Research. It accounts for 8.7% of GDP, overtaking the retail sector, finance and the wholesales sector. Read more
Angel Hubs from Barclays to provide UK scale-ups funding and mentoring access
Real Business: Barclays has inked a deal with the UK Business Angels Association to create Angel Hubs, a series of incubators that will provide companies in scale-up mode with access to funding and mentoring opportunities. These will be based in Barclays Eagle Labs. Read more
42% rise in the number of UK student start-ups
Startups: More students are choosing to juggle entrepreneurship with studying to increase job security and to earn extra cash to reduce their debts, according to polling by PeoplePerHour. Read more
Sajid Javid brews up “Midlands Engine” plan at old tea factory
Real Business: The business secretary chose to use the former factory of tea barn Typhoo from which to launch his £250m investment initiative aimed at smaller businesses in the Midlands. Read more
Clampdown on late payments from large companies…is itself delayed until October
Mail on Sunday: New rules tackling late payment by large companies, due to come into force next month, have been put off until October. The new rules will make large companies disclose their payment terms – including the average time taken to pay suppliers, the proportion of invoices paid beyond agreed terms, and any late payment interest owed and paid. Read more
Opinion
As Silicon Valley chills, Europe’s tech gets hotter
While Silicon Valley is undergoing a chill, the data shows that tech in Europe is growing, purposefully, confidently and across a broad range of geographical hubs and industries, writes Mattias Ljungman (partner, Atomico). Read more
You were funded for a liquidity event – start looking
Steve Blank: There are many reasons to found a start-up. There are many reasons to work at a start-up. But there’s only one reason your company got funded. Liquidity. Read more
Mondeo and Pact: A tale of two crowdfunds and why they both matter to the market
The recent experience of two crowdfunding campaign shows that, for now, the market really does know best, writes Jimmy McLoughlin (deputy head of policy, IoD). Read more
Business rates change will inspire growth of home-based enterprise
There was one clear winner from last week’s Budget – small business – writes Charlie Mullins (founder, Pimlico Plumbers). Read more
- Related: A budget of boons for the self-employed (Ben Dellott, RSA)
Female entrepreneurs: looking beyond food, fashion and flowers
In light of research that finds men are twice as likely as women to become entrepreneurs, Frances Dickens (founder, Astus Group) urges British women to start businesses outside of traditionally “female” sectors. Read more
The customer is rarely right, often self-obsessed and may be best ignored
Customers can be a dreadful guide, and new technology means customer focus is an idea that may have had its day, writes Brendan Canavan (lecturer in marketing, University of Huddersfield). Read more
Why more MBAs should buy small businesses
While Harvard and Stanford have both observed a strong increase in the number of MBAs who look to acquire a business after graduation, Harvard Business School professors Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff explore why many more MBAs should be following this path. Read more
Features
If you can’t beat them, join them: the entrepreneurial rivals working together
Guardian: Fresh ideas, new audiences and pooler resources are some of the reasons why competitors are starting to combine forces. Read more
Team spirit
Economist: Businesses are embracing the idea of working in teams. Managing them is hard. Read more
Lily Cole: ‘Businesses are running the world’
Guardian: The model and actor talks about becoming an entrepreneur and why social enterprise are a more effective way to change the world than charities. Read more
Alternative finance powerlist
CityAM has launched the alternative finance powerlist – the most influential people in peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding on social media. Read more