The week in entrepreneurship


Your weekly summary of entrepreneurship news, comment, and features. Sent by the Centre for Entrepreneurs (part of the New Entrepreneurs Foundation). Sign up hereRead the original newsletter here.

News

  • The government has announced a £1.25bn support package for startups, including a Future Fund that will provide £125k – £5m in convertible loans to match private-sector investment. However, the requirement for companies to have raised £250k excludes many viable angel-backed companies.
  • The job rentention scheme has been expanded to benefit more newly-hired employees and extended until the end of June. The Resolution Foundation is calling for the government to allow furloughed workers to return to work part-time.
  • The business loans scheme has been expanded to businesses of all sizes and Funding Circle has joined as an accredited lender. Banks are under increasing pressure to publish their loan figures; so far only NatWest and Barclays have done so.
  • The Enterprise Research Centre has found that the number of firms going out of business in March was 70% higher than last year, while the number of new firms registered fell by 23%.
  • One in four firms temporarily closed due to coronavirus (CityAM covers ONS survey data)
  • British Busines Investments (part of the British Business Bank) has committed £15m to a £75m Regional Angels Program to invest in tech startups in Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Opinion

Features