APPG for Entrepreneurship Digest: May 2021

This week marks the start of a new Parliamentary Session. Over the next year, the APPG for Entrepreneurship will be working to keep entrepreneurs at the heart. We will be embarking on an ambitious research and events agenda over the next twelve months.

To start, we are working with the Enterprise Research Centre to produce a report on Levelling Up and why supporting new business creation will be key to it. To that end, we have put out a Call for Evidence asking entrepreneurs, business groups and research for information about what is and what isn’t working to support entrepreneurs across the UK.

You can read the full terms of the Call for Evidence on the APPG for Entrepreneurship website. We have two separate sets of questions: one for entrepreneurs and one for researchers and business groups. All responses must be submitted via email.

But that’s not the only research programme we are embarking on. Next month, we are kicking off a new APPG theme focusing on the Sharing Economy on 25th May. Any MPs, Peers, entrepreneurs or experts should get in touch with Philip Salter to request an invitation.

We plan to do a lot more too. If you are a MP or Peer and want to get involved to help shape the direction of the APPG for Entrepreneurship then you might like to attend our upcoming Annual General Meeting next week.

Our virtual AGM will take place on Tuesday 18th at 10.30am to 11.30am. It will be an opportunity to elect new Officers and discuss plans for the next 12 months.

Any MPs or Peers who are keen to attend should drop Katrina Sale, the Coordinator of the APPG for Entrepreneurship, an email so she can send you a diary invitation.

From our advisers

Each month, we keep you updated on the latest initiatives, events, and research relevant to entrepreneurs from our advisory board.

Applications are now open for Tech Nation’s growth and sector programmes. Tech Nation is currently looking for 160 companies to join its next 6 growth programmes: Upscale 7.0, Future Fifty 10.0, Net Zero 2.0, Applied AI 3.0, Fintech 4.0 and new programme Libra 1.0. Find out more here.

Tech Nation is also hosting an event entitled “The UK and AI: What’s Next?” on 2 June 2021, where they will explore how the UK is scaling up and levelling up our AI ecosystem as we prepare for a future built on deep tech.

Enterprise Nation is working in partnership with Dell Technologies to offer “nine inspiring, re-energising lunchtime sessions designed to help small businesses rest, recharge and come back, ready to take on what's next.” Business owners can register for free to learn from a host of business experts and entrepreneurs offering their expert advice.

In Parliament

The bill for the new Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) bill had its first sitting. The committee called a range of witnesses. Tris Dyson, the managing director of NESTA, is enthusiastic about ARIA. He believes that ARIA might be able to generate a culture that is more nimble, agile, and able to take risks. He thinks that it will therefore be more entrepreneurial.

He said it is important to find the right people to lead ARIA, and is clear that this is not about finding people with the right private sector or scientific background, but instead finding people with the right “creative and entrepreneurial mindset”.

In a debate on the Office for Investment, Julie Marson MP, praised the government’s aims to attract more FDI into the UK. She said “we have long been a global centre of FDI in this country. FDI stock levels reached £1.6 trillion by the end of 2019. We have traditionally been the top FDI destination in Europe, and according to the World Bank we are second only to Denmark in offering the best business environment in the world. That has been so crucial to the success of our startup ecosystem, and it is why so many businesses want to come here.” However, she cautioned that global FDI levels fell during 2020, and that between 2018 and 2019 the UK’s FDI flows had already fallen by £6bn. She called on the government to take action to reverse this trend.

Marson welcomed the establishment of the Office for Investment and suggested that, in order to take advantage of assets already in the UK, that we establish a domestic version of the office as well, and this office should encourage pension funds and other asset managers to invest in the UK.

Richard Fuller MP criticised the government’s plans to increase corporation tax, saying that “hardworking business leaders [have emerged] from a torrid 12 months” and that “essentially the government is putting a tax on success”. Sarah Olney MP disagreed and criticised the government for delaying the corporation tax increase for a couple of years while freezing the personal tax allowance, and therefore increasing taxes on ordinary people “by stealth”.

Greg Hands, the Minister for Trade Policy, was asked what he was doing to promote professional business services in free trade agreements. He said they were “seeking ambitious FTA commitments in cross-cutting areas like mobility and digital, as well as tackling specific behind-the-border regulatory barriers such as recognition and professional qualifications.”