APPG for Entrepreneurship Digest: April 2022

Our world-class universities are a rightly prized national asset, but could they be doing more to promote entrepreneurship? We have covered (and are still covering) the topic of training and teaching the next generation of entrepreneurs – one area where universities can have a powerful impact. But that’s not the only way they can support entrepreneurship. The ideas generated by faculty often have real-world applications from which new businesses can be formed. Indeed, there’s a decent chance you are using the services of a spinout (Google) as you read this APPG digest.

How can we get more academic spinouts and give them a better chance of succeeding? It’s a question that prompts a lot of debate. Take this provocative essay from Air Street Capital’s Nathan Beinach, in which he argues that universities treat spinouts as problem children. Not everyone agrees, and some university leaders have pushed back against his characterisation. Whatever side you stand on, finding the right answer will require us to have good data.

That’s why I was happy to see Beauhurst has released the latest instalment of their Spotlight on Spinouts. It’s full of useful data on how universities compare on spinning out startups. Particularly interesting was their comparison of university policies on equity and IP. It revealed that the average equity stake taken by universities has dropped by 20% (5pp) over the past decade and many universities have adopted new ‘founder-friendly’ policies which take a smaller stake. The jury’s still out on whether that’s the right approach, but it's certainly worth watching.

What do we need to know about entrepreneurship education?
There is still time to contribute to the APPG for Entrepreneurship’s Call for Evidence on Entrepreneurship Education. We have already received dozens of great contributions that will give us food for thought when we produce an APPG briefing paper on the topic in the coming months.

You can find out the questions we’re interested in having answered here. As we’ve said before, please don’t feel obliged to answer all the questions. We would prefer that you focus on one or two questions where you feel you can add the most value, rather than answer them all without detail/evidence. That said, don’t let this deter you from answering them all if you want.

Submissions should be sent to sam@tenentrepreneurs.org before Friday 15th April.

Calling all Parliamentarians
In a few weeks on Wednesday April 27th at 11am, we will be hosting our virtual Annual General Meeting. It is a chance for MPs and Lords to get more involved – for instance, by becoming an Officer of the APPG. It’s also an opportunity to help shape the work the APPG will embark on over the next year.

If you would like to attend, please get in touch with katrina@tenentrerpreneurs.org

From our Advisers
The Centre for Entrepreneurship is undertaking a new project to review the landscape of business incubators and accelerators in Britain. They have a survey for incubators and accelerators, which you can fill out here.

Nominations are open for the UK Business Angels Association’s Angel Investment Awards. You can learn more, nominate someone, or even buy an early bird ticket to the ceremony here. You can also attend their upcoming half day Future Forward session on DeepTech. The full details are here.

Mike Spicer of Policy Department has a new podcast on local economic development. You can listen to the first episode here.

In Parliament

Due to inflation, Mary Glindon, the Labour MP for North Tyneside, asked Paul Scully, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the government was doing to help small businesses with rising costs.

He said that the government was “cutting fuel duty, at a cost of £5 billion over the next 12 months; raising the employment allowance to £5,000; and zero-rating VAT on energy-saving materials. That builds on existing support, including business rates relief worth £7 billion over five years.”

She said that specifically, businesses in her constituency had hoped that VAT would be cut to 12.5%.

Seema Maholtra, the Labour MP for Feltham and Heston, and Chair of this APPG, added” “Businesses face a barrage of rising costs: inflation at a 30-year high, taxation at an 80-year high, and rocketing prices for materials, energy, food and fuel that are hitting businesses and consumers hard.” She complained that there was no clear plan to support businesses and workers.

During Topical Questions, Labour MP for South Shields, Emma Lewell-Buck asked: “When the Government set up the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme, they recklessly failed to agree any guidance on early repayments. As a result, businesses are now being charged extortionate fees and are facing bankruptcy. Why is the Chancellor putting the profits of unscrupulous lenders above the recovery of our small businesses?”

In a debate on Investment for Businesses: Female and Minority Entrepreneurs, Ruth Edwards, the Conservative MP for Rushcliffe, asked: “What steps the Government are taking to reduce the barriers faced by female and minority entrepreneurs in seeking investment for businesses”

Kemi Badenoch, the Minister for Equalities replied “The Government’s flagship start-up loans programme, delivered through the British Business Bank, has been instrumental in reducing access-to-finance barriers faced by all entrepreneurs, including those faced by female and minority entrepreneurs. Since the launch of the programme, around 40% of the loans issued, valued at approximately £320 million, went to female entrepreneurs. Black, Asian and ethnic minority businesses have received around 20% of the loans issued, valued at £160 million.”

In a House of Lords debate on export support for small businesses, a Labour Lord, Lord Bassam of Brighton, accused the government of providing insufficient support to help SMEs with exporting. He said: “Exports across the world have bounced back strongly coming out of the pandemic, yet the UK is the only country tracked by the CPB where goods exports remain below the 2010 average. As a result, the UK has become a less trade-intensive economy. Those are the facts. With no evident plan—the Prime Minister’s comments yesterday rather suggested complacency—can the Minister tell the House what steps the Government are taking urgently to address this and other export-related issues?”

Many in the Lords had issues with the new proposed Public Procurement standard 95009, which is meant to be a new, non-sector-specific standard for all procurement. Conservative Lord, Baroness Scott of Bybrook said “My Lords, the Government consider that the adoption of British Standard 95009 may place additional burdens and barriers on small businesses and the expertise of charities, public services, mutuals and social enterprises, as there is a cost to becoming fully accredited.”

In a Commons debate on Small Businesses Bids for Government Contracts, Jim Shannon, a DUP MP for Strangford, asked: “In my Strangford constituency and across Northern Ireland, we have large numbers of small and medium-sized businesses, with excellent people and entrepreneurs with talent and ability. What can be done to enable such businesses in Northern Ireland to obtain Government contracts and reinforce the fact that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is always better together?”

To which Steve Barclay, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, replied “There is around £250 billion-worth of public procurement and around £50 billion-worth of central Government public procurement, and I am extremely keen that SMEs in Northern Ireland are able to get visibility of that pipeline, so that we can tap into the talent and entrepreneurial spirit of which the hon. Gentleman speaks.”