Make a Job, Don't Take a Job

Common sense should tell us that printing our way out of economic trouble is not the long-term solution and that effectively, as declared last year by David Cameron,  ' we need to support the doers and grafters, the inventors and entrepreneurs' .

Last year's research commissioned to mark Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010  identified three key barriers that must to be addressed if the UK is to kick-start the badly needed 'entrepreneurial decade' that will help get our economy back on track.

The first barrier is ambition. 50% of the UK's population want to start a business but only 5.8% make the actual leap. In a global context this compares to 15% in Brazil and 19% in China.

The second barrier is demographics - an increase of 1%, less than 300, 000 entrepreneurs, would boost the UK's GDP by 1.5% or c £22bn.

The third barrier is skills. Enterprise education, which is currently excluded from our main education system, doubles the chances of business success.

The Industrial Revolution produced some of the most successful entrepreneurs and innovators in history. These individuals were single minded, purposeful and passionate. Characteristics that are as relevant today as they were two centuries ago.

SS Robin, the world's oldest complete steamship is a survivor and symbol of an extraordinary period in British history when merchant shipping was the core of this determined spirit of entrepreneurship - the workshop of the world.

Using the stories of economic growth and the hard graft of C19th seafarers, SS Robin, in her new life , will continue to support London's economy as a centre dedicated to supporting risk takers and  entrepreneurs of the future.

For more information visit www.ssrobin.org

Source [Global Entrepreneurship Week UK]