Darren Walker, incoming chair of Birmingham Future (10 August, 2010-2011) and associate at Cobbetts LLP, explains why entrepreneurship is so important for the economic future of Birmingham.
Earlier this year, there was great excitement in the city as we ranked top in the European Cities Entrepreneurship Ranking (ECER) survey.
Birmingham was the highest placed UK city for supporting business ideas in the pre-creation phase (25th overall in Europe) and the post-creation stage (17th overall). It was also the top European city for communicating opportunities for enterprise – conferences, websites, media, etc. This follows on from an 11% rise business start-ups in the West Midlands in 2007, as compared with 2006 – Barclays Local Business figures – and further increases in 2008.
Additionally, in their 2007 ‘Britain at a Glance’ summary, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) stated that, of the 1.6 million VAT-registered enterprises in the UK, over 94% employ fewer than 20 staff. These figures alone should highlight just how important entrepreneurship, enterprise and SMEs are to the future of the Birmingham economy. But, are we doing enough to support start-ups in the region? And, what impact will the cuts to AWM and Business Link have on the entrepreneurs in Birmingham?
Recognising entrepreneurial leaders
Successful entrepreneurs, by their nature, stand out in business. Often, their inspiring stories feature success over adversity, staggering business achievements, and personal strength from a young age. The skills needed to succeed on your own, outside of the corporate embrace, can be very different from other people operating in the business and professional services (BPS) sector.
That’s why, back in 2006, we introduced the ‘Entrepreneurial’ category to the annual Birmingham Young Professional of the Year (BYPY) Awards. These awards, which celebrated their 10th anniversary earlier this year, recognise the most talented individuals – and aspiring leaders – within the Birmingham BPS community. Over the last four years, we’ve had a steady increase in the number (and quality) of entrants to the entrepreneurial category and, earlier this year, saw our first overall BYPY winner drawn from that category – James Villareal of Glide Utilities.
On Monday, 2nd August, James will speak to a full house over lunch at Piccolinos in Brindleyplace about his experiences of entrepreneurship, the role of Birmingham in promoting entrepreneurs and his journey to date. Aged just 24, James is the co-founder and CEO of Glide Utilities Ltd, which he established in 2006 with a university friend after securing investment - £1/2 million – from some of the city’s biggest businesses. He is also a committee member of the Young Directors Forum and a board member of Young Enterprise.
What impact will the public sector spending cuts have on entrepreneurs?
At a recent Birmingham Future panel debate, the impact of public sector spending cuts on innovation and business start-ups was high on the agenda.
In the past, those with business ideas could approach services such as Business Link or Connect Midlands for advice and access to finance. Dr David Hardman MBE, of Birmingham Science Park Aston, suggests that around 40% of businesses set up in recent years were financed by the public sector.
Under the new government regime and, in the current economic climate, it is inevitable that public sector funding for business start-ups will become harder to get hold of and entrepreneurs will struggle if the private sector is unable to fill the vacuum.
Birmingham Future’s role
As I take over the role of chair of Birmingham Future, I am keen to harness the varied skills within our membership to assist Birmingham’s entrepreneurs in the early stages of their business ventures.
Over the coming year – and beyond – Birmingham Future will be working with entrepreneurs in Birmingham and looking to support initiatives such as Birmingham Science Park Aston, their Entrepreneurs for the Future scheme (E4F) and the Birmingham Skills for Enterprise and Employability Network (BSEEN) programme – funded by Be Birmingham/Birmingham City Council and delivered in partnership with Aston University, Birmingham City University and the University of Birmingham.
We’ll also look to engage with groups such as the Young Directors Forum, Institute of Directors, Advantage Business Angels and www.inafishbowl.com.
The objective?
To support these business ideas from the outset, to help them survive and thrive, and to boost the West Midland business economy – good for Birmingham, good for business, and good for our members.
I also think our membership can learn a lot from the city’s entrepreneurs. We’ll be giving our members the tools to take an entrepreneurial approach within their own businesses. We’re working on a programme of events for the year which will support members to develop their skills in idea generation, leadership and relationship building.
By no means are we advocating a rush of business start-ups from the BPS community; however, there is evidence to show that those individuals and businesses which apply an innovative, creative or entrepreneurial approach to their way of thinking reap greater rewards as they develop new services, revenue streams and value add for their clients.
By encouraging an ‘intrapreneurial’ spirit amongst the future business leaders of Birmingham’s professional community we can further enhance our strong service offering and encourage further investment into the city.
Entrepreneurship in action
On Tuesday 10th August, we will be welcoming to Birmingham the entrepreneur and top 30 European business woman, Julie Meyer of Ariadne Capital. Julie, who appears in the online version of BBC’s Dragon’s Den, is also co-founder of networking groups First Tuesday and Entrepreneur Country.
As an entrepreneur herself, and keen supporter of others, Julie is the perfect speaker to kick start this year of entrepreneurship. She will argue that “the future of the UK will be driven by how seriously we take our young people’s entrepreneurial ambitions” and that the “belt-tightening exercise in the UK” is actually a “process of creative destruction – the dinosaurs will die, new animals will emerge, evolution goes on.”
The Birmingham Future AGM and speaker dinner with Julie Meyer, which is being sponsored by law firm Mills & Reeve LLP, will take place at the Crowne Plaza on Tuesday 10th August. Tickets, priced at just £25 +VAT, are available from Claire Hawkins – Claire@birminghamforward.co.uk / 0121 632 2209.
The Times 100 suggests up to one in three business start-ups fails in the first three years. With the support of the BPS community through Birmingham Future at the early stages, I would hope we can help this failure rate is likely to go down. And, these start-ups today may be the multi-billion pound businesses – and our members’ clients – of Birmingham’s future.
For further details of Birmingham Future, visit the website at www.birminghamfuture.co.uk.
Photo: Darren Walker, Chair of Birmingham Future
