On 22nd February 2024 we held an ERC Research Showcase event at Aston University’s Enterprise Hub at John Cadbury House. As usual we had a varied agenda, with the ERC team reporting on a selection of the research projects recently published and currently in progress. We covered a range of themes: Mark Hart… Read more
25 Years and Growing The United Kingdom’s score in the National Entrepreneurial Context Index (NECI) continues to fall, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2023/2024 Report, released today in Morocco. As part of the research, national experts in the UK were asked to assess the country’s Entrepreneurship Framework Conditions (EFCs). These assessments are the… Read more
The ERC’s latest State of Small Business Britain report has now been published. This year, to mark our 10-year anniversary, we’ve drawn together the insights from a decade of research on small business growth and productivity. We have used this to produce a manifesto for small business growth and productivity. You can access the report,… Read more
NICRE’s State of Rural Enterprise Report The rural economy post-pandemic: opportunities and barriers for business growth calls for continued improvements in infrastructure in rural areas. Businesses in rural areas perceive new opportunities for growth but long-standing challenges such as affordable housing, transport and broadband capacity are hampering take-up, according to a major new survey from the National… Read more
The Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) and the Centre for Business Prosperity (CBP) at Aston University were commissioned by the Scottish Government to undertake the evaluation of Scotland’s export promotion support provided by its delivery partners. The Scottish Government provides funding to delivery partners to deliver the customer facing export promotion support and services offered to… Read more
Environmental considerations play a critical role in rural businesses’ decision-making, however, barriers exist which prevent them from fully transitioning to net zero, according to a major new survey from the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE). Four out of ten rural businesses ‘always’ consider the environment when making decisions with 57% taking action to… Read more
The opening plenary at the ISBE conference started with a welcome by the Aston University VC Aleks Subic and the West Midlands Mayor Andy Street. Mark Hart then chaired the opening plenary which started with a fireside chat with Richard Harpin (Founder & Chairman at HomeServe and Growth Partner) exploring his views on building a… Read more
Rising costs are causing serious and widespread problems for rural businesses in parts of England which is curtailing their ability to invest and grow, according to a major new survey from the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE). Two-thirds of rural firms in the North East, South West and West Midlands – increasing to… Read more
The Department for Business and Trade and the ERC co-hosted an event at The Shard on 16th November to showcase new findings and analysis of the Longitudinal Small Business Survey. The event began with an overview of the key findings from the 2022 survey, followed by some headlines from the latest panel report which reports… Read more
A new charter aiming to support entrepreneurs of all backgrounds to start or grow their business is being launched by the University of Nottingham. The charter, aiming to minimise barriers to entrepreneurship for underserved and under-represented groups through creation of a more inclusive ecosystem, was launched nationally today, at the Shard in London, by the University… Read more
