Supporting Micro-enterprise Growth: Ambition, Family and Finance
May 7, 2014 09:00 - May 7, 2014 12:00
Most businesses start small. Most also stay small, but some driven by ambitious micro-entrepreneurs grow rapidly. What shapes individuals’ growth ambitions? How do family and household factors influence ambition and micro-enterprise growth?
What other drivers might enhance growth at this level?
Finance too is crucial if micro-enterprises are to grow. What are the real barriers to accessing finance? Do we need greater product innovation to meet changing finance needs of micro start-ups? This roundtable organised jointly by the Community Development Finance Association (CDFA) and Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) aims to explore these issues as a prelude to a more in-depth research study.
Speakers from each organisation will summarize the latest research and policy developments. As part of the workshop we are also keen to hear perspectives from micro-entrepreneurs themselves, those involved in supporting micro-businesses and the research community.
Speakers
Sara Carter
Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Social Sciences
Stephen Roper
Director - ERC
Stephen Roper is Professor of Enterprise at Warwick Business School, Director of the Enterprise Research Centre - ERC (www.enterpriseresearch.ac.uk) and Co-Director of the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE)
Samuel Mwaura
Research Fellow
Karen Bonner
Senior Economist
Karen is a senior economist at Ulster University’s Economic Policy Centre and also works with the ERC on projects relating to entrepreneurship, business demography and innovation. She is involved primarily in firm-level economic research utilising micro-data to examine aspects of firm performance in both Northern Ireland and the UK. Karen works with ERC members to produce the UK Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Other recent projects include those for BEIS, DfE, and Scottish Enterprise. Previously she worked as a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Ben Hughes
Chief Executive
Since joining the CDFA in 2011, Ben has played a pivotal role in bringing community finance to the attention of policy makers, investors and thought leaders. Ben has secured over £72m of funding for members to lend to small, micro and social enterprises, has initiated a landmark bank to CDFI referral scheme, helped to establish a performance framework for the sector and was a key player in the formation of the Community Investment Coalition, a new national partnership focused on campaigning for fair finance.
Before joining the CDFA, Ben gained over twenty years of experience in the community sector, managing an advice agency and becoming CEO of the social action membership network, Bassac.
Jonathan Girling
Operations Director, East London Small Business Centre
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