Changing the late payment culture for SMEs

In the 10th edition of the Exploring Enterprise podcast series from the Enterprise Research Centre, Mark Hart is joined by Philip King, previously the Small Business Commissioner and responsible for advising small businesses on their trading relationships and Ant Persse, Chief Executive of Optimum Finance, a specialist invoice finance company  and newly established Saltare Technologies Limited, a… Read more

COVID-19 Press coverage for the ERC

The Business Desk : Social Enterprises vital to post COVID-19 recovery Financial Times: Starting a business in the midst of a pandemic The Times: Number of new companies set up this year is likely to break record The Times: How small businesses can get one over the big boys in Zoom revolution IPSE: IPSE sets out… Read more

How much entrepreneurial activity is there in rural areas?

Research by Serdal Ozusaglam, Stephen Roper and Neha Prashar using the data from the UK Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)  found there are higher levels in rural areas than in urban.  Entrepreneurial activity – creating and developing a new business – provides the opportunity for new wealth creation in a community and creates the potential for new employment. In… Read more

Entrepreneurial Behaviour and the COVID-19 Pandemic – A Collapse in Confidence or a Positive Response to Uncertainty?

Mark Hart, Deputy Director of the ERC and Professor of Small Business and Entrepreneurship at Aston Business School uses data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Annual Population Surveys to examine the impact COVID-19 has had on entrepreneurship in the UK. This blog highlights the work of a new project “Lifting the Lid on Enterprise Diversity & Growth… Read more

Why do Policymakers Need a Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) in the West Midlands?

Dr Meng Song, Aston University and  Professor Mark Hart, Deputy Director of the ERC and Professor of Small Business and Entrepreneurship at Aston Business School. authored a blog discussing  the need to examine the demographic characteristics and motivation of entrepreneurs to increase the understanding of people who create new businesses and to track them throughout their start-up journey… Read more

Do resilient entrepreneurs lead more resilient businesses?

In the context of recent events like the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit, the ability of a business to survive a crisis is of heightened interest to many, including business leaders, support agencies and policymakers.  Previous research examining the resilience of firms – their ability to survive adversity and potentially to emerge stronger – has considered… Read more

ESRC invests £11 million to tackle productivity puzzle

Researchers are closer to unravelling some of the complex reasons behind the UK’s stagnant productivity, thanks to a new £11 million research investment by the ESRC. The ERC team at University of Warwick are delighted to be leading one of the seven projects being funded: Mental health and well-being practices, outcomes and productivity: A causal… Read more

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2021/2022 report

Opportunity Amid Disruption The 23rd annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2021/2022 report, unveiled today at the Dubai Expo, measures entrepreneurial activity across 47 high, medium and low-income economies. Data is gathered via a survey of at least 2,000 respondents in each country who answer questions on their entrepreneurial activity, attitudes to enterprise and view of their… Read more

Enabling the Triple Transition in UK SMEs

Firms’ increasing use of digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic has been widely highlighted. At the same time, evidence of the growing climate crisis also points to the need for firms to move towards more sustainable, low carbon ways of operating. The implications of these digital and net zero transitions for firms’ productivity upgrading are… Read more