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State of Small Business Britain 2017

On the 7th September the ERC welcomed over 100 delegates to The Shard for the fourth State of Small Business Britain Conference, with a focus on the theme ‘Driving Innovation and Growth’. This year’s theme was particularly timely, as innovation has been identified as one of the ten strategic pillars to drive growth and productivity… Read more

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Innovation and productivity: How strong is the connection?

Innovation and productivity: How strong is the connection? ‘Innovation’ is a much used (and abused) term employed to describe everything from flea collars for dogs[1] to electric cars. As a result, measuring innovation can be tricky, particularly in service sectors where firms’ relationships to customers are often individual and bespoke. Fortunately, the kind people at… Read more

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Innovation policy: Driving equity or driving inequality?

Innovation policy: Driving equity or driving inequality? The need to boost levels of innovation in the UK is at the heart of the recent Green Paper on Industrial Strategy, and few would argue with the general proposition that innovation is good for growth. New products, new services and new ways of doing business help firms… Read more