The second lockdown risks an insolvency tsunami
Thousands of businesses across England will remain shuttered today as the new month-long coronavirus lockdown takes effect. Citing new scientific evidence showing an expected surge in cases nationwide over the coming weeks, the Government finally bowed to pressure and abandoned its previous regional tiering strategy last weekend. Critics argue that a sharp ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown… Read more
Diagnosing COVID-19 Impacts on Entrepreneurship – Exploring Policy Remedies for Recovery
The impact of policy decisions can play an important role in entrepreneurial success. A new GEM report: “Diagnosing COVID-19 Impacts on Entrepreneurship – Exploring Policy Remedies for Recovery”, sponsored by Shopify, features over 50 GEM research teams around the world sharing how their government’s response to COVID-19 compared to previous crises and the entrepreneurship policy… Read more
Is small lending too big to fail? Covid-19 and P2P lending to SMEs
Over the last decade, the landscape of SME finance has changed dramatically. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, while traditional bank lending experienced a sluggish recovery, a new model of online marketplace (P2P) business lending emerged. Funding Circle, started in 2010, was the world’s first P2P platform to fund business loans and seemed to… Read more
ERC Conference 2019 – Strengthening Sectors
On the 27th June the ERC welcomed over 100 delegates to The Shard for the 6th State of Small Business Britain Conference, which this year focused on the topical theme of ‘Strengthening Sectors’. The conference, which was chaired this year by Professor Nola Hewitt-Dundas of Queens University Belfast, covered a wide range of issues relating… Read more
Sharing is the best strategy for small firm productivity
We know that the UK has a ‘long-tail’ of low productivity firms. The ability of these firms to increase their productivity has become a considerable concern for policymakers and is the subject of the Government’s soon to be published Business Productivity Review. It is now recognised that one of the keys to raising productivity within… Read more
Aiming high on R&D – Is the UK’s 2.4 % target achievable?
ONS figures published this week suggest that the UK spent 1.67 per cent of GDP on R&D in 2016 ranking the UK 11th in the EU. These latest figures put the UK well adrift of the ambitious target of 2.4 per cent R&D spending spelt out in the Industrial Strategy. So, is the 2.4 per… Read more
How can we drive better innovation and productivity in UK SMEs?
ERC Roundtable at the 2017 Conservative Party Conference. The Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) hosted a private roundtable at the 2017 Conservative Party conference in Manchester, focusing on the theme of driving better innovation and productivity in UK SMEs. The discussion was particularly timely given that innovation has been placed at the heart of the Government’s… Read more
ERC Annual State of Small Business Britain Conference, 2017 – ‘Driving Innovation and Growth’
The Enterprise Research Centre invites you to the 4th State of Small Business Britain Conference, which will take place at The Shard, London.
Welcoming a mix of delegates from the worlds of policy, research and business, this year the conference will focus on the theme of ‘driving innovation and growth’. We will be presenting new findings from ERC research, alongside presentations and discussions from a set of high profile external speakers.
The day will focus on the important question of how the UK could become a more innovative economy, and the best ways of promoting SME growth through innovation.
Brexit for business?
Whether you regard today as a ‘new dawn’ or a ‘national tragedy’ short-term economic uncertainty is on the cards for us all. This is perhaps today’s only certainty. How effectively the UK can manage this uncertainty and then capitalise on the opportunities of life outside the EU will be crucial for future growth. In the… Read more
