Unlocking Opportunity

This report by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) draws on research from the Enterprise Research Centre and Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME) at Aston Business School to provide new insights on the important contribution of, and specific barriers faced by, ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the UK.

Drawing on the latest available data, it finds that the 250,000 ethnic minority businesses (EMBs) make a £25bn contribution to UK Gross Value Added per year. Furthermore, EMBs are more likely to be exporters and to be engaged in product or service innovation than the general business population.

Nevertheless, it also highlights how EMBs are more likely to see a disconnect between entrepreneurial intention and ambition and reported growth rates, compounded by a lack of tailored support and access to external finance. The report makes a series of recommendations for addressing these challenges in the post-Covid-19 recovery period.

The report Unlocking opportunity – the value of ethnic minority firms to the UK economic activity and enterprise can be read here