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Entrepreneurial Britain: 1 in 4 people want to start a business

03/08/2012

By Daniel Hunter

Entrepreneurial Britain in the UK is thriving with 1 in 4 people (23%) wanting to start a business, new research from leading business software and services provider Sage has revealed.

At a time when inspiring budding entrepreneurs and creating an environment in which they can realise their ambitions is seen as critical to the UK’s economic recovery, Sage’s research has redrawn the map of Entrepreneurial Britain and challenged conventional wisdom.

The YouGov study suggests that the country’s current economic dependence on the South East will start to gravitate northwards. As over the next two years the North East will become the recognised home of UK start-ups, with Entrepreneurial Britain at its highest in the areas where people have choice about their future and careers, and are not restricted by a lack of job opportunities.

Entrepreneurial hot spots and not spots

It is not London that is cultivating tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, but cities such as Newcastle, Sunderland, Sheffield and Leeds where new businesses will be springing up. Of the one in 4 people that want to start a business, 7% will be doing so in the next two years, with the North East having the highest percentage of budding entrepreneurs (11%). Prospective startups in this region are driven overwhelmingly by the desire to do something they are passionate about full time (38%).

Would-be business owners in the North East are also motivated by wanting to make more money for themselves (18%) and wanting to have greater control over their working day by being their own boss (12%). Nationwide, the research revealed that lack of job opportunities as the principle motivator was at its lowest here at just 4% — less than half the national average (10%).

People in Yorkshire and the Humber region — the second most entrepreneurial area - echo... continued on page two >

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