Buck Up

Friday, 19 July 2019

Dear <<First Name>>,

On Tuesday we will know whether the next Prime Minister is Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt. Theresa May will undertake her last Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, then pop over to Buckingham Palace to resign to the Queen as Prime Minister.

It will be the end of an era; a relatively short one at just three years, though it feels longer.

What a Relief!
Coadec has a report out on improving the R&D tax credit. Among other things, it recommends widening the scope of the tax break to the use of data sets, cloud service costs, and UI/UX development work. If you're an entrepreneur and don't claim R&D tax relief, you might want to look into it. And if you have any feedback on the report or the relief, let me know as we're meeting Coadec soon to explore some of the ideas in the report.

Be Civil
Our good friends at Nesta have asked us to share their Tech to Connect Challenge. They are looking to help civil society develop early stage ideas for tech that enables more or better interactions between people.

The aim of the Tech to Connect Challenge is to draw out and help develop ideas enabling civil society to combat social isolation using technology. The Challenge prize will help finalists develop their ideas into working prototypes and plan for their implementation. The £1 million prize will be split into £500,000 of business support from Nesta Challenges with the other £500,000 in financial support. Find out more here.

Foot Down
The Accelerator Academy is open for applications. Chaired by Adviser to The Entrepreneurs Network Ian Merricks, it's an established 12-week part-time programme specifically designed for domain experts looking to grow their business through training, mentoring and access to capital. Applications for the 24th Semester are now open and close on August 27th. If you're a startup in your first year of trading and looking to raise £150,000 to £1 million of equity investment you can find out more. Find out more here.

Our Next Event

The Entrepreneurs Network, NatWest and Aston Business School would like to you to the launch of the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). The GEM is the world’s most authoritative study of entrepreneurial activity and has been running since 1999.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor UK Report Launch
31 July 2019
8am to 10:30am
Free
NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator, Regents House, London
RSVP

The UK GEM will reflect and compare the entrepreneurial attitudes, activity and aspirations in the UK, France, Germany and the United States from 2018. It will also compare results from the countries within the UK.

At this event you will:

Hear from Professor Mark Hart about the latest survey data on entrepreneurial aspirations and attitudes in the UK, and how they compare with France, Germany and the United States.

Get an entrepreneur's perspective from the founder of one of the UK's fastest-growing companies (tbc)

Network with other entrepreneurs and experts from the UK's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

News and Views

Some more press coverage for Job Creators – our immigrant founders report...
... Me for Forbes...
... Blythe Edwards for CapX...
... and Bobby Hellard for ITPro

Sam Dumitriu writes for City AM’s entrepreneurs page on social mobility and lost Einsteins

A new BEIS report maps out the UK SME equity finance gaps by region

The belief that migrants 'take jobs' is common in places where there aren't many jobs – not places where there are more migrants

UK workers who lose jobs to AI will be retrained

From September 2019, suppliers with poor payment practices risk exclusion from bidding on public contracts worth £5m or more per annum ('in-scope contracts') – under the new standard, four-fifths of the government's Strategic Suppliers would be excluded

A range of organisations – including Coadec, TechUK, London First, Federation of Master Builders, and British Retail Consortium – have made a call for immigration reform

The Business Growth Fund has just passed the £2 billion-mark in total investments (Times paywall)

We have libraries that are under-utilised – why not revamp them as centres for women in business?

“Female founders need funding, not another voluntary code”, argues Enty co-founder Sophia Mateeva (FT paywall)

How tech could change the care sector (FT paywall)

The summer reads recommended by Stanford business school professors

Friends of the Network

SURVEYS

High Growth Small Business Report
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Have your say on this survey, which will feed into this highly influential report.

European Startup Monitor 2019
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The 2019 European Startup Monitor survey, where startup founders all across Europe give insights.

COMPETITION

Tata Varsity Pitch 2019
Deadline: 26 July 2019 (midday)
Prize: £15,000
Find out more
Tata Varsity Pitch 2019, powered by NACUE, is an annual, national early stage business pitching competition that celebrates the best businesses exploding out of colleges and universities across the UK.

EVENTS

Evening with VCs
24 July 2019
6pm to 8.30pm
WeWork Chancery Lane
£40 (+Vat)
Find out more
Meet VCs of your sector and learn what drives them to invest and how to secure their money.

How do I Start Using Social Media for Business?
25 July 2019
2pm to 5pm
British Library
£20
Find out more
This workshop will cover some of the key social media platforms, with tips on how to use them effectively to engage customers to increase sales and brand awareness.

Best Kept Secrets for Improving Cash Flow and Boosting Business Value
11 September 2019
9.45am to 12pm
Rise London, Old Street
Free
Find out more
Gain insight into what will really makes money in your business.