Public figures, business leaders and entrepreneurs debated the barriers that prevent British companies becoming world beaters at a summit in London on Friday.
The Duke of York, the prime minister's enterprise adviser Lord Young of Graffham and shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna were among speakers at The Future of Growth summit, which explored how fast-growing businesses can reach their full potential. It also looked at areas where Britain could achieve explosive growth.
Among the topics discussed was the need to equip individuals and businesses with digital skills. Umunna said research from Go On UK had found that one in five adults lacked basic online skills. "We've also got to help our businesses in that respect," he said. "The annual turnover of small businesses could rise by over £18bn if less digitally skilled firms went digital."
Prince Andrew explained how the Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA) was aimed at teaching young people digital skills and encouraging them to pursue their ideas "so they cannot only be employed in the digital world, but also become employers in the digital world".
He told the summit he did not think the next big digital entrepreneur would come from the top universities: "I think they will come from somewhere other than that."
Elizabeth Truss, children and families minister, spoke about the Your Life campaign, which encourages more young people into maths and science.
At the summit, held at Bloomberg's European headquarters in Finsbury Square, delegates considered the structures and attitudes that could be holding British businesses back. Lord Bilimoria, a crossbench peer and Cobra Beer founder, said: "Our taxes are still too high but on the whole we've got it pretty good. What we lack is a global outlook. Our entrepreneurs need to be more confident."
Speakers debated whether government policies are too focused on starting up rather than scaling up and whether entrepreneurs are selling their businesses too soon.
Rohan Silva, co-founder of Second Home, an office space for creative businesses near Brick Lane in east London, said: "Entrepreneur relief changes at £10m, prompting entrepreneurs to sell earlier than they should."
The difficulties faced by small companies in hiring talented staff were also discussed. Emily Brooke, founder of Blaze, which sells cycling products, said: "Hiring is still a huge challenge – getting talented people to work for a small company." She said that while she knows people in the City who are bored with their jobs, "once they've got that fantastic salary it's hard to step off the corporate ladder".
The summit marked the launch of Growth Britannia, a report which charts ideas for growth. One hundred leading business figures took part in round-table discussions and their opinions are contained in the report.
Nick Giles, co-founder of the campaigning communications agency Seven Hills, which organised the summit, concludes: "Britain has what it takes to have world beaters and that was evident in the conversations we had."
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