As reported 2 days ago, the newest government business initiative ‘StartUp Britain’ has been officially launched by Prime Minister David Cameron himself.
The intiative, which has been set up to encourage people to set up their own businesses, and offers them £1,500 worth of support in areas such as digital marketing, SEO and broadband costs has been met with a mixed response from business leaders however.
39 investors and venture capitalists told the daily telegraph that they believed the initiative is “a massive boost for start-ups and will help entrepreneurs to secure finance to get their ideas off the ground”. They also went on to say that “Britain is being positioned as a world-class place to launch new businesses,” they added.
Despite the glowing praise however, some are more sceptical about what a £1,500 grant can do when the harsh reality remains that 4 out of 5 new businesses fail. Mr Howard Graham from the business support consultancy made simple group claims that the scheme is nothing but ‘hype and nonsense’ and that very similar grants have been around for a long time, meaning this is not going to change anything.
The Forum of Private Business also contains a considerable degree of scepticism, with the chief executive Phil Orford saying “Whether it can genuinely provide the support entrepreneurs need to start and grow a business is highly questionable”.
Only time will tell whether this new initiative will actually provide Britain’s start up companies the boost they need, or whether this is all bark and very little bite from the government.
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