4
news opinion
This month, in a series of articles, we celebrate entrepreneurialism – the key ingredient in the UK recovery, and the most exciting aspect of business life ...
Entrepreneurialism is defined as the skill you need to start your own business.
An entrepreneur is someone who starts and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.
It’s the risk element that we all admire. The fact that someone is willing to put their house on the line, to remortgage, or use their life savings to create an enterprise and satisfy a dream.
It was interesting at a Roundtable discussion with entrepreneurs last month that the business founders didn’t start their companies to ’get
rich’ and earn a pile of money. They were driven instead by the desire to create a successful business, employing good people, and achieving something to be proud of.
Sometimes, an entrepreneur starts an organisation to prove a point, to show those who say “that won’t work, you’ll never make a success of it“, that they were wrong. Sometimes, the entrepreneur spots a gap in the market, and thinks “I could do that“.
Whether Women in Business award winners; business owners that we feature in our Southern Entrepreneurs series; or the leading figures that we profile in our special interviews – all are examples of successful business people heading up growing companies.
And there are encouraging signs that schools and colleges are realising that entrepreneurs can start young, and business enterprise is a skill that should be taught at an early age.
David Murray, Publisher
Business confidence continues to climb
The latest ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) has found that confidence in the region rose to an all-time high. At +41.7, the Index passes the previous record set in Q1 2014.
Companies in the South East have seen a healthy increase in profits over the past year, rising by 5.5% during the year. This has however been driven largely by domestic demand, with exports remaining flat. While the region has the lowest unemployment rate in the UK, at just 5.2%, the availability of non-management skills is now more of a challenge than a year ago.
Andrea Dunhill, ICAEW regional director for London and the South East, said: “It is great to see that confidence in the South East is bucking the national trend. However the imbalances in our economic recovery continue to persist – our exports remain weak, and finding skilled workers
is proving difficult. We look to the Bank of England and the Government to work harder to ensure that the recovery is placed on a broader footing before we see this optimism erode away.”
Ian Smart, London managing partner at Grant Thornton, commented: “The positivity from South East businesses is an encouraging sign, particularly as the region plays such a pivotal role in supporting wider UK trade links into the continent. As demand for British goods and services picks up abroad, this confidence should only increase and translate into tangible business opportunities for British companies. However, with the lowest level of unemployment in the UK, ensuring supply meets demand through a variety of job roles and skills sets could prove a slight challenge.”
Details:
www.icaew.com/bcm www.grant-thornton.co.uk www.cebr.com
We aim to make our clients stand out from the others
To see how we can help contact your local office or email
info@wilkinskennedy.com Wilkins Kennedy LLP
www.wilkinskennedy.com www.businessmag.co.uk 42252 WK Business Magazine ad
E.indd 1 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – OCTOBER 2014 12/11/2013 16:12
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68