Brown: Business Start Up Fund and enterprise training can reverse Scotland’s entrepreneurial decline

The latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor shows that fewer people are likely to set up in business in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK.

Rates of entrepreneurial activity north of the Border stop growing beyond the age of 29. Fewer people in Scotland who are in their 30s are likely to have their own business, in contrast with the rest of the UK.

Gavin Brown MSP, Scottish Conservative Economy Spokesperson, said:

"These findings are worrying. The Hunter Foundation is to be congratulated for laying bare the full scale of Scotland's lack of entrepreneurial flair.

"Scottish Conservatives have always valued the vital contribution of entrepreneurs and small business to our economy. That's why in the most recent budget we secured £10m for business start ups, job creation and exporting which was part of a package which will create over 10,000 jobs. But we can do more.

"That is why Scottish Conservatives are stepping up calls for a Scottish Business Start Up Fund to support individuals access enterprise education, vocational training, and to provide grants and loans to assist in the creation of new businesses.

"We are also committed to delivering a step change in enterprise education in Scotland. Research from the Hunter Centre suggests that enterprise education doubles the likelihood of an individual becoming an entrepreneur. We want to make it compulsory to offer enterprise training at all colleges and universities, in partnership with local businesses.

"Scotland must put its faith in our entrepreneurs so we nurture new businesses, design new products and create new jobs. The only way to move Scotland forward is to grow the private sector. That is where the jobs of the future will come from and that is what we are committed to."

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