The future of UK enterprise is looking bright, after new government findings revealed growing entrepreneurial ambition among young people.
The Household Survey of Entrepreneurship, carried out by the government’s Small Business Service (SBS), found that the number of 16-24 year olds planning to become entrepreneurs has increased from 15% in 2003 to 18% in 2005.
There has also been a 2% rise in 16-24 years already involved in their own ventures, with 6% being entrepreneurially active.
The Department of Trade and Industry, which formed the SBS to encourage enterprise in the UK, said that the increasingly positive responses to entrepreneurism are due to “the success of initiatives such as Enterprise Week and the fact that a higher proportion of young people are now receiving enterprise training.”
However, because a high proportion of young people are in full time education, the DTI says that it will take time before this begins to feed through fully into statistical improvements.
This is backed up by further data from the survey which indicates that 20% of 16-24 year olds who have received any form of enterprise training are considering entrepreneurship, compared to only 15% of those who have not.
The findings also revealed that there has also been an increase of nearly 2% in the number of women considering entrepreneurship since 2003, which translates into a quarter of a million potential female entrepreneurs.
Overall, the survey concluded that the level of entrepreneurial activity in 2005 has remained constant compared to 2003, with 13% of the working-age population of England being self-employed or business owners.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2006
