The north tops the south of England in young, entrepreneurial spirit, a new survey of soon-to-be school leavers and undergraduates says.
A quarter of all students surveyed in the north of the country expressed a desire to become their own boss sooner, rather than later, in their careers, as opposed to students in the south who were looking to more traditional careers, Panasonic found.
Coinciding with these findings, the country's first purpose-built academy opened in the north in Knowsley last week in an effort to equip young people with the tools and knowledge to run their own business.
The Knowsley Youth Enterprise Academy is a £1.2 million facility which operates on three levels, firstly acting as an incubating centre for small businesses run by young people up to the age of 25.
The Academy also offers accommodation for small firms on easy-in and easy-out terms, allowing young people to run their business with less financial risk. The final level is to forge ties with schools to promote the academy and small business growth.
"It is in everyone's interest to promote entrepreneurialism as a career choice to people of all ages," said Bob Tate, head of Business Systems at Panasonic. "For every small business that starts up there's a real chance it could be the next big brand."
The Panasonic survey also asked respondents to name their most inspirational entrepreneurs, which again placed Richard Branson on top but showed Jamie Oliver closing in on the poll stalwart thanks to his successful school dinners campaign and Fifteen enterprise.
Bill Gates, British designer James Dyson, Bob Geldof, EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou and Simon Cowell followed.
