Government funds used for business support schemes should be redistributed into tax credits for angels and family investors, Doug Richard has said.
The former dragon and founder of School for Startups, has announced a series of proposals for encouraging enterprise in his Entrepreneurs Manifesto, which claims the UK is being held back from economic recovery by regulatory burden.
Richard said: “We are a nation that has everything it needs to capitalise on the opportunities of the 21st century. However the government must unshackle the only means of increasing wealth and social mobility: the entrepreneurial culture.”
Richard said the time it takes to create a new business must be cut, regulation must be streamlined and the smallest businesses should be exempt from ‘many of the regulations entirely’.
He also called for credits and exemptions that encourage family, friends and communities to invest in entrepreneurs and small businesses, as well as a guarantee from government that a portion of its procurement budget will be set aside for small firms.
“We need to champion the pivotal place in society of entrepreneurs and the potential of social enterprise as a pathfinder out of recession,” he added.
“We must deliver the economic freedom for those that take on the risk of starting a new business.”
The full Entrepreneurs Manifesto can be read on the School for Startups site.
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