Startup Britain
StartUp Britain is a national campaign by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, harnessing the expertise of Britain’s leading businesspeople to encourage enterprise in the UK.
The campaign was founded by eight entrepreneurs and launched on 28 March 2011 by Prime Minister David Cameron,[1] with the support of the Chancellor and HM Government, although it is completely funded by private-sector sponsors.
Founding Members
StartUp Britain was launched on 28 March 2011, founded by 8 successful entrepreneurs:
- Duncan Cheatle, The Supper Club
- Emma Jones, Enterprise Nation
- James Murray Wells, Glasses Direct and Hearing Direct
- Lara Morgan, Company Shortcut
- Michael Hayman, Seven Hills
- Oli Barrett, Co-sponsorship Agency
- Rajeeb Dey, Enternships.com
- Richard O’Connor, Chocolate and Love
History
StartUp Britain campaign has international links and was welcomed by the White House. It has forged strong links with StartUp America[2] and has inspired new initiatives around the world including StartUp Italia and StartUp Greece.
Since launch, StartUp Britain has successfully pioneered a range of initiatives that have not only helped raise national entrepreneurial spirits but also created many opportunities for small businesses all over the UK.
StartUp Tour
The annual Summer Bus Tour has visited more than 60 towns and cities. More than 25000 aspiring entrepreneurs boarded the bus each year and received expert advices and talks with PayPal, BT Business and Intuit, discovering what national initiatives are available to support their ideas and make useful connections to help start or grow their businesses.
StartUp Events
The annual Finance, Tech and Marketing Weeks are free events that attracted Britain’s top self-starters and experts in various fields and industries to share their early experiences. In addition, our one-day events such as StartUp Food, StartUp Fashion and StartUp Entertainment provide useful and specific information on how to succeed in each of these industries. Over three years, these events saw 3250 attendees.
StartUp Local
StartUp Britain has over 100 StartUp Local champions running local StartUp Campaigns across the country, supporting local self-starters.
PitchUp
StartUp Britain encouraged corporates to open their doors to fledgling businesses via its PitchUp initiative which gave start-ups the chance to pitch their products to high street brands such as John Lewis and Sainsbury’s. Four pitching events have resulted in seven new brands stocked in high street retailers, with more in the pipeline.
PopUp
PopUp Britain launched the high street careers of more than 350 of Britain’s future high street entrepreneurs via 12 empty shops and is set to continue that pioneering work separately with the Association of Town & City Management (ATCM) while still operating as a not-for-profit organisation to help new retailers.
Mentoring
Over 1600 hours of mentoring have been matched to young startups. The mentees estimate they will create a total of over 550 new jobs in one year as a result of their mentoring. 85% believed that the mentoring they received will help them grow their business faster.
Centre for Entrepreneurs
After 3 years, StartUp Britain was acquired in March 2014 by the Centre for Entrepreneurs founded by Luke Johnson. StartUp Britain continues to be run as an autonomous initiative and remains separate from the central CFE activity, but will partake in joint reports, activities and research to help shape and inform policy with the CFE.
Supporting companies
Full list of companies that have supported the campaign since its launch:
- Alibaba
- AXA
- Barclays
- Bitsy
- BlackBerry
- Brightword Publishing
- Browser Creative
- Co-Sponsorship Agency
- Coutts
- Deloitte
- eBay
- eConsultancy
- Enterprise Nation
- Enternships
- EY
- Euro RSCG
- Experian
- Fujitsu
- GlassesDirect.com
- Global Entrepreneurship Week
- Gloople
- GoResponse
- GoToMeeting
- HP
- HSBC
- Intel
- Instant Offices
- Irwin Mitchell
- King & Allen
- KPMG
- Lloyds TSB
- MADE Festival
- McKinsey
- Microsoft
- MOO.COM
- Mother
- MyKindaCrowd
- O2
- PayPal
- PayPoint
- Powa
- Powwownow
- PWC
- Reed
- Regus
- RBS
- Santander
- Seko Synergy
- Seven Hills
- Sign Up To
- Simply Business
- Standard Chartered
- Staples
- The Supper Club
- UnLtd
- Virgin Media
- Virgin Trains
- Vistaprint
- WorldFirst
- Yell
- Yo! Sushi
References
- ↑ "BBC News - David Cameron: Now is time to start business". Bbc.co.uk. 2011-03-28. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
- ↑ "Unveiling StartUp Britain". Startup America Partnership. 2011-03-27. Retrieved 2013-09-21.