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| news > INNOVATIVE ENTREPRENEURS LEAD FAST GROWTH AND JOB CREATION IN UK'S POOREST POSTCODES | 03/12/2003 | |
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INNOVATIVE ENTREPRENEURS LEAD FAST GROWTH AND JOB CREATION IN UK'S POOREST POSTCODES
The companies, whose average growth rate over the past five years is a remarkable 575 per cent, are based in the most deprived wards in the UK. In the same period, they have increased their workforces by an average 300 per cent, creating 5,417 new jobs. A nef project supported by The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest, Inner City 100 is the only index of the fastest growing businesses in Britain's most deprived inner city areas. The inaugural Inner City 100, dubbed the 'Enterprise Oscars' by Chancellor Gordon Brown marked a turning point in understanding the economic potential in the UK's distressed urban areas, revealing how innovative entrepreneurs and local workforces are leading the regeneration of Britain's inner cities. The firms, who have on average been in business for ten years and been at their current inner city address for five and a half years, are overwhelmingly positive about their inner city location. 83 per cent rate it as a good or excellent place to do business, and 63 per cent rate their area as having improved over the last five years. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Honourable Gordon Brown said: “The Inner City 100 is helping to create a more dynamic, innovative and enterprising Britain. For far too long, the image of enterprise in this country has been of a closed circle with millions left out. “But I believe that there should be no no-go areas for enterprise culture, and that the British economy will do best when men and women from the nation’s high, as well as low, unemployment communities - and from all social backgrounds - have confidence that they can transform their ideas and hopes into business start ups and growing firms, building an enterprise culture genuinely open to all.” The firms that make up the 2003 Index are highly diverse from a broad range of sectors, and do not match typical expectations of either high growth firms or those based in deprived inner city areas. The Inner City 100 companies include a laser eye specialist, marketing and design companies, scientific manufacturing, a clinical research firm, a drama based training provider, and a hydroponics manufacturer. A fair trade food manufacturer sits in fifth place, and the list includes seven social enterprises. The firms demonstrate clearly that fast growth and profitability are highly compatible with social and environmental concerns. As major international firms grapple with pressures to appear to be more 'socially responsible', almost all of the Inner City 100 - 96 per cent - are engaged with their community in one or more ways, from mentoring other entrepreneurs or at-risk youth and involvement in local environmental initiatives to allowing community groups to use company resources. Many of the firms employ a wholly or largely local workforce, for whom the average hourly wage for waged workers is well above the national minimum at £5.70. Stewart Wallis, Director of nef, said: "The amazing creation by these companies of over 5000 jobs in five years combined with their high levels of community involvement demonstrates so clearly that successful entrepreneurship is key to inner city renewal. " Fred Goodwin, Group Chief Executive, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group said:"The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is the leading lender to businesses in the postcodes covered by The Inner City 100, our most deprived inner city areas. We have been delighted to partner with the New Economics Foundation in recognising the success of these businesses and to promote debate on how we stimulate even more enterprise in these important areas. |
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