This week sees the 6 month anniversary of the launch of the Business Bootcamp programme and to mark the occasion we have again the Mayor of London- Boris Johnson- coming to lend his support at the Green Technology Business Bootcamp at Kingston University http://capitalenterprise.org/event-details/?eid=81

Since the kick off in April, Capital Enterprise University members have organised and delivered 12 RBS sponsored business bootcamps’ for new and early stage entrepreneurs who are seeking to start or grow a business in sectors as diverse as Bio-tech, Fashion, Film & TV, Mobile, Creative Design, Professional Services, Theatre Production and Restaurants.  Running alongside these bootcamps have been 8 free of charge business bootcamp extra workshops delivered by experts and entrepreneurs on the theme of financing a high growth new business. We are happy to report that so far:

345 entrepreneurs have attended a 2 or 5-day business bootcamp.

402 entrepreneurs have attended a Business Bootcamp Extra event

The feedback from those who have attended has also been better than expected with the average score out of 5 given by attendees when asked to rank the value of the bootcamp being 4.2.

We have also have the testimonies of scores of entrepreneurs who through the business bootcamp have been able to start a growth business, launch a new product, raise significant amounts of business angel funds, win awards and secure large new orders.

So now we know it works how are we going to make the Business Bootcamp programme grow? Well our plans is to:

1. Stage more Busness Bootcamps. We intend to run a further 18 Business Bootcamps over the next 9 months some of them repeats of past bootcamps but also new ones such as Bricks & Clicks, Social Enterprise revolution, Licence to Profit.
2. Raise our profile. We have just hired the PR agency Matter & Co ( Add link) to shout about our achievements in the press so hopefully enticing more entrepreneurs to check us out.
3. Launch a business Bootcamp network club with it’s own meet-up events (to be help once a month at the 02 centre in Tottenham Court Road), its own link-in group, newsletter, blog‘s from entrepreneurs and exclusive offers. The club membership will be free to all those who have attended a bootcamp but also open to anyone seeking to start a high growth business in London.
4. Improve the “Open Innovation” aspect of the programmes by running a series of the BB extra workshops that encourage and support development collaborations between new businesses and large corporations and universities. Also we intend to  “open” our resources, facilities and know-how to organisations and individuals looking to run their own bootcamp event for high growth start-ups. If you are interested, and have a good idea for a bootcamp or bootcamp extra event, then please let us know.

Now on the whole both Capital Enterprise and our sponsors are very happy with our progress to date but more can be done especially on the tricky question of how to make the Business Bootcamps self-financing once the generous RBS sponsorship ends in June next year.

In the meantime, please feel free to check out the website http://www.thebusinessbootcamp.org I know it is a bit clunky at present but we are planning to re-launch an improved version later this month.

Finally, I will take this opportunity to issue an open invitation to London’s entrepreneurs to join me, our team, our members and Boris Johnson at Kingston University this Thursday.

As the economies of the Western world teeter on the brink of a double dip recession and as the plaintiff cry “Where will growth come from” is raised again and again in the media it is probably a good time to look again at the humble British SME and to see who in London is growing and why?

To this end NESTA has recently published report on the geography of growth to find out who are the growing firms and where are they located. A previous report from NESTA identified that growing firms (defined as SME’s with more than 10 employees who have grown more than 20% per annum over the previous three years) accounted for the vast majority of new jobs created in the UK economy. The latest report found that between 2007-10 there were:

 • 887,000 SME in London that survived the three year period 2007-10

• 151, 401 of these SME’s employ more than 10 people

• 10,287 of these SME’s with more than 10 employees are “High Growth”

So for the UK only 6.9% of all SME’s are high growth and it is these firms that we rely on to create the vest majority of jobs. The picture for London is a little better. In the same period of 2007-10 there were:

 • 24,500 SME’s in London that employ more than 10 people

 • 2,445 of these SME’s are high growth.

So 9.9% of London SME’s with more than 10 employees are high growth companies which is 50% more than average and accounts for the findings that 23.5% of the total number of UK high growth companies are found in London. The NESTA data also reveals that the top three sectors in London are “Other Business Services”, Hotels & Restaurants and what is anachronistically called “Computing”.

Unlike other regions we are not so reliant on sectors such as Construction, Retail and Leisure to fund our growth and not surprisingly manufacturing is not the engine for growth for this region. So if you look at the picture for growth it is seemingly relatively rosy for London but there are concerns.

Firstly “Other Business Services” (which include the professions, consultants , advertising, recruitment and cleaning service providers) have in the past year found growth very hard to come by and there is some evidence that the sector is stagnating or even in decline. However, apart from this caveat, the other sectors are probably set to grow and I am particular confident of the prospects of Londons High Tech sector.

The second concern is more profound and it concerns the maths. London maybe doing well but these still is only 2445 SME’s in London with an annual growth rate of in excess of 20%. Although there is a great deal a variety of sizes and growth rates amongst this category of firms, the fact remains that on average these SME’s are doubling in size every 4 years and unless we expand the volume of high growth companies their splendid efforts will not be sufficient to create the jobs that London needs.

London uniquely in the UK has an expanding young population and therefore needs to create almost 500,000 jobs over the next 3 years just for present unemployment rate to stay the same. Therefore, London obviously for both economic and social reasons needs more High Growth companies. What can we all do, (the government, and business support sector and most importantly entrepreneurs) to create more High Growth businesses?

For its part Capital Enterprise is about to start a consultation exercise with its members, partners and entrepreneurs around how the Department of BIS new initiative “Business Coaching for Growth” can help. In the Greater London region this programme will be around £9m per annum which is set to be spent, not only on supporting the 2445 London High Growth SME’s to maintain and accelerate their growth plans, but also to act as a catalyst to the approximately 5000 pre-revenue, micro and small businesses who the goverment thinks can potentially become companies with more than 10 employees that grow by 20% per annum. The Coaching for Growth service will focus on providing firms with access to entrepreneurs and leading experts who are able to provide business development, investment readiness and innovation support expertise. But how this can be done, and what more can be done, and by whom is up for debate.

Finally, I will leave you with this thought. In a recent research paper presented by Department of BIS it was revealed that although almost 2/3rds of SME’s who received external advice and support found it a significant factor behind their growth or survival, and yet only 40% of all SME’s had ever sort or used external advice or support. So external support apparently makes a big difference to growth or survival and yet…

So, if you have ideas or insights to share on the subject of creating more high growth companies in London or would like an invite to an up-coming consultation event then please drop me an e-mail.

John Spindler

 Now Extended for a further 10 days!!!!!!!

Launchpad@cemeis a fantastic new business plan competition for young businesses and entrepreneurs. The competition will help get young businesses off the ground and win a range of brilliant prizes worth more than £25,000. One lucky winner will receive an office or workshop space for one year at  CEME Innovation Centre, access to a business mentor and a package of support prizes. The competition finalists will receive a tailored package of workshops and business support.  To enter simply send us your business plan, the closing date for entries is  Friday 30th September 2011.  If you need help writing your business plan, attend a workshop to help you prepare an award winning Business Plan. For more information about the competition and workshop, please contact David Nix: +44(0) 20 8596 5142 or email d.nix@oxin.co.uk.  Visit www.launchpadceme.co.uk for more information and for full terms and conditions.

Last month the Mayor of London announced a £50m fund to
revitalise London’s high street  and after the riots there are now a
plethora of initiatives  ( including a new  £3m High St fund ) from organisation such as the Evening Standard (Save our shops), to the banks (RBS, Barclays & HSBC),  to local
councils such as “Wandsworth”, to new online initiatives such as http://www.delootlondon.co.uk.

All are expressing a long standing and persistent concern that the local high
street and independent retailers are in decline. The main culprits being
competition from the major retailers (especially the move of the supermarkets
such as Tesco’s to open convenience stores in every neighbourhood), the impact
of on-line retailers, the ridiculous high rents (a hang-over from property
bubble that in regards to retail freehold and rental prices has not yet being
popped) and our changing shopping  habits ( including the effect of the recession).

So what can be done to enable independent retailers strike back?
Here are my suggestions:

More New blood-
Perhaps over the medium term the most important factor to revitalise the high
street would be new blood. In particular, we need a new form of independent
retailer to enter the high street that can use the latest trends and technology
such as mobile retailing , with a modern “Bricks & Clicks” strategy  that can get most out of  a physical high street presence and an online shop. Capital Enterprise is hoping to be launching a “Bricks & Clicks”bootcamp (http://www.thebusinessbootcamp.org/bricksandclicks.html) in the next few weeks that will attempt to support this new blood to emerge.

Local is not enough
The problem for many independent retailers are that there only USP is
geographic- that they are the nearest place you can buy products that widely
available either elsewhere in the high street or on-line. The relevance of
distance as the major determining factor behind where we buy is increasingly
not relevant and even when it is ( fags, booze and milk) the increasing
dominance of the small express versions of the big supermarkets are driving out
the independent retailer from their last major market- convenience retailing.
Independent Retailers need to find new and better USP’s (quality, local
service, unique offers) or they will face being pushed out altogether.  I know it is hard but many local retailers need to up their game, get closer to their customers, understand their needs and change their offers. We are therefore in discussion with the Mayor of London to
develop some very intense and to the point workshops for existing retailers on
what they can do to improve the attractiveness and profitability of their business.

Evening All-

Most local high streets are only open during the week between 9-6pm and therefore
miss out on a whole audience of people (mostly people who have some disposable
income)who work during the day. Why not adopt the continental practice of
opening from 12 noon and closing at 9pm? The high street would not then be
dependent on a market based on stay-at home mums, OAPS, the unemployed and not
at school kids to survive. No wonder, given the market audience, that pound shops
and the like are now the most popular type of retail offer on most local high
streets.

Landlords need to “wake up and smell the roses”-  The
BPF may report that shop rents are more affordable now than 20 years ago but the
reality is when you do a simple break-even sales assessment of the
affordability of most high street shop premises you get a completely different
picture.  I ask anyone to go on to www.shopproperty.co.uk and do the
simple sum (of dividing the annual rent by the average retailers gross margin
and then multiplying by 100) to get to the sales income needed just to pay the
rent (never mind other overhead costs such business rates, utility bills and
labour) . The problem is that Gross Profit margins from retailers have fallen
significantly in the past 20 years across the board (with the possible
exception of fast food) because of enhanced competition especially from on-line
retailers and the big supermarkets. Today most retailers would struggle to
achieve an average GPM of 30% on the goods they sold and many such as book
stores and electronic stores would have to manage on much less.

More reasons to go and visit –

The principal problem of the local high street is that there is not enough foot fall- not enough reasons why people need to visit-not enough attractions that can incentivise people to come. Most council’s (especially those eligible for the Mayors Funding) have
been developing proposals to make their town centres more physically attractive
(new street furniture, more pedestrianisation, better litter/graffiti
management). To get more foot fall these measures are spiced up with the
occasional planned street festival or Christmas market. Although many of these
initiatives are welcomed, I wish that a little more hard research and
imagination could be used to produce solutions that can tackle the underlying
issues of making high streets work. We need solutions to how we get a better
retail mix, how we get high footfall  non retail activities ( such libraries etc) on to the high streets etc . Also, although it may seem unpalatable to some,  if the function and future  of shops in some areas is no longer commercial ( rather than a political desire to maintain or create social/ community cohesion) then these presently failing retail areas will need direct government or community subsidy to incentivise commercial activity. Personally I would like to see an increase in pop-up shops that can beused (albeit on a temporary basis) by new and innovative retailers and to this end will be supporting the soon to be launched  http://www.popupshopup.comwhen it is launched in about a month’s time.

Better Management-
Although many London Business Improvement Districts (BIDS) and town centre
managers do a good job (particular hats off to Camden Unlimited http://www.camdentownunlimited.com) many are hampered by the lack of engagement of landlords in themanagement  of the high street. The landlords have the most to gain long term from a thriving high street and wherethey do actively engage, manage and invest (as is the case with malls etc) they make a very big difference to the success of the retail experience. However, in many places they are nowhere to be seen and to rectify this I would sneak in to the Localism Act, that is presently passing through parliament, a legal
requirement for them to join and financially contribute to BIDS where and when
they operate.

More Investment-
There needs to be more investment by not only from landlords/ councils but also
from independent retailers to revitalise their businesses. One way to do this
would be to remove the restrictions that exclude retail businesses from receive
support or access to new finance from schemes such as Enterprise Finance
Guarantee scheme (http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/gsdDetail?itemId=1081834978  . Little things like this can go a long way.

Intelligent tax to make legitimate independent retailers more financially viable and competitive
If your profit margins are very tight and you are trying to compete against
the all-powerful supermarkets or serve a group of customers with unique needs
but not much money, then one way to survive is for your business to; not to pay
any payroll tax, not to register for VAT, to rely on cash in hand workers
willing and able to work for very minimum wages and to source goods for sale
from the black market. In certain parts of London this type of retail business
predominates to the detriment of more legitimate businesses.  I would like to see research carried out on whether we could find a way of both encouraging more legitimate retail businesses whilst at the same time giving a very real and valuable tax advantage to a
small independent retailer in their unequal battle with large retailers. I
would like to have a look at a fixed amount tax paid by all independent
retailers ( an equivalent to a buying an annual licence to trade) that does not
rise until sales break through a threshold ( say £500,000 p.a.) . I would make
the tax a replacement for all other taxes paid including VAT , income/ corporation
tax etc and make the levy significantly less than an average small independent
retailers pays now. I will allow only businesses who legitimately employ people
to be able to claim the tax break and I will create a quality mark that would
tell all consumers who is registered on the scheme ( and thereby abiding by the
rules) and who is not. The fact that these retailers will be exempt from
charging VAT on their goods should make them very competitive in certain good
categories against the big chains and supermarkets. The idea obviously needs to
be thoroughly researched, and as with any tax incentive designed to reward good
behaviour, there will be unjustified winners and losers and pleads for
exemptions and special cases (for instance are franchise businesses to be
categorised as eligible) but I think it is worth looking into.

Anyway these are some of my suggestions on what can be done
to revitalise London’s high street. Mary Portas ( http://www.maryportas.com/news/2011/05/17/the-future-of-the-high-street) is due to report back to the government on how to revitalise the high street
in the autumn. Maybe she will take on some of my suggestions.

Please find below some great new job vacancies at Capital Enterprise member NACUE… you will have to act quick as the closing date is the 19th August,

About NACUE

 Are you proactive, dynamic and eager to learn? Are you interested in making a massive change and meet with leaders in policy-making for enterprise? Are you looking for exposure to the UK’s start-up scene and interested in learning on the job? NACUE is your place.

The National Consortium of University Entrepreneurs (NACUE) is a fast-paced, grassroots charity that stimulates university enterprise by supporting, connecting and representing enterprise societies, enterprising students and student entrepreneurs in Universities across the UK.

Launched in May 2009, NACUE now engages over 70 university enterprise societies across the UK, supports over 85 universities in stimulating student-led activities and represents the views of over 40,000 enterprising students to policy makers in all levels of Government, Industry and Education.

NACUE’s society support mechanisms have been commended by the World Economic Forum and the United Nations; the charity has been recognised by Real Business Magazine as one of the ‘Champions of Entrepreneurial Britain’; and it’s Founder Victoria Lennox was recently awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion for her work in building the organisation.

Read more about us:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/8279664/Student-entrepreneurship-matures.html
http://nacue.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/nacue-founder-receives-queens-award-for-enterprise-promotion/