Cameron to launch business scheme

Prime Minister David Cameron is due to launch the government’s StartUp Britain initiative, aimed at encouraging people to set up their own businesses.

New enterprises will be offered help worth about £1,500 in areas such as IT training and internet advertising.

The scheme is being supported by firms including AXA, Barclays, BlackBerry, Experian, Google, Intel, Microsoft, McKinsey & Co, O2 and Virgin Media.

Mr Cameron will urge people to “make that step and strike out on their own”.

Launching the scheme, the prime minister is expected to say: “I want to make a direct appeal to everyone who’s sitting at home or at their desk thinking about starting their own business. Now is the time to do it.

‘Seize moment’

“If you’ve been turning over a good idea for years – now is the time to make something of it. If you’re working for a big firm but know you could do a better job on your own – now is the time to make the leap.

“If you’re dreaming about starting up the next great British brand – now is the time to make it happen.”

He will add: “There are thousands of people out there who are entrepreneurs but they just don’t know it yet. There are millions of success stories that haven’t been written yet.

“So seize this moment. Take these opportunities. Make it happen – and together we can drive our economy forward.”

BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam says the initiative will form a major part in the coalition’s efforts to tilt the economy away from the public sector and towards private enterprise.

‘Create and grow’

The StartUp Britain launch follows last week’s Budget which raised entrepreneurial tax reliefs, created 21 enterprise zones offering tax breaks, and promised less red tape and high speed broadband in an effort to help new firms grow.

The announcement comes on the day that a group of leading venture capitalists said the UK was a “world class place to launch new businesses”, following George Osborne’s Budget.

The 39 signatories of a letter to the Daily Telegraph welcomed new investment rules introduced by the chancellor as a “shot in the arm” for enterprise, allowing them to put more funds into start-up companies.

“British entrepreneurs, and those relocating to the UK, will find it easier to raise the funds they need to do what they do best: create and grow world beating businesses,” they wrote.