This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Brian Wilson welcomes continued growth in Business start-up rate
25/02/1998
Scottish Industry Minister, Mr Brian Wilson MP, today said the current climate for business start-ups was "very encouraging" but advised businesses to take a closer look at the potential of international markets.
Mr Wilson was speaking to a wide business audience in East Kilbride to mark the fifth anniversary of Scottish Enterprise's Business Birth Rate Strategy which aims to help the expansion of new businesses.
Mr Wilson said:
"One of the Government's key pledges has been that support for small businesses would play a leading part in our plans for economic growth. That is why we have indicated our support for Scottish Enterprise's Business Birth Rate Strategy and the wide range of support measures which have flowed from it. I am greatly encouraged that the rate of Scottish business start-ups continues to grow.
"That success has only been possible because the Strategy has involved such a wide range of Scottish business life, and recognised right at the start the deep-rooted nature of the challenge. Traditionally, self-employment was rarely the obvious first choice in Scotland when it came to earning an income. But the automatic prospect of successive generations being able to flood through the open gates of the large industries is now gone. We ignore the changing nature of international markets at our peril.
"Starting a business is now not only a more common option. Thanks to the increasing expert support available across the public and private sectors - which has been one of the keystones of the Business Birth Rate Strategy - it is also a more realistic one. The renowned Scottish qualities of innovation and tenacity lie at the heart of our ability to secure our economic future. As each individual grasps the nettle of starting a new business, the Government must assist in making the process as painless as possible."
BACKGROUND
The 'Business Birth Rate Strategy' emerged from a major inquiry held in 1992 by Scottish Enterprise into the reasons for Scotland's disappointingly low rate of business formation. A wide range of initiatives has been introduced over the past 5 years.
The programmes and initiatives which the Strategy has inspired have included:
- improved access to finance, including through the LINC Scotland scheme which puts potential entrepreneurs in touch with "business angels".
- the encouragement of entrepreneurship at all levels of the education sector
- improved access through a network of 40 'Business Shops' to business advice for those thinking of starting a business and for new businesses
- targeted encouragement and support to groups which have been under-represented in self-employment (women, people with disabilities, the under-35s and non- homeowners).
News Release: 0349/98
February 25, 1998