Small businesses and entrepreneurs drive new GDP growth and create jobs.

November means Global Entrepreneurship Week and the chance to celebrate the UK’s entrepreneurs and the companies they create. These businesses – and the people who make them tick drive every part of our economy.

Now more than ever, with Covid-19 challenging businesses, we need to recognise the work of the many thousands of people who work all year round to make the UK one of the best places in the world to start a business.

The facts are clear. Small businesses and SMEs make up 99.9% of all private sector activity in the UK and employ more than 18 million people.

Despite perception, the UK’s entrepreneurs and business owners are not clustered in certain sectors.SMEs account for at least 99% of the businesses in every main industry.

Protecting our achievements

Over the past 20 years, we have experienced an entrepreneurial renaissance in the UK – made possible by effective collaboration between policymakers and the UK enterprise community.

There are over two million more small businesses in the UK now than in 2000 and there has been sustained year on year growth in the total business population. These things don’t happen by accident.

Here at the Global Entrepreneurship Week campaign, since 2008 we’ve been proud to act as a catalyst for this change and a platform for celebration.

Taking on the challenges

The Covid-19 pandemic has created unprecedented disruption to our start and scale ecosystem. Continuing uncertainty around our exit from the European Union adds to the challenges facing our entrepreneurs.

However, by working together we can build back better and benefit from new thinking, approaches and opportunities. GEW UK is committed to helping the UK startup ecosystem connect, collaborate and invent the future.

Connecting the UK during GEW 2020

This year we are coordinating Global Entrepreneurship Week through the GEN UK HUB – creating activities and conversations across the UK entrepreneurial ecosystem. For the first time, we will be bringing together the whole community online including entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship enablers, policy makers, service providers, funders, mentors, job seekers and volunteers. Sign up today (its free) and join the conversation.