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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Phillip Inman

The hard truth is that Britain’s entrepreneurs simply don’t innovate

Alan Sugar gesturing as he talks, pictured from a low angle
Lord Sugar, the founder of the IT firm Amstrad and the star of The Apprentice, made most of his fortune in property. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Observer

Entrepreneurs are a false god. We offer them billions of pounds’ worth of tax breaks and subsidies, and a lot of goodwill, when research suggests that most, after pocketing the cash, will do little to help UK plc prosper.

Academic studies have found that small business owners, while being a significant slice of the economy and a source of employment, are very rarely the spur for innovation or increases in productivity, let alone the wellbeing of the workers under their employ (health and safety is worse in small businesses).

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