Exclusive: Minister urges a radical way to aid enterprise

Mark Prisk said the government plans to "radically reform" business support in the UK and wants universities and libraries to play a bigger role in helping enterprise.

The British Library is piloting a regional project in Newcastle to provide high-quality business information to entrepreneurs and inventors following the success of its scheme in London.

Mr Prisk told the Yorkshire Post: "It would be great if we could start to look at the possibility of bringing it here."

He said the agreement between Newcastle City Library and Northumbria University aims to create a business and intellectual property centre with workshops, access to key databases and assistance on how to do research.

The British Library launched the service in London in 2006, offering free access to 5m worth of research materials, such as expensive subscription databases, alongside expert advice on patents and IP rights.

After 12 months in Newcastle, the British Library will look at launching the scheme in other parts of the UK. A spokesman said: "Yorkshire is a key area that would be identified as a support hub."

Mr Prisk said: "The crucial part about that model is that it's accessible and it is transferable. It can be in any city we want it to be."

The London centre has so far been used by more than 200,000 businesses, with an even split of pre-start-ups, those already trading, service industry and product-based firms.

Mr Prisk issued the challenge in an interview with this newspaper during a visit to Sheffield's MADE Festival, which was organised to help promote an enterprise-led recovery in the old industrial heartlands of the North of England.

He said: "It is entrepreneurs who are going to be that dynamo at the heart of our economy. What we have got to do in government is try to find a way to enable – not direct, not interfere, not run – entrepreneurs to flourish and prosper."

He added: "I'm determined to make sure we grow the number of entrepreneurs... by using the experience of people who have actually been in business to help other businesses. It means developing and growing our network of mentors. It means making sure we genuinely embed enterprise in education."

Mr Prisk said: "One of the things we have to do is work out how we bring those inventors with the entrepreneurs and the venture capitalists together. It is that fusion of those elements that create the economic changes."

He added: "I have great confidence in the ability of the business community in this part of the world because it has always been an entrepreneurial society."

Mr Prisk attended a dinner of leading entrepreneurs in Sheffield last Thursday evening and invited their views on how the government could help support enterprise.

His boss, the Business Secretary Vince Cable helped launch Sheffield City College's new National Enterprise Academy, which has been backed by Peter Jones, the multi-millionaire businessman and angel investor of TV's Dragons' Den.

In his speech, Dr Cable recalled a visit to the city in the 1950s, likening it to a scene from Dante's Inferno.

He told the Yorkshire Post: "It was a great industrial city, but it was old fashioned metal-bashing industry and the city has moved on. It's totally transformed with a lot of very good high value manufacturing and good service industries but it's got to transform again like the rest of Britain away from this over-dependence on banking and the South East of England.

"We have got to get entrepreneurship and get people who have ambition and are self employed willing to get businesses launched. That's the way employment is going to be created here in the future."

He said the new National Enterprise Academy had a "very important" role to play in the transformation and was a great tribute to Mr Jones, the chairman and chief executive of Phones International Group.

"It's partly the practical things of teaching people the basics of running businesses, balance sheets, marketing strategies, having a business plan, but it's also about changing the psychology, making it attractive to young people to pursue a business career and launch a business of their own rather than assume the jobs are in government or investment banks."

He played down the chances of a double-dip recession.

"It's always a risk – you can't predict the future. But I think there's enough momentum now in the private sector to get us through. It is going to be difficult. I don't think any of us pretend otherwise because we have to deal with the deficit. That will be painful and difficult and it will affect employment.

"But at the same time we have got to have growth. We think now that is beginning to happen. Certainly the figures for the last quarter suggest the private sector recovery is taking place and unless there is some disaster in the world economy – which is possible, but not likely – I think we will avoid a double-dip recession."

Listen to Vince Cable, Mark Prisk and Peter Jones on Business Talk at www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/ business

Business support 'vital for LEPs'

Proposals for local enterprise partnerships that lack sufficient business support will be thrown out, the Business Secretary has told the Yorkshire Post.

Vince Cable and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles started sifting through bids towards the end of last week. Dr Cable said they have been encouraged so far.

But he added: "I'm absolutely clear that there has to be genuine partnership between business and local authorities and business has to own this process and be part of it. Otherwise there is no point having it.

"In the screening, absolutely key criteria for approving them and getting them off the ground will be evidence there is genuine business support and participation."

Asked about plans for a Yorkshire-wide enterprise partnership, Dr Cable said: "I have not seen the detailed proposals yet so I don't want to judge them.

"What we want to do is have a look at the proposals to see how realistic they are."