Region told it has key role in economy

10:50am Wednesday 3rd October 2007

A GOVERNMENT minister yesterday emphasised the crucial role North-East entrepreneurs and small businesses have in the UK economy.

And while the drive continues to create more new businesses in the region, Competitiveness Minister Stephen Timms said equal focus should be placed on the small enterprises already in existence.

Mr Timms visited the North-East yesterday to meet a panel of leading business figures to discuss ways of stimulating business growth in the region, which statistics show lags behind other areas of the UK in entrepreneurship.

Speaking to The Northern Echo, the minister said the North-East had a key role to play in the national and international economy. He said: "There is huge potential here in the North-East, and we have already seen lots of very good entrepreneurial links made - there are a lot of positive signs, and I am here to find out how we can help make this region even more successful.

"Small and medium-sized enterprises are increasingly important in a successful British economy, but we are conscious of how well we are doing in comparison to the US, and it is clear we still have some way to go.

"We want to not only encourage entrepreneurs to branch out into setting up their own business, but to help new businesses grow and expand to reach their full potential. Too often, small businesses stay small, but that is something we want to change."

Paul Callaghan, chairman of Business Link North-East and Sunderland-based Leighton Group, was one of the panelists at the meeting. He said he hoped to encourage more people in the region to set up their own business.

He said: "The latest figures show that entrepreneurship in the North-East is growing at the fastest rate in the country outside London and the South-East, which is proof that people here are now really starting to see that starting your own business really is a viable option for a career.

"If people can see that someone has been successful in business, that acts as a form of inspiration. You think, 'well I could do that too'.

"Running a successful business is not done by magic, it is something that people really can do.

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