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Why North is the right place to do business
Ahead of Monday's closing date for the If We Can, You Can challenge, Deborah Johnson looks at how statistics
show the region is an ideal place to start a business, and meets two entrepreneurs who have done just that
THE North of England has fewer
entrepreneurs than the South,
but is well ahead in the success
stakes, research has revealed.
While 17 per cent of men and
eight per cent of women in the
North are self-employed - compared
with 23 per cent of men
and 11 per cent of women in the
South - findings from a study by
three business schools has
shown Northern businesspeople
are more successful.
In the South, each self-employed
man has an average of
2.65 people working for him, with
3.08 working for women. In the
North, that figure rises to 3.53
jobs per male entrepreneur, and
3.48 for women.
Researchers from Hull University
Business School, Cranfield
School of Management and the
University of St Andrews believe
the findings help to quash concerns
about a North/South divide
in terms of company success, and
say it clearly shows there is no
reason why entrepreneurs cannot
succeed in the region.
The study comes as a further
endorsement of the If We Can,
You Can challenge, backed by
The Northern Echo, which aims
to nurture emerging entrepreneurial
talent - of all ages and
backgrounds - and recapture a
spirit of enterprise in the North-
East.
Professor Andrew Burke,
founding director of the Bettany
Centre for Entrepreneurial Performance
and Economics, at
Cranfield School of Management,
said business start-ups
marked a significant move away
from the traditional belief that
Southern firms were more successful
than those in the North.
"There has always been a
worry among policymakers that
the North permanently lags behind
the South in terms of economic
performance," he said.
"Since entrepreneurship is
usually mooted as a means
through which less-developed regions
can catch up, our research
results are encouraging as they
appear to indicate that this
process is indeed taking place in
the North of England."
Dr Michael Nolan, from the
centre for economic policy at
Hull University's Business
School, said: "The findings are
sufficiently different between
North and South England as to
require corresponding regional
variation in enterprise policy,
particularly regarding education
and finance.
"The North/South economic
divide is not merely a traditional
industrial phenomenon, but a
hallmark of self-employment
too."
2:44pm Friday 2nd May 2008
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