| Britain to push business growth, job creation |
| Date: 2011/1/6 Click: 1871 |
|
The British government on Wednesday announced a big expansion in the scope of its planned New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) aimed at creating up to 40,000 new businesses by 2013.
The Allowance, which will help unemployed people set up their own businesses, will be launched later this month.
The initial proposals for NEA covered about 40 percent of the country and provided up to 10,000 places per year but it will now be rolled out nationwide from autumn and be made available to twice as many people as originally planned.
The NEA will give people who have been unemployed financial support for their early months of self-employment, access to a start-up loan, and an expert business mentor to help guide them through the early months of their business.
In order to claim the allowance, they will need to develop a business plan that has the approval of their proposed mentor as viable.
The government also announced significant changes to the way information, guidance and advice to business is provided, with more focus on improving small business performance and growth and a greater emphasis on further and better private sector provision.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Throughout this year and beyond we will be focused relentlessly on supporting growth and driving job creation across our economy. Backing new enterprises to start up and small businesses to grow will be what transforms our economy and will deliver the many thousands of new jobs we will see created this year."
"It is vital that we ensure businesses, and those people who find themselves out of work but have the drive and desire to set up their own business, have all the advice, support and mentoring they need. Together we can make the years ahead some of the most dynamic and entrepreneurial in our history," he said.
Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: "We will only get our economy back on track when we create a climate in which the private sector can grow and develop."
"By expanding the New Enterprise Allowance, we can ensure that those who find themselves out of work but with a good idea get the right advice to turn that idea into a successful business venture," Grayling said.
Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk said, in the current economic climate, it had never been more important to promote an enterprise culture in Britain.
The best people to advise small businesses were those who had already started and run successful companies, so it was particularly important the program focused on providing access to business mentors, Prisk said.
The British government has already introduced a package of reform to reduce rates of corporation tax, including cutting the small profits rate from 21 percent to 20 percent from April 1 this year. |
