Latest thinking

Is the rise in self-employment really a Good Thing?

Blog

28 Mar 2014

Benedict Dellot

This is a guest post from Steven Toft. Steven writes a popular blog, Flipchart Fairytales, in which he attempts to bust myths surrounding welfare and the world of work. You can find Steven's blog here, and follow him on Twitter here.

New data on entrepreneurship: what are the key trends?

Blog

12 Mar 2014

Benedict Dellot

Last month saw the release of the latest data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, a major annual international survey of entrepreneurial behaviours and attitudes. What makes this dataset so powerful is the size of the sample (2,000+ people respond in the UK alone) and the fact that the data goes back over 10 years. It also has an extensive set of questions that touch on feelings and attitudes not covered elsewhere. So it’s worth a gander if you’re interested in enterprise, small business and other things of that ilk.

Coffee and the RSA

Blog

12 Mar 2014

The RSA has a history with coffee. The RSA’s eighteenth century founders first met in Rawthmell’s Coffee House in Covent Garden, and conversations they had shaped the society around them.

Why the self-employed will soon be a political force to be reckoned with

Blog

22 Feb 2014

Benedict Dellot

It may not feel like it but the next general election is getting very close. Each party will already be poring over the stats thinking about which demographics they most need to appeal to. Thatcher supposedly depended on winning over the Essex Man, while Blair is said to have courted the vote of Mondeo Man.

Ruthless, Vocal and Human: Three key tenets for any future business support

Blog

28 Jan 2014

Benedict Dellot

If the test of a meaningful policy is that it can be argued against, what to make of yesterday’s announcement by the Prime Minister to cut more red tape for small businesses?

Is self-employment the best option for people managing mental illness?

Blog

30 Oct 2013

Benedict Dellot

Richard Sennett once wrote that ‘work is the road to the unification of the self’. I like the quote and certainly get the sentiment, but from time to time it dawns on me how flimsy and trivial it can sound. Clearly it wasn’t penned thinking about the call centre operator dealing with irate callers, a nurse on a manic A&E ward, or a police officer taking care of a volatile crime suspect.

How can we encourage the new wave of self-employed to take on their first worker?

Blog

20 Oct 2013

Benedict Dellot

The UK is experiencing nothing short of a boom in self-employment. 367,000 more people became sole traders in the period since 2008, bringing the total proportion of sole traders in the workforce to a record 15 per cent. Where once we were a nation of shopkeepers, now we are seemingly one of consultants, freelancers, entrepreneurs, online marketplace traders – and whatever else comes under the banner of self-employment.

Entrepreneurship, AKA ‘pragmatic anger’

Blog

14 Aug 2013

Benedict Dellot

Entrepreneurship is not about money. It never has been. Look at any survey on the motivations for starting up in business and you’ll see that the desire for independence and greater freedom will nearly always trump the opportunity to make money. People start a business to be their own boss, get away from hierarchy and engage in something more meaningful.