Network to success against the Brexit and COVID odds
The 5.8 million small businesses in the UK make up 99.3% of all private sector businesses, and are a major economic contributor. However, as the Federation of Small Businesses recently summed up, “Small business confidence across the UK has collapsed in the face of challenges created by the coronavirus crisis.” In addition is a possible disorderly Brexit, which the OECD says could damage the UK's economic recovery from Covid.
As the FT notes, this means that the UK needs to “invest heavily in digital infrastructure” and deliver reforms to raise productivity, to repair long-term economic damage. ‘UK Plc’ will be unable to compete internationally if we can’t build and maintain a strong entrepreneurial-driven SME sector, supported by new technologies.
Growing UK businesses don’t lack strategy, ambition or talent; but all too often, they’re still just not getting the business advice, technology expertise and the finance needed.
Embracing new technologies to succeed
If I’m a US startup that uses Artificial Intelligence, I have multiple funding routes.
The US government recently announced a billion dollar fund for multidisciplinary AI and quantum computing research, and as a Chinese tech entrepreneur, I could draw on $70bn help this year. The UK does have its AI Sector Deal, but the disparity is concerning.
However, 2019 was a record year for UK tech private investment, hitting over £13bn, with AI and fintech as the big winners. With the ‘glo-cal’ challenges real and looming, now is the time to invest in AI, and to enable the tech and non-tech entrepreneurs of tomorrow to embrace new technologies at the core of their businesses.
One of the most sustainable routes to a post-pandemic economic recovery is based on the UK investing in future industries, from low-carbon innovation and smart cities to life sciences. Businesses are now starting to realise that AI is a ‘horizontal’ technology that can help all sectors and company sizes, including: fintech, retail, HR, leisure and education. As an industry, we have a collective business and social responsibility to inform, educate and inspire tech and non-tech entrepreneurs to see the value of embracing data and advanced analytics to improve their products and services, to scale their businesses.
Being smarter with finance and enabling growth networks
Together, we need to get smarter at connecting the most promising companies with the more established, to grow the ecosystem. From a UK Plc perspective, with our great AI and machine learning capabilities, we’d be further facilitating the growth of AI startup ecosystems.
The UK doesn't have billions to throw at this problem, and despite financing and partnerships slowing over lockdowns, our desire for sustainable growth and our collective passion to succeed continues unabated.
As an industry, we need to be even more astute at spotting the gems in the AI ecosystem and nurturing them to success. We need to further leverage the rich wealth of UK business expertise, when it comes to setting up, running and scaling businesses with potential. We have a collective responsibility to connect experienced business advisors to mentor these budding tech and non-tech entrepreneurs, by helping them scale their business locally and globally.
This is not a pipe dream, and the journey has already started, as our growing national ecosystems already means that some UK tech and non-tech startups can secure access to relevant technology, capital and business expertise. AI tech is a key element to our post-Pandemic and post-Brexit Transition success, and by playing smarter together, we can unlock our competitive UK potential in ways that will be more successful, long-term, than just spending our way there.
Professor Andy Pardoe, founder and managing director, Pardoe Ventures
