James Reed: Celebrating wealth could energise young people
Fostering a more supportive and celebratory culture around wealth creation could help inspire more young people, writes James Reed in today’s Notebook
Why we need to celebrate wealth and success more
I’m in the jobs business, and have been for decades. So I know that governments don’t create jobs, entrepreneurs do.
Clever ideas will always succeed no matter what the backdrop, and Britain has a proud record of producing some of the best across a wide range of sectors.
That’s why I’m so concerned that at present, we are not doing enough to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs. Indeed, I would argue that we have created a toxic environment for many of those just starting out in business.
While we discuss new ways of funding social care for older people, young people can’t get jobs or buy homes, and feel marginalised, sidelined and ignored. It is no surprise that many young go-getters are looking at futures outside the UK.
If growth really is our number one priority, we need to do everything we can to make Britain the best place to set up and build a business in the world.
Reed is trying to do its bit, not just through opportunities available on Reed.co.uk, but through our new All About Business Entrepreneurs Fund. It will make grants of £20,000 to 66 young entrepreneurs and provide them with mentoring and support. We have just selected our first five winners, dynamic young people whose businesses show
real promise.
But we need a much broader response from policymakers. We need to focus on what I call the ‘three Cs’ – curriculum, costs and culture.
First, we must reform education to better equip young people for the modern workforce, including boosting financial literacy in schools and promoting practical vocational pathways.
Second, it is now urgent that we reduce financial and regulatory burdens on businesses, addressing the policies that impact hiring and make the UK less competitive. While we all understand that the public finances are in bad shape, that means looking at taxes on jobs, such as employers’ National Insurance, reforming business rates and taking greater care with large hikes in the minimum wage, particularly for younger workers.
Third, in terms of culture, we need to foster a more supportive environment that values and encourages entrepreneurialism rather than penalising business owners and wealth creators. We need to create opportunities, celebrate success and foster a can-do, self-starter culture.
Britain has some decisions to make about where to go next. If we truly get behind our entrepreneurial class, we will achieve so much more.
PMs deserve to be pampered
I completely understand Marie-France van Heel’s decision to quit her marketing job to support her husband, Prime Minister Andy Burnham, full time. Our prime ministers need all the support they can get – not least because the state does such a poor job of it, like so many other things. It’s absurd that they have to buy their own furniture for Number Ten, and get castigated if they don’t buy their own groceries and cook their own breakfast. In my view, prime ministers should have a full support staff including a personal trainer, a chef, cleaners and whatever else they might need to avoid exhaustion and focus entirely on the job. A CEO of a big company wouldn’t tolerate the lack of support we give the occupant of Number Ten, and members of the Royal Family have huge entourages keeping the show on the road. Whether you agree with his policies or not, it’s in all our interests that Mr Burnham should succeed. We should give him the support to do so.
Double donations
My charity Big Give is gearing up for its fifth Women & Girls Match Fund, a week-long campaign giving the public the opportunity to double their donations to charities supporting women and girls. This is particularly important at a time when many charities are struggling and there is such great demand for their support. From October 6th to October 13th, any donations you make to any of more than 150 participating charities through www.biggive.org will be matched – making your generosity go twice as far. This is thanks to the generous support of Big Give’s network of match funding champions, including The Julia Rausing Trust and Admiral Group PLC. By bringing together philanthropic funders and the public, Big Give is helping charities turn every pound donated into twice the impact.
What I’m watching
I am catching up, slightly belatedly, with the BBC’s hit comedy series Small Prophets, available on iPlayer. I love the contrast between the humdrum work life of the main character, Michael, expertly played by Pearce Quigley, and the extraordinary supernatural events unfolding in his garden shed. As you would expect, Michael Palin is terrific, as is Mackenzie Crook, who created and directed the series and must be one of our most talented writers for TV.
James Reed is the chairman and CEO of Reed Group