UK entrepreneurs launch Startup Britain discounts with PM’s backing – but not his money
by Mike Butcher
on March 28, 2011


This morning in London, the UK’s answer to Startup America launches, titled – guess what? – Startup Britain. That similarity aside, the initiative has been put together by a number of existing UK entrepreneurs and is not being backed by any government money, unlike the Obama initiative. Instead, we have here a ground-up entrepreneur-led initiative which is seeing over 60 leading brands offer services to up-and-coming startups in the UK. This is not specifically about tech startups – but it may well appeal to that sector.

The campaign is being launched by Prime Minister David Cameron, who is known to be very pro-enterprise. In a statement he said: “We need to see a country where new businesses are starting up on every street, in every town; where entrepreneurs are everywhere. We put out a call to business to rise up and help us drive the recovery and Startup Britain is part of the answer to that call.”

The UK has 270,000 businesses that start up every year but many fail due to a lack of support. Businesslink was widely seen as an expensive failure, where government civil servants tried to advise real business people on business. In the end it turned into a joke.

So in effect the Startup Britain initiative is doing a few things much more differently. It’s offering a package of discounts and free trial on business services like insurance, broadband, advertising, office space and more. The claim is that this amounts to over £1,500 in value for every startup company in Britain. Startup Britain is a portal site to a package of these services.

Also, not right now, but “in the future” it aims to offer “a living market place for the wide range of enterprise support that is already available. The aim is not to replace current provision, but to give it a higher profile, and complement existing provision with further offers of support.” They also want to build a “Mentor Marketplace, a “Masterclass Platform” (Deliver or sign up for a masterclass near you), “Pledge matchmaker”, a curated selection of links and a calendar of enterprise related events, into which you can suggest your own. A sort of free, business-led, crowd-sourced Businesslink if you will. [UPDATE: We've since heard that these features won;t be live for another couple of months]

It looks well intended. The only issue is that startups usually need more than a month’s discount on broadband when they are getting going. Another criticism is that it ‘looks’ slightly political. A large image of David Cameron adorns the front page of the site, just a few days after a huge anti-government demonstration in London.

Perhaps it would have been better to push the real entrepreneurs backing this who are:

· Oli Barrett, Co-Sponsorship Agency
· Duncan Cheatle, The Supper Club
· Rajeeb Dey, Enternships.com
· Michael Hayman, Seven Hills
· Emma Jones, Enterprise Nation
· Lara Morgan, Company Shortcut
· Richard O’Connor, Chocolate and Love
· Jamie Murray Wells, Glasses Direct and Hearing Direct

Comments sent to me on email and Twitter include “I can tell you what it could do without.. a big headshot of David Cameron. Instant turn off,” and by @tom_15gifts “We need some startup help in the UK but isn’t this just big companies giving away freebies to get business?”

Others said:

@jonfish “A fantastic initiative, let’s hope there is community-level network building as well – a website isn’t enough”

@katiemoffat “The idea has real value esp decent mentoring but as it is, it’s not the most groundbreaking of websites.”

@DuaneJackson “Too early to judge, but has a lot of potential I think.”

David Peto, CEO, Aframe: “It’s a very good idea to finally have somewhere decent to find out how to start – there really hasn’t been anywhere else – Businesslink was less than useless and is a dog that ought to be put down. However – again – this initiative runs the risk of being something that we – the existing startup and tech community all know about – and no-one else who actually needs to know will. We are the last people who need to help on starting – it’s keeping going we all need. I bet you fifty quid that when I go up to the north east next week to see our team and go to an event most will not have heard it. The pack is ok – but things like 10% off an HP product aren’t useful particularly. The Experian offer is the main useful one.”

My view? It’s interesting it’s been put together entirely by business people and will cost the public purse nothing at all. A cynic might say it’s handy advertising for those involved, but that would be a stupid comment. Advertising can be done much more efficiently that this. In reality I hope this is the start of a sea change in attitudes, where larger corporates do more to give a hand-up to to startups.

Corporate pledges to Startup Britain include:

• AXA will offer 10 per cent off business insurance
• BlackBerry will offer 1,000 free “Start Up Guides”
• Microsoft will train 5,000 start-ups in how to use technology to drive their business and marketing activities, including free technology resources worth up to £400 per company
• Google will support start ups, initially by providing them with a limited amount of free advertising (not clear how much yet)
• Regus will offer one month free businessworld membership (normally £15 a month at its cheapest)
• O2 to offer one months free line rental
• PayPal will offer three months free fees for new accounts when signing up to a Powa.com website
• Fujitsu offers a 30-day free trial and/or 10% off the annual costs of IT storage/processing requirements via its online “Cloud” service
• McKinsey & Co will join with leading employers to launch Entrepreneur First to encourage our most innovative graduates to start up their own business
• YouGov and UCL, working with StartUp Britain and in collaboration with Imperial College London will lead the development of a pilot Start-up Summer to stimulate, encourage and support student entrepreneurs.

Long list of company supporters of StartUp Britain (specific commitments are not yet clear):

1. Alibaba
2. AXA
3. Barclays
4. Bitsy
5. BlackBerry
6. Brightword Publishing
7. Browser Creative
8. Co-Sponsorship Agency
9. Coutts
10. Deloitte
11. eBay
12. eConsultancy
13. Enterprise Nation
14. Enternships
15. Ernst & Young
16. Euro RSCG
17. Experian
18. Fujitsu
19. GlassesDirect.com
20. Global Entrepreneurship Week
21. Gloople
22. Google
23. GoResponse
24. GoToMeeting
25. HP
26. HSBC
27. Intel
28. Instant Offices
29. Irwin Mitchell
30. King & Allen
31. KPMG
32. Lloyds TSB
33. MADE Festival
34. McKinsey
35. Microsoft
36. MOO.COM
37. Mother
38. MyKindaCrowd
39. O2
40. PayPal
41. PayPoint
42. Powa
43. Powwownow
44. PWC
45. Reed
46. Regus
47. RBS
48. Santander
49. Seko Synergy
50. Seven Hills
51. Sign Up To
52. Simply Business
53. Standard Chartered
54. Staples
55. The Supper Club
56. UnLtd
57. Virgin Media
58. Virgin Trains
59. Vistaprint
60.. WorldFirst
61. Yell
62. Yo! Sushi

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  • http://www.wordandmouth.com Dave Thackeray

    As you rightly pointed out in this article this is faint-hearted at best, pointless at worst. And I don’t think there are many shades of grey in between.

    There’s no sense of community wrapped up in the government’s latest project that in essence amounts to nothing more than misguided propaganda.

    What we need here in Britain is entrepreneurial mentorship. Forget your pithy one month’s free line rental and a start up guide that will inspire about 1 person at best. It’s physical, in the trenches help and assistance we need from established business owners. It’s the best kind of altruism – essentially a corporate responsibility strategy that creates new enterprises that can develop their own social and community aid programmes.

    That is all.

  • Guest

    Indian Government should do these type of initiatives to support Indian Entrepreneurs in all the sectors.

  • Anonymous

    Show me money!

  • Anonymous

    Show me money!

  • http://twitter.com/mikebutcher Mike Butcher

    I didn’t say it was “faint-hearted”. Actually I think it’s interesting it’s been put together entirely by business people.

  • Anonymous

    They can’t give away money because… they don’t have any!

    Obama doesn’t either, but he has no trouble printing more.

    The government should stay out of these sort of things.

  • http://twitter.com/JimAnning Jim Anning

    Maybe I’m not looking at it in enough depth, but what I see so far is a bunch of ‘free’ offers (the 10% off something that my startup doesn’t need variety), a load of links to things (I guess useful to have them in one place, but all of them are completely findable by anyone who was looking for them) and a weird over-emphasis on getting a logo.

    If the government want to encourage us, what would be more useful is…

    - Incentivising landlords of the empty office buildings that litter the country to open up otherwise unused space to start-ups
    - Making it easier to do business with / sell to government departments

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=515481646 Rob Mathieson

    I think most of these offers are limited by the fact they last just one month. Startup businesses need support over a much longer period than this. Anyway, if they signed up to all these benefits they’d be bankrupt by month 2!

  • Anonymous

    I ‘m sorry; i can’t get past the picture of cameron in the frontpage

  • http://www.wordandmouth.com Dave Thackeray

    What level of involvement existed, one would muse, for those entrepreneurs. I suspect it might have been a case of the government reaching out to a bunch of mavens and suggesting that they could get some free publicity in exchange for pledging a moniker to the cause.

    Any help is always valued, but I can’t help feel that Call Me Dave’s latest donation of support is tokenistic at best.

  • http://www.wordandmouth.com Dave Thackeray

    What level of involvement existed, one would muse, for those entrepreneurs. I suspect it might have been a case of the government reaching out to a bunch of mavens and suggesting that they could get some free publicity in exchange for pledging a moniker to the cause.

    Any help is always valued, but I can’t help feel that Call Me Dave’s latest donation of support is tokenistic at best.

  • Terry

    Hmmm, don’t want to be negative but loooking at what is on offer through Startup Britain seems to be pretty limited. If you look closely at the offer such as Google’s giving the £30 advertising, this is what they usually do anyway and they do it in the hope that it will `catch’ the customer leading to repeat business for Google.
    Does anyone really think that the one month’s free Broadband is helpful? You will probably have to sign up to a 12 month contract to be elgilible for it and even if not, with switching costs, are you really going to change your broadband provider after one month?
    Similarly, Regus will offer one month free businessworld membership: How useful is that?
    I have looked to see how to access these resources and cannot see links to application forms etc.
    The site even links information resources directly to Amazon.co.uk books!Seriously, this website is treating people like idiots and I genuinely cannot see how helpful i is going to be.
    Looks like massive spin to me.

  • http://twitter.com/ColinHayhurst Colin Hayhurst

    Yes that fact alone makes it interesting. But it would have been a whole lot better to have it launched by an entrpreneur and not a politician. Branson or Cameron? Who would be more likely to inspire? Who would be most likely to alienate a large slice of the population?

  • http://twitter.com/ColinHayhurst Colin Hayhurst

    Yes that fact alone makes it interesting. But it would have been a whole lot better to have it launched by an entrpreneur and not a politician. Branson or Cameron? Who would be more likely to inspire? Who would be most likely to alienate a large slice of the population?

  • http://twitter.com/blossomnu Jenni B

    Branson is the 3rd image in the cycle on the homepage.

  • http://twitter.com/blossomnu Jenni B

    Branson is the 3rd image in the cycle on the homepage.

  • http://twitter.com/Karyn_Barnes Karyn Barnes

    This is so unconvincing – its scary. All it does is zap the will to live. Start-up Britain seems to be giving with one hand and then dragging you down with the other. Too long a fine print list for any start-up to trust.
    If you are really interested in starting-up your own businesses, I’ve found Sprouter helpful and genuine even though there are no freebies. http://sprouter.com/how-it-works

  • Soksainet4

    very nice

  • http://noisettemarketing.com Isa Maria

    It’s interesting to see that small business and start ups are finally on the agenda but like many commenters have said it looks like a bunch of links that can be found elsewhere. Most businesses need support rather than discounts. It’s not all about money (although money helps!) My local enterprise group closed recently and I started a group to support Mums in Business because there was nothing in this area to help us. A few months after starting it is clear there needs to be something locally for all startups and the council can offer no help. As a Mum with two small children, running two businesses in my spare time, I need help to so I can help other local businesses to succeed. It is great to see big companies support this Startup Britain initiative but surely these companies can offer something more valuable than a month’s free broadband? I would also like to remind the Government that many small businesses are just that- small. Most of us are sole-traders with no employees and are probably not going to be the next Richard Branson. Most have us have started businesses out of necessity because we can’t find work and we want to put food on the table not because we think we’re going to be the next multi-millionaire. I work with creatives and handmade businesses and people are trying to earn money doing what they can, they can’t afford premises or business broadband at all. I would love it if there was something that catered for these people.

  • http://noisettemarketing.com Isa Maria

    It’s interesting to see that small business and start ups are finally on the agenda but like many commenters have said it looks like a bunch of links that can be found elsewhere. Most businesses need support rather than discounts. It’s not all about money (although money helps!) My local enterprise group closed recently and I started a group to support Mums in Business because there was nothing in this area to help us. A few months after starting it is clear there needs to be something locally for all startups and the council can offer no help. As a Mum with two small children, running two businesses in my spare time, I need help to so I can help other local businesses to succeed. It is great to see big companies support this Startup Britain initiative but surely these companies can offer something more valuable than a month’s free broadband? I would also like to remind the Government that many small businesses are just that- small. Most of us are sole-traders with no employees and are probably not going to be the next Richard Branson. Most have us have started businesses out of necessity because we can’t find work and we want to put food on the table not because we think we’re going to be the next multi-millionaire. I work with creatives and handmade businesses and people are trying to earn money doing what they can, they can’t afford premises or business broadband at all. I would love it if there was something that catered for these people.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=527736855 Mel Hamilton

    I have been hearing so much about start up Britain. Being a start up my self i was advised to check out the website. I saw it about 30 mins ago and couldn’t help but feel a little infuriated. This is indeed handy advertising for all those involved what business given half the chance wouldnt want to be associated with a ”Government initiative”.
    Cameron has just put his face to the campaign but no government money!!!!!!!

    The advertising spiel surrounding Start Up Britain is that the government are doing this to be pro business and celebrate and embrace entrepreneurial achievement. This is evidently not the case he was just presented an opportunity that would soften his profile.

    The entrepreneurs that have put this together, would have been better leading it themselves but then again it may not have been as prolific. I do commend them for plugging this campaign together and would like to see it grow and develop. It’s just a shame that our own Government is not leading the way with initiatives like this.

    http://www.youtube.com/risetv1

    Nice article Mike

  • Anon

    I was really hopeful that this scheme would be something that would really help new businesses start up, alas, it’s another gimmick! How on earth will one month’s free broadband and 10% off insurance etc really help new business? It’s just a way of getting hooked in to the services offered by these well established businesses! So who really gains? It’s these big businesses who seem to be altruistic in offering assistance, but really, they are the ones who will gain extra business out of it! As I’m sure those who have considered starting up their own business know, it is the first year especially that is crucial as to the success or failure of their endeavour. I’m not saying that new businesses should have a year’s worth of free broadband etc, but perhaps a reasonable discount for a year may be of more benefit than just one months worth or a piddly 10% off scheme. Someone who hasn’t run a business before needs real help in all sorts of areas, from tax requirements, market research etc, etc, to how to expand and make the most of technology available etc. To run and make a success of your own business is not an easy task and I just cannot see how this latest scheme will provide any real and lasting benefit. From some of the other comments I’ve read, others are also not hoodwinked by this Start-Up Britain ruse.

  • anonymouse

    Nice to see that for “Startup Britain” one of the businesses involved is a US company. They couldn;t find a UK-based logo design company? Really?

  • anonymouse

    Nice to see that for “Startup Britain” one of the businesses involved is a US company. They couldn;t find a UK-based logo design company? Really?

  • Anon

    I started up late last year, and as such was very keen to see what help this initiative could provide.

    My first impression is that it is a marketing site for large businesses providing meagre discounts – and note that many of these discounts are nothing to do with StartupBritain (eg. the £30 free Adwords offer). It has links to a few Amazon books, but note the links have referral codes so somebody is getting commission if you buy.

    I would love 12 months free line rental or broadband, but I am not going to change provider to get a free month (O2 want you to sign up for 12 or 24 months).

    There is very little content on the website itself, it is really just a list of links at best. The “Business Ideas” include links to the TechCrunch home page and the TED home page, hmmm….

  • Anon

    I started up late last year, and as such was very keen to see what help this initiative could provide.

    My first impression is that it is a marketing site for large businesses providing meagre discounts – and note that many of these discounts are nothing to do with StartupBritain (eg. the £30 free Adwords offer). It has links to a few Amazon books, but note the links have referral codes so somebody is getting commission if you buy.

    I would love 12 months free line rental or broadband, but I am not going to change provider to get a free month (O2 want you to sign up for 12 or 24 months).

    There is very little content on the website itself, it is really just a list of links at best. The “Business Ideas” include links to the TechCrunch home page and the TED home page, hmmm….

  • http://twitter.com/dougall Doug Monro

    Nice idea but horribly executed. With the face of Cameron and a thousand ‘incentive coupons’, what startup will feel this is a place for real support to grow their business? I hope the government is getting some affiliate revenues to fill the hole in the deficit … we need less political propaganda and support for big business (MS, Goog, Virgin, eBay, AXA, Barclays, HSBC …) and more genuine support / getting out of the way (like the EIS relief change).

  • Tez

    How long do you think that you would be in business if all you had were promises and links to other sites without a real product or service available?

    Has anyone noticed the irony of a Business Startup site selling its wares before it has them available? For example;
    a) the long list of Long list of company supporters of StartUp Britain (specific commitments are not yet clear)
    b) the new features `launching soon’…

    Would you trust `Startup Britain’ site to advise you on your business when they cannot even get a plausible or credible service offering up themeselves?

    This site is a disgrace and an insult to would-be startups.

  • Tel

    In the case of `Start-up Britian’, the gap between what seems to have been promised and what is delivered is so wide that it has honestly disturbed me and got me wondering what is the real objective of the site?

    Cynically, it occured to me that `Startup Britain’ might be an exercise in persuading the millions of People listening to the budget of the Conservatives Business credentials but then not having to deliver much to the People visiting the site.

    Thus, the Government is left looking good for the masses whilst not having done much at all for the people that visit `Startup Britain’.

    Looks like this Startup won’t be going far at all…

  • http://twitter.com/Darcy_Palmer Darcy Palmer

    what kinda pisses me off is that the startup kit that normally costs £25 http://www.brightwordpublishing.com/products/view/2 now has a whole £5 off

    surely it should be free, or at least someone make one

  • Joanne

    Mike, I am both puzzled and amazed at your comment;

    `…A cynic might say it’s handy advertising for those involved, but that would be a stupid comment. Advertising can be done much more efficiently that this…’

    Perhaps, advertising can be done more efficiently but that does not mean that it is not worthwhile for the companies involved to be linked to the `Startup Brtiain’ intiative.

    I find your phrase `..would be a stupid comment..’ to be a little bit rude and arrogant. It seems to suggest that any investigation or comment on whether it is `handy advertising’ or not for the companies to be involved with the `Startup Britain’ would not be useful, at least from your perspective.

    I agree with your comment though that I hope hope that this represents a sea change in helping startups. Unfortunately, though, given the quality of this site, I do not think that the sea change will happen just yet and certainly not through this medium.

  • http://twitter.com/widget1 Mark Needham

    Like a lot of other entrepreneurs, I have committed to provide a number of hours of free mentoring to startups linked with this initiative. I don’t know how they allocate the entrepreneurs to the startups, but if this initiative encourages more people to help young businesses, then that will be a step forward.

  • Anonymous

    Startup Britain? Is this allowed under EU directives?

  • Anonymous

    Startup Britain? Is this allowed under EU directives?

  • Anonymous

    Startup Britain? Is this allowed under EU directives?

  • Lee

    The site looks like it’s been cobbled together from various sources, features at least two US-based businesses giving their prices in dollars (I’ve only looked around for 10mins, so there may be more!) and American business plan templates.

  • http://twitter.com/mikebutcher Mike Butcher

    Rude and arrogant? He you not been on TechCrunch before then? (*JOKE*)

  • http://twitter.com/mikebutcher Mike Butcher

    From what I’ve been told at the launch it was the entrepreneurs who took the idea to the gov. Not the other way round.

  • http://twitter.com/mikebutcher Mike Butcher

    I have to agree with you there. However, the PM branding will make the national press write about it. Without it they worn’t. I can see they are caught between a rock and a hard place on that issue.

  • http://twitter.com/mikebutcher Mike Butcher

    I have to agree with you there. However, the PM branding will make the national press write about it. Without it they worn’t. I can see they are caught between a rock and a hard place on that issue.

  • Tel

    What is funny is how similar the offerings from a £20.00 startup kit are compared to the Startup Britiain website.
    Benefits from the £20.00 Startup Kit
    Amazing offers from some of the leading brands for small business:

    - Barclays – a business bank account with £25 in the account
    - O2 & BlackBerry – a free month’s line rental
    - Google – £30 of free AdWords advertising
    - MOO.COM – free pack of 50 MOO business cards
    - HP – 10% discount on any HP products
    - Experian – 200 free sales contacts
    - Powa – save up to £270 on a website for your new business
    - PayPal – no fees for 3 months on your Powa site
    - Regus – 1 month’s free businessworld membership
    - iStockphoto – 20% discount on stock imagery plus 25 free images
    - GoToMeeting – 60 day free trial
    - Bitsy – 2 months’ free subscription

    Benefits from the Startup Britain
    AXA will offer 10 per cent off business insurance
    BlackBerry will offer 1,000 free Start Up Guides
    Microsoft will train 5,000 start-ups in how to use technology to drive their business and marketing activities, including free technology resources worth up to £400 per company
    - Google will support start ups, initially by providing them with a limited amount of free advertising
    - Regus will offer one month free businessworld membership
    - O2 to offer one months free line rental
    - PayPal will offer three months free fees for new accounts when signing up to a Powa.com website
    Fujitsu offers a 30-day free trial and/or 10% off the annual costs of IT storage/processing requirements via its online “Cloud” service
    McKinsey & Co will join with leading employers to launch Entrepreneur First to encourage our most innovative graduates to start up their own business
    YouGov and UCL, working with StartUp Britain and in collaboration with Imperial College London will lead the development of a pilot Start-up Summer to stimulate, encourage and support student entrepreneurs.

  • dwl

    Lets just kill off the UK design industry. Lets recommend a US company and crowdsourcing
    George Osborne’s closing budget comment of “stamped with designed in Britain, made in Britain” rings more hollow than ever.

  • http://www.wordandmouth.com Dave Thackeray

    I do hope so. I think my (un)healthy helping of in-built cynicism is part-journalist, part-business owner derived.

    I wonder how the finished product offering resulting from Startup Britain differs from the intended vision of these founding entrepreneurs…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=512900051 Scott Jones

    A fair bit of bitching going on. My two pennies worth. Surely ANY free help is worthwhilst help? Do agree about the Cameron pic bit though.

  • anon

    A Tory PR exercise – ie corporate sponsored vapidity.

    Vince Cable and Cameron are taking the piss. It’s time to act.

  • http://twitter.com/roomitchell Andrew Mitchell

    Forget the free bits and pieces from suppliers.

    This is a great initiative. Creating a “startup meme” and raising ambition levels across Britain. That’s what it’s all about.

  • Anonymous

    looks like they have stolen the Messenger and iCal icons too…

  • nonsense

    Hey Mike, I’m surprised you fell for this.

    Hope you at least got some good biscuits at the launch. It;s more than anyone else will get out of it.

  • Lee

    Most of the stuff on there isn’t free, they’re discounts (many of which can be found on here: http://www.brightwordpublishing.com/products/view/2).

  • http://www.songkick.com/ Pete

    I noticed that there is no one with a technical background on the team behind this — a strange choice when the best UK tech startups are product/engineering teams.

    I wonder whether the non-tech DNA of the group of people involved is why it has ended up being an advice site for starting any ol’ company.

    In any case, I do think the offerings are a long way from what’s needed to start a company in Dave’s glamorous “East London Tech City”.

    I do wish them luck though — I’m sure a ton of work has gone into this and there’s something commendable in the fact that it is probably already more useful than Business Link’s website despite the years that have gone into that mound of steaming, badly-written copy.

  • http://www.facebook.com/ivanpope Ivan Pope

    As so many have pointed out, it’s utter pointless cack, larded with a bunch of the same old same old names. No doubt companies want to help the government out, especially as the story today seems to be that ‘expensive’ BusinessLink’ is not long for this world.
    So a bunch of random entrepreneurs will replace it, with a bunch of random discounts – all of which are available elsewhere.
    Surely if the government wants to launch a startup site it should put it out to tender – I’m sure there are many startups who would like to run it properly.

  • Tel

    Just because it is free does not necessarily mean that it is worthwhile.

    The reason that the site is atrracting adverse comment is bvecause it seems to promise so much more than it actually delivers. It is a mish-mash of lazily rehashed content that pretends to be practical and real business help.

    Fancy dismissing the feedback as `bitching’?

  • http://twitter.com/nanodome Nanodome Ltd

    Bless ‘em for getting His Daveship on board (though how could he have said no?), but right now I just can’t get adjectives such as ‘warm’, ‘fuzzy’, and ‘empty’ out of my head.

    Tell you what, let’s all give those kind corporate sponsors a 10% discount when any of our startups list on AIM. Which should be mid-2088, if current funding and growth trends continue.

  • http://twitter.com/om_nick Nick Pearce

    This initiative smacks of desperation. Startups benefit from customers not gimmicks.

    Useful
    - Provide tech hubs with ‘affordable’ premises and infrastructure. Sliding scale rent based on startup revenue or funding models
    - Reward risk. Provide tax incentives for end customers who buy into startup tech. First customer benefits from a 50% rebate on the product cost, 2nd customer 30% and so on.
    - Move away from rewarding success and move to accepting startups as vehicules of risk and reward. Banks I am looking at you.

  • http://www.fiftybyfifty.com/lifeoffarhan/ Farhan Lalji

    I think every action taken by the government to make Britain a better and more competitive place for Start-ups should be applauded, it might not be perfect, but combined with the budget, EIS, R&D and other initiatives it looks like the government is moving in the right direction. Now we need the banks and UKTI doing more.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=512900051 Scott Jones

    Fair enough Terry. And well, TC is always “bitching” rather than feedback ;) My point, maybe done badly) is just that it’s only a few hours old, maybe we should see what they deliver before tearing them a new backside.

  • http://www.thetechnologyexpert.co.uk/ Steve Butterworth

    I like the concept of #startupbritain but a quick glance of the site and government is peddling the same out moded outdated business advice that made business link so ineffective.

    Come on its 2011, be pragmatic, be lean, be customer focussed. Its not about big ideas, business plans and logos. Its about doing something useful for a customer that will pay you for it. Look at “Customer Development” and Lean Startups”.

  • http://www.paloalto.com/about_us/leadership/alan_gleeson/ Alan Gleeson

    Hi Mike, I think they needed a beta launch firstly and some independent impartial feedback prior to launch. Given comments below and elsewhere (e.g. Twitter) it is clear that what should have been a cause for celebration is being viewed by many as a political stunt or commercial play e.g. £1500 of great offers does not really play out when they come with strings attached i.e. you have to pay for ongoing use etc

    That said, if lessons can be learned (and there are plenty of people giving advice) I think there is an opportunity here to provide some extra support to entrepreneurs.

    However after a quick review, what it offers over and above what the likes of Smarta, Bytestart, Startups, Startupdonut, offers remains to be seen. Alan

  • John O’Neill

    Rubbish. We need REAL CASH MONEY. I can get money off coupons, in a magazine. This isn’t support, its a half a r s e d attempt to con people off the dole. I’m unemployed, and trying to launch CashCowUK.com, a cheap, UK altenative to ebay etc. coz I need to raise cash by selling my own stuff, but can’t afford the fees. Too skint to promote it. If there is real money and support (proper support, not more ‘Social Networking’ tips), contact me immediately, (thro’ the site). NOW PROVE IT! SHOW ME THE MONEY! I’m waiting…

  • http://kosso.co.uk kosso

    Then why slap Cameron’s mug on the top?! ;p

    The whole thing makes me feel even more cynical. I mean, good on them for recognising the PR opportunity here, for getting involved, but the ‘offers’ seem pretty paltry. Free ‘line rental’? (How about calls? Free Google Adwords? (You get those coupons in magazines).. etc..

    I’ll take the 50 MOO cards though. Moo rules. As long as they don’t have to get designed by some American crowd-sourced logo design site. ;)

  • Test

    It’s like StartUpBritain, YourSquareMile and the Big Society Network are having a vaporware competition.

  • http://www.thetechnologyexpert.co.uk/ Steve Butterworth

    No – All free advice is not necessarily worthwhile help! If its poor advice as some of this is then it will waste you time and money and at worst help your business to fail.

  • http://twitter.com/MarketingXD MarketingXD

    It’s a voucher site for new business! Unfortunately not a very good one.

  • http://twitter.com/nowaffle Amanda Boyle

    Bloom Venture Catalyst is coming soon…
    Bloom’s goal is to make funding startups, community projects and social ventures online easier, safer, and more people-oriented. Bloom believes that most people would prefer to support friends, family and connections. That’s why we created Bloom, a place where you build a network of trusted supporters and patrons.
    In addition to raising funds, Bloom also provides a place to seek out specialist information, expert support and professional advice.
    Within a few minutes you can define your project and spread the word throughout your social network to attract seed funds. And, if no one in your social circle is biting, we make it easy to promote your project to the world at large so your project can Bloom!

  • Anonymous

    Looks like the usual networkers and self-promoters, rather than people with actual business nouse, on offer. And the crowdsourcing gaffe is unforgivable, given the context.

  • http://twitter.com/rodolfor Rodolfo Rosini

    Not launching that website would have been worse. It’s a step in the right direction. Even though getting a free startup guide from BlackBerry will certainly increase your chances of going bust.

  • http://andysinclair.wordpress.com/ asinclair

    Criticism of StartupBritain linking to 99designs is ridiculous. We can’t afford a flash Soho firm to design our crappy logos, 99designs is ideal for a startup – and as far as I know there is no UK equivalent (99designs is a marketplace not an agency, and as such any company, UK or otherwise, can compete for business there).

  • Anonymous

    Actually they have plenty. In a recession, government must borrow, tax those who can afford it, spend to stimulate economic activity, and pay it back when times are good. Like Bush 1 (raising taxes to cover the shortfall) and Clinton (paid it back) both did.

    Let’s be clear: the market exists because society, including the government, creates it. It is imperfect, and most non-extremists are happy to have the state intervene to get things motoring when it stalls. I’m sure the mythical pure laissez-faire economy would eventually self-correct and return to growth, but you may grow old waiting for that to happen.

    Obama, sadly, chose not to spend enough to get the US economy really moving, just enough to prevent a total collapse. So we’ll be waiting a few years yet for jobs and prosperity.

  • Anonymous

    These tech hubs exist, and have done for many years – just look at Daresbury. Of course, they’re having their funding cut, while the regional development agencies have been abolished. But never mind! We get free trials for really expensive services, and money-off vouchers for stuff few startups need!

  • Anonymous

    The problem is that lending billions/trillions won’t help. Any sane person can see this. It’s like pissing in your pants. It will be warm and cozy at first, but after a little while it will get cold. If you think the financial crisis is over – think again.

    You ain’t seen nothing yet.

  • Alec

    Correct.

  • Anonymous

    It has been _shown_ to work, over, and over, again. It worked in the Great Depression. It worked in the 90′s. It worked in Japan and Germany after the war.

    Unlike the fantasy economics of supply-side, spending out of a recession has been tested, and proved. It is as close as you can get in economics to a law of nature.

  • Aasfdsa

    Hidden behind the badly designed ‘startup’ facade is just a lot of companies advertising/offering their services at a reduced rate for a short time in exchange for a long term contract you can’t get out of easily.

    Total investment by UK government: £0.00 as expected.

    No help at all.

  • http://artswrap.co.uk Pete

    I think we’re unanimous then – a risible offering. What’s more worrying is that the government actually seems to believe this is in any way useful. I can’t be bothered to watch the video but was following Mike’s tweets, and they wheeled out Cameron, Osborne and Vince Cable.

    Cameron seems to think that having your family get you a job with a ludicrous manufacturer of overpriced toot makes you an entrepreneur (albeit one that has to sleep with him every night). Osborne – well he’s never had a proper job in his life, much less founded a business, and let’s be honest, he’s hardly the shiniest spoon in the cabinet. But poor old Vince, with an illustrious business career behind him, and now he’s out shilling for this rubbish.

    If this dream team are out to promote this particularly thin gruel, then I wouldn’t get my hopes up for much else in the way of small business support over the course of this Parliament. And minus ten points for the frankly humdrum lineup of entrepreneurs and self-publicists, including struggling TV personality Peter Jones, who’d go to the opening of an envelope if it would get his mug on the telly.

  • http://twitter.com/rosscolquhoun Ross Colquhoun

    It would appear that David Cameron and his Government would rather direct precious business startup funds to a San Francisco based, internationally crowdsourced, middle-man rather than supporting the UK design industry.

    Number 10 has decided that instead of channeling business to the 1000′s of talented, knowledgeable and experienced designers in the UK through their new ‘Startup Britain’ portal, they would instead recommend that new businesses should use ’99 designs’ to design your logo.

    On face value, ’99designs’ is a crowdsourced marketplace where individuals and small businesses can post graphic work that they need completed. An innocent proposition, which to a budding entrepreneur might appear an attractive resource with it’s low fees. But if we look a little deeper, it becomes apparent that it is a website which abuses the current plight of many unemployed designers around the world, encouraging them to spend their time designing on projects which, in more times than not, will end up in them not even being paid for the work.

    Innovative? I don’t think so. Exploitative and shortsighted? Most certainly.

    It is also a concept which in my opinion, neither understands or respects the design process and is one that will take money out of our economy whilst providing no support for our countries innovative design industry. A fact that makes me question our Prime Ministers understanding of the workings of a successful economy.

    I cant help but feel that it is missed opportunities like these that will slow down our economic recovery. It’s also an insult to our design industry and demonstrates that this current Government neither respects nor understands design.

    You must try harder Mr. Cameron, your design community is not impressed.

  • http://profiles.google.com/jwengwell james engwell

    I dont see how two pages of (average quality) links can be ‘an initiative’ – but you are right about the ‘startup meme’ being fundamentally positive (in the same vein as the big society meme) However this site seems to me to be very cynical – the offers are plain patronising

  • http://ww.martial-arts-master.com martial arts styles

    The issue is that in the media today this new initiative is being portrayed as £1500 cash in your hand to help fund your new business, it clearly isnt.

  • http://andysinclair.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/some-thoughts-on-startup-britain/ Some thoughts on Startup Britain « Andy Sinclair's Blog

    [...] today (just search for the #StartupBritain hashtag on Twitter, or read some of the comments on this TechCrunch article), not many people are making constructive [...]

  • http://www.digitalle.com digitalle

    I am a great proponent of this govt. But reading the £1500 quids worth of gear is piss poor. It is just a bad bit of promotional offers. – these aren’t even good offers. 30 days of a free service that you can’t afford afterwards is hardly going to “kick start” the entrepreneurial economy ….

    You also need need more than a facebook page, which was being bandied around this morning like it was some kind of Magic wand! The changes made in the budget the other day are the sort of thing we need to get this country moving… Real investment incentives, like the 30% tax relief for EIS start ups….

    Or what about paying no NI for new recruits for the first 2 years…. Or no business rates, things that do not really require much effort or imagination but make a huge difference for a start up when you are trying to keep your head above water and pay yourself.

    So going back to this list above, “one months free line rental from O2″, come on! Must try harder!!

  • Anonymous

    So you are comparing getting a business loan with printing trillions of dollars? Ha.

  • http://www.websitemagazine.co.uk/website-design/startup-cock-up-creative-review-blog StartUp cock-up – Creative Review (blog)

    [...] StartUp cock-upCreative Review (blog)So, rather than backing the design sector that your government so frequently claims to support, your big initiative to encourage hundreds of new businesses funnels commissions to an American website that systematically undermines the values of the very …UK entrepreneurs launch Startup Britain discounts with PM's backing – but not …TechCrunch [...]

  • Cath Court

    So most are middle-class entrepreneurs with businesses supporting entrepreneurs. Hmmm… Anyone actually make anything? Anyone from disadvantaged areas? Or even outside Hoxton? I see the website is sloppy, sleb backed stuff, with offers from multinationals that are really useful to start-ups – free £3K cloud computing but then £3K a month! But there’s 20% off glasses so something for the disadvantaged then! And 1000 free hours of mentoring – I’ve seen more mentoring hours volunteered in Liverpool in the past month than this effort…

  • Alan P

    I thought Google was trying to cull sies that did that sort of thing :-)

  • Anonymous

    I don’t. Business people are not a rare species. What is most disheartening is that most of these people’s businesses are ‘business support businesses’. It’s typical of the age. A nation of parasitic ancillary support, such as networking facilitators, but no one investing in the real economy.

  • Anonymous

    The LOLs: Cameron’s head not aligning with the button below. Surely that’s not deliberate?!

  • Anonymous

    Hey Karyn,

    Thanks for recommending Sprouter – much appreciated!

    Erin Bury
    Community Manager, Sprouter.com

  • http://ukhelpinghands.co.uk/start-up-bbc-news/ Start Up – BBC News | UK Helping Hands

    [...] investment angels has praised the chancellor's Budget …UK entrepreneurs launch Startup Britain discounts with PM's backing – &#9…TechCrunchall 301 news [...]

  • http://www.entrepreneurmagazines.co.uk/entrepreneur-magazines/uk-entrepreneurs-launch-startup-britain-discounts-with-pms-backing-%e2%80%93-but-not-techcrunch UK entrepreneurs launch Startup Britain discounts with PM’s backing – but not … – TechCrunch

    [...] TechCrunch [...]

  • http://twitter.com/culturengine Andrew McPhee

    Here’s an idea.

    Let’s treat the Startup Britain initiative as a service in beta. It is a first step, but not a proven product that fits to the market.

    Now it is time for the people behind it to listen to feedback (which I am sure they are), and to iterate what they have into something that truly solves the problem they have identified.

    Here’s some constructive feedback:

    A free month of using a giant companies paid for service is a sales offer, not a commitment to helping businesses startup in the UK. If you are going to let a large company gain positive press for helping startups in the Britain, make them actually commit to doing so.

    If they really want to help a startup business get off the ground, they should offer 3-6 months of their service for free, or a meaningful discount (50%). This would actually be game changing for a new business, and it would not just look like a sales promo rolled in glitter.

    In return the government could offer a tax break to larger companies that show a real commitment to helping startups out.

    Everyone wins, even the taxman (as new jobs and new taxable products/services are created).

  • http://twitter.com/IqbalGandham Iqbal

    Surely the first thing THIS startup should have done is to ask “What problem are they solving” and then gone out and done a quick customer survey to speak to startups and ask them if they are having this problem…i.e are they incapable of googling.

    Surprised little feedback by the ‘founders’ of startup britain, would be great to hear what they think

    Iqbal

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1505529996 Andrew Morozov

    If the UK Gov wanted SMEs to grow, they just have to make the banks do they job. It’s even not about lending. Try to open an account for a start-up in UK and see what I’m talking about.

  • http://ericbechtoldscam.com/?p=141 UK entrepreneurs launch Startup Britain discounts with PM’s backing – but not … TechCrunch –Eric Bechtold scam? ~>Click Here to find out the real deal on Eric Bechtold scam. MLM millionaire secrets revealed. Find out how he keeps sh

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  • http://www.digitaleconomyforum.it/wp/?p=772 Startup Britain launched to provide services to start-ups « Digital Economy Forum

    [...] This morning in London, the UK’s answer to Startup America launches, titled – guess what? – Startup Britain. That similarity aside, the initiative has been put together by a number of existing UK entrepreneurs and is not being backed by any government money, unlike the Obama initiative. Instead, we have here a ground-up entrepreneur-led initiative which is seeing over 60 leading brands offer services to up-and-coming startups in the UK. This is not specifically about tech startups – but it may well appeal to that sector. TechCrunch – Read more >> [...]

  • http://twitter.com/blackworld Blackworld

    This is most likely going to end up another joke! If DC’s government really wants to shake up the UK interms of entrepreneuralism to boost the UK economy dramatically, do the following:

    *Set Up a new bank and call it StartUpbank.co.uk
    *Instead of wasting Quantative easing on banks and bonds, use those funds for Startup bank
    *Take a risk and give every entrepreneur a low cost loan of £10,000 minimum, no biz plan required, just a good executive summary and perhaps a beta template of your idea.
    *Be very radical and provide 25 yr “Business Mortgages” like home mortgages, @ Startup Bank, for startups with business plans or proven beta models.
    *Give every 16 yr old to 25yr old in the UK a laptop for free!

    Now, sit back and watch the UK economy take off within only 3 to 10 yrs just like Singapore or India.

    It’s a big shame this country has not been able to mine the future of the internet, even though we own the internet language. Instead we spend money on stupid wars and no investment in our youth and entrepreneurs whatsoever. Big mistake!! It takes a lot of tenaciousness to launch a new business in the UK as there is hardly any funding at all and too much cynicism against startups. The above is not a fanciful proposal, it’s what I would advise any party in power to do, to compete in the new world before its way too late. Check out my start up: Leicester Square! http://www.leicestersquare.com , takes a lot of effort to even attempt something like this, but I grew up with the web in Silicon Valley at Macromedia and have no fear whatsoever. The Yanks really get it, unfortunately we don’t, but we have enormous talent here in the UK just going to waste, big shame. One day, I really believe politicians will become anachronistic, as technology can do what they do… only better! They simply just don’t get it.

    My last suggestion to everyone, start Crowdfunding your new business ideas, I suggest using Indiegogo.com or Wefund.co.uk, as a first step to raise funds from the crowd. You don’t pay it back, instead you provide a reward. Don’t waste your time with banks anymore, its pointless! Also look out for CrowdSponsorship.com very soon, my next gig. Have a nice day!

  • Frank

    show us the money

  • http://twitter.com/enternships enternships

    Thanks for all the feedback guys. As one of the Co-Founders of StartUp Britain I wanted to quickly fill you in on what’s been happening since the launch and where we’re heading. As pointed out by Andrew McPhee below we are very much a start-up ourselves.

    The offers and resources you see right now are merely a starting point. This is just the alpha version of the site and those of you who may be tracking its evolution would have noticed that we are iterating, trying our best to listen to the feedback and changing links/including new resources.

    We are very keen to bring the startup community some amazing offers and that’s exactly what we will be doing. We are engaging with each one of our partners to see what more they’d like to do / able to offer. We have been overwhelmed by the response from businesses of all sizes wanting to help and we will be announcing over the coming weeks the outcomes of our discussions – rest assured we’re doing out best to bring you even better resources and deals.

    Ultimately this is a campaign to foster a more entrepreneurial culture in Britain and whilst it has been brought together by 8 entrepreneurs (with no government/external funding and in a very short amount of time) we rely on the support of the entrepreneur community to help us develop the offering and spread the word. As Reid Hoffman says: “if you’re not embarrassed by your first launch, you’ve launched too late” – and to some extent the same applies here. We have put the product out there and whilst it’s far from perfect we’re taking on board feedback and hope you’ll bear with us over the coming weeks as we develop the offering.

    Rajeeb Dey

  • Ruth Butterworth

    PostDesk has just come out with a new article on StartUp Britain even more detail, worth taking a look. http://postdesk.com/debates/entrepreneur-featured-on-front-page-of-startupbritain-speaks-out/

  • http://www.julian-carter.com Julian Carter

    All sounds complicated and no doubt loads of paperwork to complete to get the measly discounts.Most entrepreneurs have better connections than this. At least its a start but needs to be more creative.

  • http://esolutionspro.com esolutionspro

    We are trying to create 100 millionaires by 2012 and we keep getting closer! Jump in! Here is an education platform, community, and entrepreneur incubator. http://esolutionspro.com

  • http://www.theredrocket.co.uk/blog/?p=1649 Entrepreneur interview with Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna

    [...] fluff and more decent, meaningful help to young entrepreneurs. The recent Start Up Britiain initiative is a good example of the Government’s heart being in the right place, but failing quite badly [...]

  • http://www.dealsbell.com/ coupon code

    They put out a alarm to business to acceleration up and advice them
    drive the accretion and Startup Britain is allotment of the
    acknowledgment to that call.

  • http://rookieoven.com/2011/09/15/sunny-day-in-edinburgh/ Sunny Day in Edinburgh – Rookie Oven

    [...] this year David Cameron helped launched the Startup Britain campaign, with the aim to get more people to be entrepreneurial and start their own business. Startup [...]

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