The Maple Review has been released and reading it reminded me of my time as a former Business Advisor on the Department for Work & Pensions New Enterprise Allowance program and I would quite often here from referrals one of the following - "Stay in your lane." "Starting a business isn't for people from our background.".
I was always saddened to hear this as I too came from a similar background and never lacked the drive but lacked the advantage of being around business and it's mechanics.
For years, I watched brilliant, capable people from working-class backgrounds hold themselves back. They weren't lacking in drive or good ideas, they were simply conditioned to believe that entrepreneurship was a luxury reserved for a privileged few.
The newly released Maple Review Report confirms exactly what I witnessed on the ground: economic deprivation remains the single biggest barrier to starting a business in the UK.
With social mobility at a 50-year low, we are systematically locking out talent based entirely on where someone grew up or how much money their family had.
If we want to build a truly inclusive economy, we have to dismantle these invisible walls. Two things need to change immediately:
1. We need a 'Business Skills Guarantee' in schools.
Aspirations are shaped early. We need entrepreneurial training embedded in secondary education to inform children from poorer families that they can be future business leaders. It shouldn’t require a wealthy family or an existing network to learn about cash flow, budgeting, and leadership. We need to raise their sights before the world tells them to lower them.
2. We must replace "one-off" advisory meetings with a system of ongoing mentoring.
Starting a business when you lack a financial safety net is terrifying, a single 45-minute meeting with a business advisor isn’t enough. True support means long-term, "on-need" mentoring from leaders with lived experience. Brilliant platforms like Digital Boost and Enterprise Nation already offer incredible, on-demand support—but these services are completely fragmented from government business support. We need a joined-up national infrastructure.
3. 3. The current UK business structures makes registering a business confusing and overly complex for people from a non business background, make it simpler, create a website that leads the person through the process and make it a 100% domain of Companies House (there are a number of benefits to this for the country as well as the new Entrepreneur).
Entrepreneurship shouldn't be a privilege for the secure; it should be a realistic possibility for everyone.
Let's stop telling people to "stay in their lane" and start building a highway for them to succeed.
If you want to read the excellent Maple Review, I have included it below, as I would love to see the UK as a country that tells people regardless of their bank balance that they can achieve anything.
👇 Read the full findings and recommendations from the Maple Review here:
#SocialMobility #Entrepreneurship #SmallBusiness #MapleReview #Mentorship #InclusiveGrowth #BusinessSupport
