Call to access would-be entrepreneurs’ drive

Almost half of Scottish schoolchildren want to start a business when they grow up, but more needs to be done to translate this into real-life businesses, according to a report published today.

Barclays Business Banking found that 49 per cent of Scottish schoolchildren aged eight to 16 want to launch their own business when they grow up, compared to the UK national average of 42 per cent.

However, given that only 6 per cent of UK entrepreneurs are aged 25 or under, there has been a call for more action to tap into a sector worth an additional £23.3 billion to the UK economy by 2025.

Stuart Brown, head of SME Scotland at Barclays, said it is “no surprise that Scotland, with its rich history of innovation, has a generation of ambitious entrepreneurs waiting in the wings”, but the right tools and resources are required. “We’re calling on the rest of the industry and government to get behind the next generation of entrepreneurs.”