Apprenticeships best way of creating entrepreneurs, says survey

Business owners in the North West believe that creating entrepreneurial apprentice schemes is the best way of creating more firms, according to a new survey.

The survey by private bank Coutts found that 35% of owner-managers cited apprenticeships as the best method for creating new entrepreneurs, while 18% believed that more mentoring schemes were needed. A further 18% suggested teaching enterprise as a subject in schools.

Dylan Williams, managing partner for Coutts in the North West, said: “What’s important is to get real-life entrepreneurs and business owners together with school pupils and university students to help set up apprenticeships and mentoring schemes to grow the sector. 

Coutts has also thrown its support behind the coalition government’s new Startup Britain scheme, and Williams said that building these connections was part of its agenda.

“As well as practical support like this, our own research shows that the top personal traits attributed to entrepreneurs’ success as business owners are perseverance and drive, passion and ambition.”

The entrepreneurs surveyed said that when first setting up their businesses, the areas in which they needed most advice were accounting and finance (65%), business model development (24%) and marketing (22%).

The survey also showed that business owners within the North West were more confident than many other regions about their prospects for the year ahead, with a third stating that they were planning on expansion.

In the North East, none of the owners surveyed said they were planning to grow this year.