WE NEED MORE NORTH WEST STREET-SAVVY RISK TAKERS, NOT OVER-FORMULATED BUSINESS EDUCATION, SAYS ACCOUNTANT.

HAINES WATTS

PRESS RELEASE

July 26, 2010.

WE NEED MORE NORTH WEST STREET-SAVVY RISK TAKERS, NOT OVER-FORMULATED BUSINESS EDUCATION, SAYS ACCOUNTANT.

Video here.

Photos here.

Business needs more “street-savvy” risk-taking entrepreneurs to counter the massive rise in the number of graduates who have a formulated view of how to run a business.

David Fort, partner at UK top 20 chartered accountancy firm Haines Watts in Manchester and Preston, says business education training and funding should be switched from the public sector and into the hands of the employers (Watch video).

“In a Haines Watts survey of business owners, a common comment was ‘a degree does not a businessman make’. Businesses and the private sector need to develop education and training programmes which are not just specific to the skills they require, but also reflect the culture of that business,” he said.

“Accountants may have a reputation as being amongst the most risk-averse of professionals, but our view is that the North West needs more risk-takers – but harnessed and guided by private sector-run training to channel that raw commercial talent.

“More people than ever are going on to higher education, but people coming out of university are arriving in the jobs market with a much more formulated and samey structure in terms of their attitude to business,” he said.

“The rapid expansion in the numbers going through higher education may be good for the UK’s professions, but the owner-managed business sector is not seeing the benefits of the investment. Frankly, not many graduates are emerging as potential business leaders and owners. I question whether higher education is actually preparing graduates for the world of work.

“Our survey showed that a third of current North West business owners left school at 16, a further 22% with qualifications no higher than A-level; those who left school at 16 got out into the real world, taking risks, employing people – this is how we ended up in the UK with the likes of Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, John Caudwell and so on.

“Small owner-managed businesses are the powerhouse of the UK economy: of the 4.7 million businesses in the UK, 99.3% are small firms with fewer than 50 employees, yet most business training seems to be more about how to play a management role in steadying or maintaining the course of business monoliths rather than creating business and jobs through raw ambition and risk-taking,” said David Fort.

Of the 8,700 businesses invited to take the Haines Watts Business Owner Survey, 645 responded giving a response rate of 7.4%. A selection of business owners were further invited to take part in in-depth interviews.

Haines Watts is a UK top 20 chartered accountancy firm specialising in the owner-managed sector, providing a broad range of services out of its 50 offices. The firm has 80 years experience and 30,000 clients.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

www.hwca.com

http://www.hwca.com/offices/accountants-north-west.php