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Posted: Mon 23rd Sep 2024
A private sector initiative, backed by some the UK's leading tech pioneers, has already supported almost 40,000 small businesses to upskill, up-tool and embed technology into their business in its first 12 months.
Enterprise Nation’s Tech Hub is a collaborative partnership determined to solve the UK's chronic productivity conundrum by boosting technology adoption among UK small and medium businesses (SMBs) through its universal one-stop-shop solution.
It is funded by global tech innovation firm Cisco, market leading SMB technology companies Sage, Google and British telecommunications leader Vodafone UK and built by Enterprise Nation. Tech Hub is further supported by Dell, and Square/Clearpay, with expert advisory support from BCS.
Since its inception in October 2023, Tech Hub has reached thousands of small businesses with its one-stop-shop approach and delivered policy recommendations via its powerful Tech Hub Consortium.
Key statistics:
34,942 users accessed Tech Hub's resources, tools and advisers
4,525 users attended Tech Hub's monthly webinars, digital drop-ins, and in-person events
1,144,537 unique users reached with digital policy campaigns
The Consortium will present its insights in a report tonight at a Labour Party Conference event with minister for data protection and telecoms and minister for creative Industries, arts and tourism Chris Bryant MP, Kanishka Narayan MP, Luke Charters MP, Lucy Rigby MP and Emma Jones CBE, founder of Enterprise Nation.
Emma Jones said:
"We've seen a monumental shift to digital over the past few years and it's incredible to see that UK small business are continuing to make progress into the digital space.
"The reason we launched Tech Hub 12 months ago was because research showed that the UK's small businesses were lagging behind other G7 countries in terms of digital adoption.
"Tech Hub is about revolutionising tech adoption and turning around the UK's digital fortunes for a successful pro-tech future. We hope the new government listens to our solutions and remains open, as it has said, to working with tried and tested private sector initiatives to economic problems."
Aine Rogers, managing director for small and medium enterprise at Cisco UK & Ireland, said:
"Cisco is delighted to support the work of Enterprise Nation and to be a founding Tech Hub partner. Adopting and using digital technologies is at the heart of driving up business productivity and the support provided through Tech Hub has proven invaluable to so many SMEs."
Rich Bayer, UK country manager at Clearpay, said:
"Small businesses are a driving force within the UK, contributing significantly to the economy and employment. To continue on this path of growth, It's vital that SMEs are given the right support and tools to be able to quickly and efficiently adopt digital solutions that can help to transform their businesses.
“We're proud to support Enterprise Nation's Tech Hub as they strive to achieve their ambitious goals for 2025 and beyond."
The report found there has been an enormous global shift towards digital, with around 44% of UK small and medium sized businesses now describing themselves as a digital business.
And yet the UK is underperforming on the adoption and use of digital technologies compared to its international competitors. While UK companies put significant importance on management and technology adoption, they invest less than their G7 counterparts.
Tech Hub is a new-generation, one-stop-shop solution allowing businesses to access industry-leading digital tools, training, and support, all in one place. The Tech Hub offers an accessible solution to help small businesses adopt the technology they need to run and grow their ventures.
The Consortium is calling on the government to:
Reward businesses for adopting technology with new financial support.
Offer targeted tax incentives, and time-limited subsidies, to support businesses with the cost of adopting technology.
Invest in new training programmes and support designed to introduce small business owners to emerging technology, and to ease their concerns where legal reasons are stopping them from using the tech effectively.
Looking ahead, the programme aims to expand its influence and effectiveness in several key areas:
Government collaboration: we want to position Tech Hub as the primary channel for future government tech adoption initiatives. We will also help ensure that the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce delivers clear recommendations, and a clear government strategy, on boosting SME tech adoption.
Platform enhancement: Enterprise Nation will continue to refine its platform to better connect small businesses with timely, relevant resources. This will involve implementing more sophisticated AI-driven recommendations, expanding the diagnostic tool to provide more personalised action plans and integrate real-time data analytics to identify emerging needs.
Advocacy for financial support: Enterprise Nation will continue to advocate for government-backed financial incentives, such as targeted tax relief or subsidies, to support small businesses in technology adoption.
Tech Hub was designed to deliver on the vision of the previous government's Help to Grow: Digital scheme, which was closed for applications in February 2023.
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