Andy Burnham’s landslide victory in Makerfield, followed by Keir Starmer’s resignation, has all but guaranteed his ascension to Number 10. But regardless of who leads the country, the central question remains the same: how does Britain return to growth?
For entrepreneurs, that question matters more than any Westminster intrigue. Britain is about to welcome its seventh Prime Minister in a decade. Combined with the uncertainty that has followed Brexit and a prolonged period of sluggish productivity, political instability has made long-term planning increasingly difficult for businesses.
The UK doesn’t have a shortage of entrepreneurial talent. It has a shortage of conditions that allow entrepreneurs to thrive.
As Wes Streeting recently observed, “We’ve got to be as focused on wealth creation as we are on wealth distribution.” I believe he is right. The uncomfortable truth is that we cannot redistribute prosperity we have not first created. Growth is not a political slogan; it is the foundation upon which public services, investment, innovation and living standards are built.
The question is whether an Andy Burnham-led Britain would be better placed to deliver it.
The Burnham growth model
One reason many business leaders are paying close attention to Burnham is his track record in Greater Manchester. Over the past decade, he has focused heavily on attracting investment, improving infrastructure and championing regional economic growth.
Unlike many politicians, Burnham has spent much of his career grappling with the practical realities of creating economic opportunity outside London. That matters because some of the UK’s most successful businesses are not being built in Westminster or Canary Wharf. They are being built in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and countless towns and cities across the country.
I know this first-hand. Having founded, built, scaled and exited UKREiiF from Leeds, I have now set up the Entrepreneur Festival in the same location. Under my tenure, UKREiiF generated more than £60m in local economic benefit and helped unlock over £2bn in projects and investment – so the local impact of any one business cannot be underestimated.
The experience taught me that entrepreneurial ambition is evenly distributed across the UK, but opportunity often is not.
Burnham understands that challenge. The question is whether the lessons learned in Greater Manchester can be translated into a national growth strategy.
Entrepreneurs need Government to match their energy
The support needed to launch a business is different from the support needed to scale one. The challenges of attracting investment differ from those involved in hiring talent, entering international markets or preparing for an exit.
Too often, policy is fragmented because government departments think in silos while entrepreneurs live in ecosystems.
There is also a tendency to view a successful exit as the end of the entrepreneurial journey rather than the beginning of the next one. Yet some of the most valuable contributors to the economy are founders who choose to build again.
Having experienced both success and failure, they bring hard-earned knowledge, stronger networks and a greater understanding of how to create sustainable growth. Their experience often has as much value as the capital generated from an exit, helping to create jobs, mentor emerging founders and avoid the costly mistakes that can derail young businesses.
The challenge is that the UK does relatively little to encourage successful entrepreneurs to reinvest their wealth, expertise and ambition back into the domestic economy. Our country creates many start-ups, but is less effective at ensuring the value generated by successful founders continues to circulate through new ventures, investments and mentorship. If growth is the priority, policymakers should be thinking not only about how businesses are started, but how successful entrepreneurs are incentivised to scale, exit and build again.
The missing voice in economic policy
Another challenge facing any incoming government is that economic policy is too often designed without sufficient input from the people creating economic growth.
Founders are frequently consulted after decisions have been made rather than involved in shaping them from the outset.
That creates a disconnect between policy intentions and commercial reality.
Entrepreneurs understand where investment barriers exist. They understand the practical challenges of scaling businesses, attracting talent, navigating regulation and competing internationally. They know what prevents growth because they encounter those obstacles every day.
If Britain is serious about rebuilding its economy, policymakers need to spend less time talking about entrepreneurs and more time listening to them.
That is one of the reasons I launched the Entrepreneur Festival. Throughout my own business journey, I discovered how difficult it can be to access practical advice from people who have genuinely built, scaled and exited companies. If I want to know something, I want to learn it from people who have been there and done that – not from people who have simply studied it. There is enormous value in learning from lived experience, and the same principle applies to policymaking.
The people who create growth should have a meaningful voice in shaping the conditions that enable it.
Confidence is an economic policy
Ultimately, the debate about Burnham is less about ideology than confidence.
Businesses do not invest because politicians tell them to. They invest when they believe the environment supports long-term success.
They hire when they are confident about demand.
They innovate when they are confident about future returns.
They take risks when they believe success will be rewarded.
Nobody tells founders that the hardest part isn’t the product
For much of the past decade, confidence has been in short supply. Political turnover, Covid, the expense of Brexit, shifting priorities and economic uncertainty have made it harder for entrepreneurs to plan for the future.
The next Prime Minister’s most important task may not be launching a flagship policy or announcing a new funding programme. It may simply be restoring belief that Britain is a place where ambition is worth pursuing. And if you choose to pursue it, you know that you have the right support for every stage of your journey.
The real test
Andy Burnham may well understand the importance of place, investment and regional growth. But if he wants to convince entrepreneurs that he can lead a national economic revival, he needs to show that he understands the people who create growth too.
Founders don’t expect government to build their businesses for them. They don’t want special treatment. They simply want a system that rewards ambition, backs innovation and makes it worthwhile to take risks.
The UK doesn’t have a shortage of entrepreneurial talent. It has a shortage of support that turns entrepreneurial success into long-term economic growth. The next Prime Minister’s job is not to create entrepreneurs; it’s to create the conditions that allow more of them to succeed, reinvest and build again.
If Andy Burnham can do that, he will help to unlock growth for UK PLC.