Tech founder Alex Depledge, who was former chancellor Rachel Reeves’ adviser on entrepreneurship, has been given the same role in Andy Burnham’s government.
When appointed previously, the government said “Alex will advise the chancellor on the government’s entrepreneurship landscape, focusing on addressing the key barriers faced by businesses seeking to start up and scale up in the UK.”
Posting on LinkedIn, Depledge said she has been reappointed until at least the Budget on 28 October.
“I can’t tell you much more than that yet. But I can tell you what I’ll be pushing on. And I am sure it is no surprise,” she said.
“Growth doesn’t happen because government spends more or announces more. It happens when businesses become radically more productive, and a small fraction of them do most of the work. Scale-ups are around 0.6% of UK SMEs. They generate roughly 55% of SME turnover.
“Grow the number of firms capable of scaling globally from Britain, and the rest of the economy grows around them.
“Then there’s AI. We’re facing a shift on the scale of the railways: whoever builds the infrastructure and the skills first sets the terms for everyone else. It isn’t a nice-to-have for later. It’s essential now.
“I got sh1t for how ruthlessly focused I was before on what actually moves the needle. I am more so now. Time is short, my effort is not.”
Depledge has built several businesses including Resi and Helpling, formerly known as Hassle.com.