“People ask if a credit crunch is the right moment to be starting a partnership like this," he continues. "There is no better time in my view. The boom-slump cycle is a natural part of our history – this is a time when we, as a country, are at our most creative.”
London mayor Boris Johnson helped Campbell, Jules Pipe the Mayor of Hackney and Jonathon Moulds from Bank of America launch the Bright Ideas Trust at an event in Shoreditch in November last year.
Campbell stresses that Bright Ideas Trust will only support good businesses and that the money he give them is not a handout or a long-term grant: “We make it plain that we want the money back and that we want them to encourage and mentor the next generation of young business people.”
“Sectors that didn’t exist even five years ago now have life,” says Campbell. “Young entrepreneurs not only defy all previous rules, they have an open capacity to think of new ideas. This may not be the most obvious time to create new businesses but the entrepreneurs among us will be looking for opportunities. SMEs are the backbone of the UK’s economy – and the more we can launch at the moment, the better.”
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