Northern Ireland needs more people running their own businesses if it is to achieve its true, and considerable potential, a world renowned expert on entrepreneurship has cautioned.

Professor Stephen Spinelli from Babson College, Massachusetts – which is ranked number one in the world for entrepreneurship education – delivered his call in advance of a visit to the province on Thursday this week.

While entrepreneurial activity in the UK as a whole – 6.2% of working age adults run their own business – is the third highest of the G7 economies, it is only half the rate of the US (12.4%) and significantly behind Canada (9.3%). In the last year, entrepreneurial activity in Northern Ireland has remained static.

Professor Spinelli, who is Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship at Babson College and a successful entrepreneur in his own right, argued that we need to encourage people to be entrepreneurial and we need to educate them how to become involved in running their own business.

Research shows that enterprise training will double the number of people considering starting their own business. That is why the University of Ulster’s School of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Strategy and Babson College in Boston will be working more closely together in the future.

Professor Spinelli comes to Belfast to finalise preparations for the University of Ulster – Babson College Partnership, the detail for which will remain under wraps until the formal launch in April. The UU-Babson collaboration will expose Northern Ireland students to world leading entrepreneurship education and encourage more of them to become entrepreneurs.

Dr Mark Durkin, Head of UU’s School of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Strategy, promises that the collaboration “will be a hugely exciting and highly relevant initiative for all students interested in challenging a status quo in their organisation.”

He added: “The UU- Babson partnership will be international in scope and traverse several programmes in areas of marketing, innovation and agri-food business development. Budding entrepreneurs are not just confined to the SME sector but also exist in larger enterprises. If you are an individual from a small or large firm who has a hunger for developing new ideas and getting things done in better and different ways we want you to be part of the UU-Babson partnership. We will tell you how in April.”

Professor Robert Hutchinson, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Management, Northern Ireland’s Business School, said: “We are encouraging people to see entrepreneurship as a career, not just a one-off opportunity. For Northern Ireland’s economy to prosper long-term it needs more entrepreneurs. Noone owes Northern Ireland a living. It has to earn it. The UU-Babson Partnership will afford them a greater opportunity to do just that.”

(GB/SP)