Whilst it focused largely on the financial environment for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), it also produced some important research on the scale and impact of the SME sector on the UK economy.
It showed that SMEs – those employing less than 250 people - accounted for 99.9 per cent of all businesses in the UK in 2015 and, not surprisingly, are major contributors to employment creation in all sectors and regions.
They currently make up 60 per cent of total UK private sector employment (i.e. 15.6 million people) but, more significantly, have been responsible for the explosion in jobs growth since the recession with 85 per cent of all new jobs being created by businesses with less than fifty employees.
Despite this, the British Business Bank recognizes that the UK faces a major challenge in terms of improving its productivity and national competitiveness. Whilst the economy has recovered since the recession the gap in productivity between UK businesses and most other leading economies has actually widened.
For example, the report shows that in terms of the output per hour worked across countries, the United States produced 32 per cent more output relative to the UK in 2014. In addition, the other leading economies globally are, on average, 20 per cent more productive than the UK.
As SMEs make up the majority of the economy, then the Business Bank suggests that by focusing policy efforts on this sector, the UK Government can finally begin to address this issue.
According to the report, entrepreneurship is no longer an issue across many parts of the economy and the UK has seen the number of new businesses grow substantially over the last few years - the number of business births is estimated as being 50 per cent higher in 2014 than in 2010.
This suggests that the challenge may no longer be one of starting new businesses (although this remains critically important) but ensuring start-ups grow substantially and make a significant impact in terms of employment, innovation and international trade.
Unfortunately, the UK was ranked 13th out of 14th across leading economies in terms of the proportion of startups that grow to employing twenty employees or more within three years. Whilst 5.5 per cent of startups in the USA grow to have more than ten employees in the USA, the figure for the UK is only 3 per cent.
This clearly shows that an increased focus on those new businesses with growth potential could improve productivity significantly.
There have been various studies on the importance of supporting growth firms, including the influential Scale Up report which showed that an additional 238,000 jobs and £38billion of additional turnover could be created in just three years if the number of growth firms could be increased by only one per cent.
Despite this, the UK Government made the decision to wind down its Business Growth Service (BGS) following the Chancellor’s Comprehensive Spending Review statement in November.
Yet the good news on this side of the border is that the Welsh Government is doing the opposite and investing in new support for growing firms.
One of these is the £20 million Accelerated Growth Programme which is specifically focused on supporting Welsh firms that want to grow their businesses by accessing specialist support in overcoming critical obstacles as the business looks to expand.
This includes one-to-one coaching and mentoring from a team of highly experienced and proven high growth entrepreneurs, access to a range of professional advisory services to provide support to overcome tactical growth challenges, and a tailored programme of masterclasses on the latest business techniques.
More importantly, these potential growth firms get the opportunity to join a community of like-minded individuals who can learn from each other’s experiences and access different trading opportunities.
Through the Wales Fast Growth 50, I have had the pleasure of working with some of the fastest growing firms in Wales during the last two decades and have seen at first hand the impact that a small number of growth businesses can have within their sectors and communities.
Despite their success, Wales remains the poorest nation in the UK and we need far more growth firms to fulfil their potential. Certainly, I would encourage more entrepreneurs across the economy to take full advantage of initiatives such as the Accelerated Growth Programme and make the most of the opportunities such support can provide.