‘We are out of the recession,’ says Jones
Jun 30 2009
'We are out of the recession,' says Dragons' Den star Peter Jones
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Serial entrepreneur and Dragons’ Den investor Peter Jones believes UK businesses have seen the worst of the economic crash.
‘We are out of the recession,’ said Jones. ‘People will say we remain in a recession over the next 12 to 18 months but what we will be seeing from now on are just the consequences of hitting the bottom of the recession.’
Speaking at the BT Business Experience 2009 event in London, the Dragons’ Den star argued that if there was a better sense of entrepreneurship in the UK, then the recession would be ‘a lot more shallow’.
‘We lack the mindset of entrepreneurialism in this country. It requires forward thinking, clarity and self-belief and these need to be encouraged,’ he said.
By way of contrast, Jones noted that the US has a deeply-rooted culture of risk-taking. ‘We need more of that entrepreneurial attitude in this country and that can only happen through education,’ he said.
Jones has seen an unprecedented level of interest from young people in starting their own business, but he suggests many of them shy away from putting their ideas into action because the business skills of entrepreneurship are not taught in schools.
‘It’s all about education and that is why I set up the National Enterprise Academy,’ added the Dragon.
The Academy was set up last year and helps 16 to 18 years olds to study enterprise and entrepreneurship.
Click here for more information about BT Business Experience 2009
Comment by John Perry
Tuesday 30th June 2009Not sure if I agree with analysis that we are out of recession but comment that we need more of an entrepreneurial attitude is very true. John http://www.centralbusiness.co.uk
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Comment by caz lane
Wednesday 1st July 2009Absolutely no way are we out of the recession. This is NOT just a rerun of the 80s. A credit event of this magnitude has guaranteed that we are now experiencing a more severe and protracted depression. No amount of denial will change that and until credit markets unfreeze there will not be the recovery many are hoping for. Unfortunately, governments are not helping, quantitive easing and monetary policy intervention is an attempt to slam the brakes on the train after it has derailed-too little, too late and it's the wrong approach in any event. We are now about to see the 'second dip' of what many are describing as a double dip recession. I agree it will be a double dip only the severity of the coming next leg down will be a huge shock to those now laying claim to green shoots being around the corner. It will be far far worse than most have seen or experienced in their lifetime.
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Comment by Marc Barber
Thursday 2nd July 2009Guess it depends on how you define recession. There’s a tendency to treat a "recession" and "recovery" as being mutually exclusive entities, perhaps making the issue too black and white. At certain points, the two surely co-exist. Clearly, though, we're not out of a recession or over one by a long shot – inflation is looking like a pretty nasty prospect over the coming year, plus rising unemployment, insolvencies, a bombed out property sector and so on and so on. So as for being over the worst, I guess that's Peter Jones playing the optimistic entrepreneur – a bit of the Dunkirk spirit for the 21st century...
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