"Black. British. In Business & Proud” is the only study in the UK that considers the complete entrepreneurial life cycle for Black business owners in Britain. From ideation to a sustainable business model, the preceding analysis that informs this report is shaped by the voices of more than 800 Black people in Britain; consisting of students, employees, business owners and established entrepreneurs from social enterprise, B2B and B2C industries.

With personal and family experiences of discrimination and well-documented links to colonialism and imperialism, 57% of Black business owners were aware that bank financing was available, but just 13% used banks for financial support and just 14% would look to their bank or a relationship manager for business advice and support.

 

Black-owned businesses do not look to banks when seeking business or financial support, yet we know that the continued contributions from Black communities can and do make a significant impact on the national economy. Black people contribute daily to the institutions and organisations they feel alienated by, but the Black pound is powerful.

​

The Centre for Research of Ethnic and Minority Entrepreneurship found that firms owned by people of African and Caribbean origin contribute £25 billion annually to the British economy. The value of this statistic is powerful and one too big for institutions to ignore if they want to take steps towards greater inclusion.

This report addresses the significant gap in market research that explores the challenges for not simply the broad catch-all of “BME” groups in building a business, but the Black diaspora specifically, living and working in Britain.