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Friday, November 11, 2011

Breakfast at No10 Downing Street

This is a guest post from Rob Keve, Founder, CEO of Fizzback Group Ltd, a company backed by TAG and others.




"Last week I was invited to present to some MPs over breakfast in Parliament, about UK start-ups. In the first few minutes, their full English fry-up was clearly winning the battle for their attention. 
The only serious question on all MPs lips is how to stimulate economic growth and they didn’t see the relevance of a venture capital backed start ups on economic growth. 
I told them that we were only a five year old business having raised modest amounts of funding but had created over 100 jobs in the UK alone – they stopped sipping their tea from the exquisite House of Commons porcelain teacups. 
Next I explained we had generated more in direct tax income for the economy than the amount we raised in the first place and had just injected a further $80M indirectly into the economy by way of sale pro-ceeds from an overseas buyer – they put down their forks and put away the HP sauce. 
Finally, I explained that a small group of brethren calling themselves Fizzback had won some of the world’s largest brands as clients, was improving these brand’s competitiveness all whilst putting British technology on the global map – they looked up to see who was talking. 
Tonight, when they go home, I hope that as they are pulling up the draw-bridge they will ‘get it’. Economic growth comes from innovation and self-initiative. It comes from a just a few dozen individuals in a few square feet of space designing a unique solution, garnering deep in-sight, selling & servicing to the top brands in the world. 
That creates growth. That is economic leverage. The answer isn’t to be found in public sector spending, in UK policy board rooms or in banking regulation. 
The answer is to be found at Fizzback and the other ground breaking start-ups like us. We create economic activity, jobs and wealth."
Rob Keve