Should the government be responsible for supporting the startup economy?

But should the government be going to all this effort? Tech Nation reports that the UK digital sector drives a turnover of £170bn, while supporting some 2.1 million jobs – can the industry do more to promote innovation themselves? 
The tech economy does come in for criticism with the financial benefits of the current digital revolution are unquestionably concentrated in the hands of relatively few; corporate structuring frequently works to minimise tax liabilities; and making processes dramatically more efficient can, of course, come at the cost of many other jobs.

Juliet Eccleston, Co-Founder of professional recommendation platform AnyGood? argues that diverse hiring is critical for startup success – and that it perhaps also delivers a unique benefit. “If you have people in your business who may have been constrained in some way in their life, they will have a unique perspective on how to tackle challenges,” she says. “They will already think differently. They have the key skill of working out how to achieve something that is incredibly difficult. All too often, I see roles being advertised for people with set industry experience, when in fact not only is it not needed for the role, it would be of benefit for someone to come in with fresh, new thinking.”