According to many economists and business analysts, the high street has been one of the main casualties of the recession. However a report out to today claims that while the number of retail outlets closing is still high, the pace of closure rates has gone down considerably this year.

The report, conducted by market research firm, ‘Direct Market Data’ found that the number of retailers closing their doors increased by twelve per cent in the last quarter of 2009 , while during the first part of this year they are down by 7%.

Alexander Johnson, founder of Direct Market Data, comments: ‘These new figures are encouraging and indicate that the high street is far from over. However, full recovery is still a long way away.”

Lee Smith, economic advisor to the BCC, agrees: ‘ While the figures are positive the fundamental factor which have lead to the current state of the high street, such as the rise of online shopping, won’t simply go away. If high street retailers are to survive, they must evolve.”

In the light of the report claiming that TV programmes such as The Apprentice and Dragon’s Den present an misleading image of entrepreneurialism in the UK, popular Dragon James Caan’s has announced that he set to launch a ‘school for recent company formation’ owners.

James Caan amassed his huge fortune in the recruitment and property sector, and has said that he wants to use his broad experience of as an entrepreneur, to work with start-up companies and help them avoid the many mistakes a lot of new entrepreneurs make.

Caan comments: ‘Forming your own company and starting to run your own business can be a very isolating. And, from my experience the information available is not hugely helpful. I want to take what I have learned and use it to help the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

“Running your own company is very much a learning experience, but it is one you don’t have to go through on your own. I can’t help but thinking that if I had had the help of something like my academy when I was starting out my entrepreneurial journey would have been a lot less painful at times.”

According to a recent report, conducted by the Charted Institute of Personal Development, the recession has completely changed the landscape of the employment market.

Historically, students have been encouraged to graduate from university, get a job within a large organization and work their way up the corporate ladder. However, the findings of this report suggests, that the collapse of many large high profile companies has changed the perception of ‘big business’ and consequently many graduates are now looking to work within smaller organizations.
The report asked over 2,000 graduates whether they would prefer to work in a large organization or within a small business or recent company formation. An overwhelming 55% said that they would prefer to work in a small company and cited reasons such as ‘quicker promotion’ being able to ‘have a role in decision making and the future direction of the company’ as the most important factors to consider when choosing a new role.

HR expert Amanda Werth, comments; “The recession has made many people re-assess what they feel is important, especially in terms of their career. Therefore, it’s not surprising that people looking to enter the job market for the first time, want to work within a small business where they feel they will have say in the way a company develops. However, such widespread competition for such roles will put even more pressure on a recent graduate to stand out from the other candidates at interview.”