Talent spotted

Great news from interviewee Clare Molyneux (NB this award made AFTER the book was published - we spotted her first.)

"I was awarded Cosmopolitan Magazine's 'Ultimate Business Woman of the Year 2007' on Tuesday night. My lovely mother and I met all kinds of celebrities from Fern Cotton to Sarah Brown (the PM's wife.) The last two days have been amazing. If winning the award made my day our breakfast the next day at Number Ten Downing Street made my life. I have stood where Winston Churchill has stood. (My late father, whose birthday it is today, by the way, would be overjoyed.)"

http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/index.php/v1/Cosmo_Awards_Video/48523

Score stars meet

Interviewees Ranulph Fiennes and Victor Greenberg met for the first time at the Radisson Hotel in Liverpool, when Ran came to talk to guests of Rensburg Sheppards – one of the sponsors of SCORE. David Owen (pictured 2nd left, below) of Rensburgs was delighted to introduce the pair before the lecture, and to see Victor signing a copy of SCORE for Ran. Ran then returned the favour by signing a copy of his autobiography for Victor in a positive flurry of ink.

Other members of the team were also present – Alan Wilson (far right) of The Steve Stuart Partnership and David Morgan (far right) of law firm Halliwells were both guests on the evening, as was the book's editor, Arabella McIntyre-Brown.

Enterprise Week gift for the House of Commons

Score was the catalyst for several events during Enterprise Week, 12-16 November 2007 – both in London and Liverpool. Editor Arabella McIntyre-Brown handed a copy to young entrepreneurs and several MPs at a reception on Millbank, including John Hutton, Secretary of State for Business (BERR).

The following week Capsica sent a copy of the book to every MP (646), to peers and to MEPs, to highlight the difference between enterprise and business, and to give those members an easy primer to entrepreneurial characters and key issues they face. This was a gift from a trio of support agencies on Merseyside: Business Liverpool, Liverpool Vision and Liverpool Land Development Company.

Ben Chapman, MP for Wirral South, accepted a delivery of books on behalf of his colleagues. Mr Chapman was director of the DTI in the North West for six years before his election to Parliament in 1997 – so he is one of the most knowledgeable in the House when it comes to questions of enterprise.

"I was delighted to get an early sight of the book, and can heartily recommend it to my colleagues.

SCORE inspires international enterprise students

During Enterprise Week Score's editor, Arabella McIntyre-Brown, teamed up with Bill Doherty, local director of commercial banking for the Royal Bank of Scotland, to talk to a cosmopolitan group of enterprise students at the University of Liverpool's Management School.

"I am very grateful to my guests for my taking time out to spend with the students, it is very much appreciated. If Liverpool is to grow economically we need to develop the local talent pool. I think it is imperative that both the private sector and the public sector begin to work together to ensure that these young graduates choose to stay and work here. Liverpool is a great City and there are lots of opportunities out there. We need to support and encourage our young people as they are the future of our City's success," said Professor Jimmy Hill.

Scoring against the odds

The sequel to The Culture of Capital (published 2005), SCORE looks at a key issue for any entrepreneur: risk.

Fear of failure is the single biggest barrier to business start-up, even above access to capital. Jeopardising a safe job, a good salary and a comfortable lifestyle by striking our on their own is a massive mental hurdle to overcome for most people, and the fear of failure is there at every stage of growth. For those who look at starting their own business straight after leaving full-time education (at whatever age), it's an equally big leap of faith.

Risk is inescapable in business, and is at the heart of almost every decision. Balancing risk with reward, knowing when to jump and when to wait, having the courage now and then to make a leap of faith – these judgements make or break an enterprise.

So how do we convince the region’s potential entrepreneurs that the risk is worth taking? How can they learn to judge risk, and how can they build the resilience and strength to get up and have another go if they do fall down? And how to explain that even if an enterprise fails, the entrepreneur need not?

SCORE examines the thoughts and feelings of 20 entrepreneurs with links to the region, to see what makes them stand out from the crowd; it will show that an entrepreneur can come from anywhere, be anyone, do anything, use any reasonable means. The common character traits are drive, energy and resilience; the willingness to take risks, to put the fear of failure in perspective, to have a go.

Enterprise is not another word for business: it’s an attitude, a mindset. So although the score of risk takers are mostly business owners, there are some from other areas of life – politics, exploration, arts, sport – all of them working to exactly the same principles. Being enterprising is a way of life, not just a way of working.

In depth interviews of the entrepreneurs are underpinned by analysis and comment by business successes, professional, financiers and academics. Not just a good read with plenty of human interest, but a template for Merseyside’s next enterprising generation.