The making of alternative business support for migrant and refugee entrepreneurs in the UK: filling the void of formal support

Abstract

Extensive research on migrant and refugee entrepreneurship has revealed a disconnection between the needs of migrant and refugee entrepreneurs to set up and grow their businesses and the available business support offerings. The austerity measures implemented in post-2010 Britain further exacerbated the lack of business support. Moreover, migrant and refugee entrepreneurs often perceive mainstream support as catering mainly to white, middle-class male future business leaders. In this chapter, we present three case studies in the form of vignettes to argue that alternative knowledge-sharing and skills-building opportunities, such as community mentoring networks, informal and social networks, churches, charities, and self-made strategies, have filled the gap left by the lack of business support. These alternative sources of support have emerged against the backdrop of neoliberalism and austerity measures in Britain. By engaging in debates on migrant entrepreneurship and business support, we illustrate how these shifts in the support landscape feed further fragmentation and unequal access to resources for vulnerable groups whilst simultaneously fostering the emergence of new support networks across different communities.

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ORCID for Maria Villares-Varela: orcid.org/0000-0002-0137-7104

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