Tara Askham to Aid UK Government Rewrite Rules for Entrepreneurs

• Nottingham finance lecturer Tara Askham has joined the government’s Maple Review Steering Committee
• The review aims to identify and address any barriers faced by entrepreneurs from deprived areas in the UK

Nottingham-based finance lecturer, author and mentor Tara Askham has been appointed to the government's Maple Review Steering Committee, an independent review that sets out to identify and address the barriers that economic deprivation presents to UK entrepreneurs.

The Maple Review, which is sponsored by Xero and chaired by Small Business Britain, gathers opinions from every part of the country to ensure everyone from all parts of the country and all backgrounds gets the same chances to start and grow businesses.

The appointment is both a personal commitment and career milestone for Tara, who grew up and started her career in Nottingham-experiencing firstly hand the challenges which arose from not having access to funding, networks and mentors. Thus she hopes to use that experience to help bring about meaningful change.

Tara is a qualified finance lecturer, published accounting author and Fellow of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT).

With over a decade's experience in helping people use finance as a tool for empowerment, her work has included writing nationally recognised qualifications such as the UK's first Access to Higher Education Diploma in Accountancy and creating global finance learning content for ACCA-X.

Her training programs have supported organizations, from major companies like Volkswagen to local charities and public sector bodies.

She has also helped numerous entrepreneurs through mentoring initiatives, such as Santander's Breakthrough Women Leaders, Enterprise Nation's Help to Grow, and UnLtd, to develop sustainable, purpose-driven businesses.

Her appointment follows her participation in discussions at the House of Lords, where she contributed insight as a business owner from an economically deprived area and spoke about the challenges of building a business outside London. These contributions led to her being invited to join the Maple Review steering group.

Tara added that entrepreneurship could bring positive outcomes for individuals and communities when people possessed the right knowledge, confidence, and support. She emphasized the need to make business opportunities more accessible all over the nation.

The first steering committee meeting of the Maple Review is scheduled for December. Its current Call for Evidence is open for entrepreneurs, policy-makers and community leaders to share their experiences of starting and running businesses in economically disadvantaged areas.