Cable is cautiously optimistic about the British economy. © Andrew Sales
Business secretary Vince Cable has warned that the recent boom in self-employment needs to be accompanied by support for entrepreneurs to help them take on staff.
Speaking at the offices of think tank the Resolution Foundation, Cable said that much of the growth in self-employment was "positive," and rooted in the growth of the creative industries.
But speaking to Prospect after the event, he cautioned that: "We do want to ensure, as the economy now grows on a solid basis, that the self-employed do become entrepreneurs, and we give them the support [they need] to take on staff."
His comments come as an Office for National Statistics (ONS) release highlights the role self-employment has played in the UK's falling unemployment rate. The ONS reports that there were 4.5m self-employed people in the UK in the period January to March 2014, a 9 per cent increase on the previous year.
Hamish McRae explains why Britain's boom in self-employment is greater than the rest of the world's in a piece for the next issue of Prospect, out 22nd May.
Listen to Vince Cable speaking to Prospect below:
