Millennials and Gen Z lead the 'mobilepreneur' revolution.

Britain is set for a small business boom over the next three years with 31,900 new 'mobilepreneur' start-ups set to emerge, according to a new report commissioned by O2 Business and conducted by Development Economics and pollsters Censuswide.  The report - called 'Unleashing Britain's Mobilepreneur's' defines a 'mobilepreneur' as someone who sets up and runs their business initially from a smartphone. The findings also show that younger entrepreneurs have started a significant proportion of these new businesses.

This past year has been challenging for all. But shutdowns in education, hospitality and retail have hit young people especially hard at a time when they are looking to move their careers forward. Now they are finding innovative ways to bounce back. Roughly a third (11,800) of the 31,900 new businesses predicted by the O2 Business report will be established by millennials (aged 25-34). Meanwhile, Gen Z (aged 16-24), is set to start 8,900 more.

In response to this report, O2 looks for a way to break down barriers to technology

While technology is crucial to the success of this new generation, breaking into the business world means facing many complex challenges to access the same opportunities more readily available to those with more business experience. With many businesses going online now, it can be a tough obstacle to overcome.

O2 Business breaks down these barriers to enable entrepreneurship with tariffs and digital tools that flex with small and medium-sized business (SMB) needs.

The report has estimated that these smartphone businesses could create 35,500 new jobs. This surge could add three-quarters of a billion (£790 million) to UK GDP over three years. However, this boost is only possible with the removal of existing barriers to entry. Access to tech, costly, inflexible mobile tariffs and start-up costs all feature in the top ten obstacles to starting up a business, according to the O2 Business report.

Kate Mulligan-Brown from O2 Business said, 'The UK economy can't bounce back fully until we break down barriers to business for our aspiring entrepreneurs. Inflexible, costly tariffs for tech put some people off the idea of starting a business, as they don't allow entrepreneurs the flexibility they need month-to-month. This inflexibility is one barrier we can break down right now - and our research shows doing so will unleash a wave of new mobilepreneurs.'