More jobs would be created if the government focused its support on companies with at least 10 staff rather than on start-ups, according to Ernst & Young’s ITEM Club.

Hetal Mehta, economic adviser to the ITEM club, said that many start-ups hit a growth ceiling.

“It is only when those start-up companies become mid-size, typically after several years of consolidation, that they are able to achieve the levels of sustained fast growth that disproportionately contributes to output and employment….”