Nottingham-based finance lecturer, author and mentor Tara Askham has been appointed to the government’s Maple Review Steering Committee, an independent review designed to address the barriers that economic deprivation creates for UK entrepreneurs.
Led by Small Business Britain and supported by Xero, the Maple Review brings together voices from across the country to ensure that people from all backgrounds and all regions have equal access to opportunities to start and scale businesses.
For Tara, the appointment represents both professional recognition and a deeply personal mission.
“I grew up and built my career in Nottingham, where opportunities often felt out of reach,” she said. “I know what it’s like to come from an area where access to funding, mentors and networks isn’t easy. Joining this committee is about using that lived experience to help create meaningful change for others starting in the same position.”
As a qualified finance lecturer, published accounting author and Fellow of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), Tara has spent more than a decade helping people understand and use finance as a tool for empowerment. She has written nationally recognised qualifications, including the UK’s first Access to Higher Education Diploma in Accountancy and developed global learning content for ACCA-X.
Her training programmes have supported organisations from Volkswagen to local charities and public bodies, while her mentoring work through Santander’s Breakthrough Women Leaders, Enterprise Nation’s Help to Grow and UnLtd has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs across the UK turn their ideas into sustainable, purpose-driven businesses.
Tara’s appointment follows her involvement in discussions at the House of Lords, where she shared her experience as a business owner from an economically deprived area and the challenges of building a business outside London. Her insights resonated with the committee, leading to her invitation to formally join the Maple Review’s steering group.
“Entrepreneurship has the power to transform lives and communities but only if people have access to the right knowledge, confidence and support,” she said. “We need to make it easier for people from all backgrounds to start and grow businesses that work for them and their families.”
The Maple Review’s first steering committee meeting will take place in December, with its current “Call for Evidence” open for entrepreneurs, policymakers and community leaders to share their experiences of building businesses in areas affected by economic disadvantage.
