Black business in focus at the 2025 BBEC

THE 2025 UK Black Business Entrepreneurs Conference (BBEC) sent a powerful message from the heart of London last week, writes Estelle Uba, Black entrepreneurs are not asking for handouts — they’re asking to be recognised for the commercial power and cultural capital they already hold.

Held at the NatWest Conference Centre in Bishopsgate, the fourth annual BBEC, founded by Dr Carlton Brown and hosted by broadcaster Henry Bonsu, welcomed more than 200 business owners, policymakers, creatives, and investors for a packed day of dynamic discussion, unapologetic truth-telling, and joyful celebration of Black entrepreneurship.

Coming just days after Windrush Day on 22 June, the conference paid homage to the economic and societal contributions made by Black entrepreneurs, pioneers and changemakers over the decades through through-provoking video reels. 

With talks from award-winning entrepreneurs like Thomas “Hal” Robson-Kanu, former football player and co-founder of The Turmeric Co., and Mike Williams, co-founder of Flake Bake Ltd, as well as standout performances from Britain’s Got Talent finalist Innocent Masuku, the Hampton University Choir, and RnB legend Junior Giscombe, the event balanced business with cultural brilliance.

Afua Hirsch (pictured below), author, broadcaster, and founder of Born in Me Productions, opened up about the structural challenges about investment in Black-owned media. 

While her production company struggled to attract funding in the UK, she secured support in the US. “I feel a sense of community with African Americans, and I understand the opportunity for me to attract resources in America in a way that I couldn’t here,” she said. 

Hirsch is now looking to the African continent for expansion. 

“I’m really excited when I can have the kind of meetings I have in LA in Lagos and Accra, and meet people in Africa who want to invest in our storytelling… I’m not asking for charity — it’s an undeniable commercial opportunity.” 

Despite breaking records on Kickstarter and opening a flagship venue in east London, saxophonist and Soul Mama co-founder YolanDa Brown OBE DL told the crowd she still faces the same tired resistance from investors. 

“We had all the paperwork, everything was there,” she said. 

“So we took it to the investors… and the thing that we kept hearing was, ‘open your first five and come back to us.’” 

Brown, who raised nearly £250,000 in what became the platform’s largest-ever crowdfunding campaign for a restaurant, didn’t mince her words: “I don’t think that support for startup businesses is there. 

“I’m a woman. I’m a Black woman… I hear about all these wonderful sorts of programmes and outreach. It’s not hitting me.”

Speakers throughout the day hammered home one truth: diversity isn’t just moral — it’s profitable. 

Carole Copeland Thomas, a DEI expert from the US, pointed to Costco as a model. “They’re making money off it. And money and business are the reasons why diversity works,” she said. 

“If you are serving your customers, then you will be rewarded by productivity, profitability, etc.” 

Deputy Mayor of London for Business Howard Dawber added: “Black people in London are twice as likely to start a business. But Black-owned businesses, on average, earn a third less in their first year than White-owned businesses. That’s not acceptable.”

Dr Carlton Brown, BBEC founder and founder of Marshall & Brown, emphasised the need for more public sector spending to go to Black-owned businesses: “Black and ethnic minorities represent around 16 per cent of the UK business population, yet less than one per cent of public procurement is spent with them. It must be practical, actionable steps that are taken to ensure that we get access to opportunities — not platitudes. No one in the Black community is asking for handouts, they are simply asking for access to opportunities.” 

Referencing his book The Race Paradox, Brown added: “There is still a disconnect between the intentions and the reality of banks and corporates when it comes to investing in or working with Black-owned businesses. It’s about how we bridge that disconnect and find real, tangible solutions.”

Tskenya-Sarah Frazer, entrepreneur and author of A Quick Ting on Black British Businesses issued a call to the community: spend intentionally and offer grace. 

“Even if the service is a little bit terrible now and again, or the package is a little bit late, it’s important for us to give our community grace,” she said. “We all have privilege. Use yours to support Black-owned businesses.”

As the BBEC continues to grow every year, it remains a bold, unapologetic space to challenge disparity, spark solutions, and centre Black entrepreneurship in the future of the UK economy.

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