Minding the Gaps in British Ethnic Entrepreneurship and Commercial History: From the Genesis to the 21st Century

Tracing the origin and development of British ethnic entrepreneurship from the 1800s to the 21st century raises awareness of a salient research gap to make a contribution to entrepreneurship research. We draw on path dependency theory to understand the range of socio-cultural and economic factors that inform the dynamic behaviour and actions of visible minorities (Africans, Chinese, South Asians and people form the Caribbean) ethnic entrepreneurship. Archival and industry documentations are analysed to identify four distinctive epochal periods of origination of ethnic entrepreneurship that highlight the path dependency of activities. Furthermore, we found network alliances, business clusters and resilience factors, such as founder-owner social outlook, culture, faith, and social identity as critical success factors. We further outline the implications of the historical development for research, government policy, industry and entrepreneurial practice in the UK.