A group of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs have urged the Prime Minister to back a new entrepreneurship competition in a push to get British startups back on track.

In a letter to Liz Truss, the group, which include senior management from crowdfunding firm Seedrs and food-sharing app Olio, called on the government to fill the void left by ‘Pitch at the Palace’: a start-up competition spearheaded by Prince Andrew and cancelled following the  fall-out after the Royals interview on Newsnight with Emily Maitlis  over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

The letter said: “We are entering a difficult economic period but the new government must focus on how we encourage more of those businesses to get to scale by growing right across the country”.

Stating that “culture starts at the top”, the letter calls on Truss to push for a new national contest to help scale-ups.

The letter was coordinated by Jimmy McLoughlin, Theresa May’s former business director, and comes alongside a tide of pleas from businesses across the UK.