Entrepreneurs should be aware of their social responsibilities and in some cases can tackle global issues more effectively than politicians, according to Virgin supremo Richard Branson.

Speaking at the Virgin Media Business Pitch to Rich final at Second Home in Shoreditch, Branson said that “every single entrepreneur now needs to become a force for good”.

“Not just in the products they’re making but in using their entrepreneurial skills to go out and adopt problems,” he continued.

He went on to say that being an entrepreneur is a “particular skill” that can be put towards solving many wide-arching global issues.

“As an entrepreneur you view problem differently perhaps from politicians and you’re better equipped than politicians to address quite a lot of problems in the world,” he explained.

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The fact that entrepreneurs have longer careers with more continuity is another reason they can look at things in a different way to politicians, according to Branson.

“I’ve been around for 50 years and the average politician is only three years on the job, so you’ve got that longevity of looking at situations,” he said. “And as more and more entrepreneurs are doing that, slowly the problems of the world are getting ticked off.”

Earlier Branson told the audience at the Pitch to Rich final that “out of great entrepreneurial ideas come great countries.”

“When I started out 50 years ago the word entrepreneur didn’t exist. But over the last 50 years everyone’s started to want to be an entrepreneur and it’s great to encourage and help them,’ he said.

“Entrepreneurs are making lives better and it’s great to see how much better the world is now.”

Further reading: Using adversity to drive innovation