Earlier this summer, I joined 250 leaders from business, politics and culture on the UK’s largest-ever trade mission to the United States. Officially, it was called Greater Together LA. Unofficially, the aim was to do deals and remind everyone this wonderful, funny little island has still got it.

The biggest surprise wasn’t what I learned about the way America does business. It was what it helped me remember about Britain.

In conversation after conversation — including on the British Airways charter flight over — one thing became obvious: we’ve lost sight of everything that’s great about this country.

In Britain, we seem to talk endlessly about decline. Every news cycle becomes another debate about what’s broken, why nothing works and why the country’s best days are behind it. In America, even with all the problems it faces, the conversation is different. It’s about building. I spent the week with entrepreneurs and investors and barely once did Washington come up unprompted. People wanted to talk about what was growing, what was scaling and where the opportunity lay. Relentless, almost naïve optimism.

The strange thing is that Britain’s biggest problem isn’t a lack of talent or ideas. We have world-class universities, globally influential creative industries, a trusted legal system and one of Europe’s strongest technology and finance ecosystems. What if our biggest challenge is simply confidence?

What struck me most was that the Americans hadn’t forgotten what makes Britain great. Serious investors and business leaders still see the UK as one of the best places in the world to build a company.

We’re the ones who’ve stopped believing it. That is why I think there are genuine reasons to be optimistic.

In Andy Burnham, we have a new Prime Minister who has put economic growth back at the heart of government and has begun addressing issues businesses have raised for years, including business rates and recognising the importance of sectors like hospitality. The steps have been small but the signals so far are welcome. The Government needs to create the conditions that allow businesses to thrive, but if ministers are finally starting to do their bit, the challenge shifts back to us.

And last week, for once, the numbers backed us up. The economy grew 0.4 per cent in the second quarter, better than anyone expected, and the services sector is growing again for the first time since April. It’s hardly time to crack open the champagne — hospitality is still having a horrible time, unemployment is stubbornly high and confidence remains jumpy ahead of the Budget. But it’s a reminder that momentum is there for the taking, if businesses actually go and take it, rather than sitting around waiting for some mythical all-clear that never quite arrives. Britain doesn’t need permission to grow. It just needs to start.

For too long, British business has been distracted by Brexit, Westminster, Washington and whichever political drama dominates the headlines. Politics matters, of course. But politics can’t become an excuse for standing still. Governments don’t create growth. Businesses do.

They create the conditions. Entrepreneurs create the jobs. Companies make the investments. Founders take the risks.

Confidence isn’t the reward for growth; it’s a precondition for it. Every business, including my own, started with a slightly irrational belief that something better could be built. Economies work in much the same way. You don’t grow by managing decline more efficiently. You grow by deciding to build anyway.

Growth isn’t just a statistic politicians like to quote. It’s what funds public services, creates better jobs, generates tax revenue and gives businesses the confidence to invest again. A growing economy makes almost every other problem easier to solve. I’ve seen that at Grind. When the pandemic disrupted our core café and restaurant business, we didn’t spend our time wishing for better conditions. We diversified into ecommerce and grocery, creating entirely new avenues for growth. The opportunity came from building, not waiting. That’s why I think this moment matters.

Government appears willing to back business in a way it hasn’t for some time. That’s encouraging. But now it’s our turn to respond. The businesses that succeed over the next decade won’t be the ones refreshing political headlines every morning. They’ll be the ones obsessing over customers, products, innovation and growth.

The rest of the world already believes Britain can succeed. It’s time we did too.

We need to stop treating ambition as something faintly embarrassing and start celebrating the people who create jobs, invest in communities and build businesses. Our funny little island still has extraordinary advantages. Government can help unlock them. The rest is up to us.