Kirsty Henshaw could have ended up a different way. For those of you who missed Dragon’s Den last week, she secured funding for her new frozen dessert. Working 2.5 jobs, raising a little boy alone, and yet having time to launch her own business, coming close to landing Tesco as a major client represents the Best of Britain in my opinion.

Nesta, the UK’s Innovation Agency, released some research recently on “the vital six per cent”. An estimated 54 per cent of all new jobs are created by the vital six per cent of fast-growing SMEs. Kirsty’s business, Worthenshaw’s, has the profile of becoming part of that six per cent that will help to drive the recovery. With a potential deal with Tesco, it’s not a lifestyle business. As they create more profit, these fast-growing SMEs create more taxable income which will fill the Treasury’s coffers. As fast-growing SME’s create more jobs, they reduce unemployment, and more people become addicted to the taste of professional success in a business which is taking off. Kirsty really is a model for the new Britain which is becoming an “entrepreneur country”. She doesn’t see barriers, but is thinking globally without any big marketing speak – just getting on with it, nailing the right partnerships, creating a great product, and selecting people carefully who can help her on her journey.

Building businesses creates social welfare. As the wave of those vital six per cent of fast-growing SMEs succeed, we may surprise ourselves with how we exceed our revenue forecasts as a nation. Think Kirsty is unique? She’s not. That’s what so fantastic about where we are today. She is exceptional, but not unique. There are tens of thousands of Kirsty Henshaws, and their success will do more to keep the Great in Great Britain than rigidly holding on to a welfare state of the past.

Julie Meyer is chief executive of Ariadne Capital and a dragon on the BBC’s Online Dragon’s Den.