The Prime Minister also announced that he has commissioned Tesco Chief Executive Sir Terry Leahy, a member of the Liverpool City Region Shadow Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), to produce a regional economic plan to stimulate growth.
Speaking in Manchester, David Cameron said 'Getting behind tourism, green energy, pharmaceuticals, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, the industries of the future - all this is crucial.'
'But it would be a big mistake if we stopped at those big ticket industries. Because if you look at where growth has come from in recent years, you see that it's the small, innovative companies that hold a lot of the potential.'
'Over and over again studies show that around one in 20 companies - the small, high-growth firms - are responsible for half of new job creation. So far from ignoring the start-ups and the small players, we're laying out the red carpet for them.'
Click here to read David Cameron's full speech.