Scaleup programmes
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Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK
Leadership Capacity
Impact for scaleups
2,400+
Scaling high-growth business leader participants
£7bn
Participants combined revenue
48,000
employees by scaling businesses
Key sectors
Since its launch in 2010, the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK (10KSB UK) programme offers over 100 hours of practical education and business support per business to leaders of high-growth small businesses and social enterprises across the country.
Fully funded by the Goldman Sachs Foundation, the programme accelerates growth through business education, networking, and mentoring in partnership with Oxford University Saïd Business School and Aston University Centre for Growth. Since 2010, over 2,400 entrepreneurs have completed the 10KSB UK four-month programme. It includes three residential sessions with applied business learning, online support, access to professional experts, one-to-one coaching, and peer networking. Participants develop a customised Growth Plan to guide their business strategy, while alumni benefit from ongoing coaching and a digital resource hub for small business support.
In 2024, 10,000 Small Businesses released ‘The Small Business Manifesto’ as part of the broader Generation Growth campaign. The Small Business Manifesto puts forward a series of policy asks based on a survey of more than 550 scaleup potential businesses who are part of the 10KSB UK alumni network. In the Manifesto, more businesses identified upskilling the UK workforce as their top priority for government than any other issue, ahead of access to finance, business rate reform and international trade. 45% of fast-growth small business owners said they are currently unable to access the talent they need and more than a third (37%) of small businesses surveyed were unable to access the finance they need for their business in the UK.
2025 is a milestone year for the programme marking 15 years of 10KSB programming in the UK. In recognition of this, in February 2025, 10,000 Small Businesses released a landmark report, ‘Generation Growth: The Growth Agenda’, identifying a set of “Growth Shots” – practical policy ideas that could make a meaningful difference in supporting small enterprise growth and in helping to drive economic growth in the UK. Additionally, there has been a calendar of bespoke programming including a 15th year 10KSB UK awards event and a specialist leadership training programme at the Royal military Academy Sandhurst.
The 10,000 Women programme supports female entrepreneurs in emerging markets with business education, mentoring, and networking. In India, this is delivered in person and since 2008 has trained more than 3,800 entrepreneurs from across the country. 10,000 Women is also available online, and over 200,000 women across 150+ countries have benefited. Additionally, in 2014, IFC partnered with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women to launch a first-of-its kind facility, designed to unlock finance for women-owned small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) in developing and emerging markets, and close the significant financing gap they face.
Since inception, the facility has invested $3.17 billion in financial institutions for entrepreneurs – more than five times the initial goal of $600 million. This funding contributed to a $8.2bn increase in volume of loans on-lent by financial institutions to SMEs.
