Explore the ScaleUp Annual Review 2022
Select a section to expand and explore this year's review..
CONTENTS

Introduction 2022

Chapter 1 2022
The ScaleUp Business Landscape

Chapter 2 2022
Leading Programmes Breaking Down the Barriers for Scaleups

Chapter 3 2022
The Local Scaleup Ecosystem

Chapter 4 2022
The Policy Landscape

Chapter 5 2022
Looking forward

Annexes 2022

SCALEUP STORIES 2022
Peer Groups - The power behind scaleups

We know that scaleup leaders consistently highlight peer networks as a key source of support. In the 2022 Annual ScaleUp Survey they again emphasise this point. Acting on this insight and the guidance of SUI, IUK Edge has now brought peer to peer groups firmly into their day to day activity with scaling firms.
Launched in May 2021 in partnership with the ScaleUp Institute, the Innovate UK EDGE Peer Group Network has brought together founders, MDs and CEOs of innovative scaling businesses from different sectors in 14 groups across the UK.
We asked five of them to share their experiences which are provided below as they reflect on their key challenges and how the peer group has supported them.
MARK THOMPSON
In your sector, what have been the main challenges to growth in 2022 – and will they be the same in 2023?
Coming out of Covid, supply chain issues. In our sector, the supply of products such as batteries, electronics and semiconductors have been a big challenge. The double whammy of adverse exchange rates and rising energy costs are factors that have been outside our control but inflation has put pressure on us in terms of wages.
Our revenues increased from £2.2m to £3.5m last year and we are expecting revenues to double again this year. So in 2023 our main challenge will be getting the right people into our business as we scale up; we have to scale up our knowledge, bring in more people with specific skills for specific roles.
As a leader of a scaleup, what has been the value of being in an Innovate UK EDGE peer group?
Once a month, we get that chance to really see where we are and to discuss issues. We share our eyes and ears and you can get things off your chest. We have all bonded as a group and the value we get out of it is absolutely fantastic. Afterwards, everyone in the business knows when I have been on the Innovate UK scaleup peer group! It’s been absolutely spot on for me and I’m delighted the group is carrying on for a further 18 months.
In what ways has the growth of your business benefited to date from engagement with Innovate UK EDGE – and will that continue?
Engaging with Innovate UK is an absolute must for our business. We are on their Scale Up programme. We are on an Energy Catalyst 8 round. Their grants are massively helpful for our R&D and our ability to trial products and technologies. We are engaged on our first KTP; we have someone who can focus on a single project and we can assess their potential as a future skilled employee.
Where do you see the principal growth opportunities for your business in 2023?
We are focused on industrial energy storage; it’s an area we are gaining new and larger customers. While we will continue to focus on our domestic business, we won a fantastic export order last year – and that means we can invest in new staff.
JACQUI KAVANAGH
In your sector, what have been the main challenges to growth in 2022 – and will they be the same in 2023?
As we get our industry back our biggest challenge is clarity on the future. Every time there is a potential for a resurgence of Covid this causes concern for companies holding live events. However, this is reducing in impact as we get stronger and I do not feel this will still be a challenge next year.
The other challenge is finance and access to cash. Our figures for the last two years reflect the ravages of the events industry after nearly two years of no events. We are on track to record a positive set of results this year but financially we have to be extremely careful.
As a leader of a scaleup, what has been the value of being in an Innovate UK EDGE peer group?
Sharing experiences with like-minded entrepreneurs who are experiencing the same or even worse than us. The shared experiences and solutions makes me more resilient as I feel I can call on these people for help or guidance or just to share as they know my business as I know theirs. Being in a confidential environment really helps a lot. John, our scaleup group leader, goes above and beyond to ensure we are all listened to, challenged and helped to open our minds to different solutions.
Our growth has mainly come about from the end of Covid restrictions. However our controlled process of growth has come from sharing challenges with the group, so there is a real tangible correlation of growth from engagement within the group itself.
Where do you see the principal growth opportunities for your business in 2023?
Along with organic top line growth as our industry has restarted, the biggest opportunity for us is the opening of minds and the opportunities from a digital approach to our business. Our traditional business has benefited from investing in our technology solution which reduces the cost of sale and lead generation; buyers are leaning towards digital solutions as hotels and venues lack the staff to answer both emails and telephone queries. Effectively, we got leaner through the pandemic so are very well prepared for positive bottom line growth.
DORIAN SMELLIE
In your sector, what have been the main challenges to growth in 2022 – and will they be the same in 2023?
Global factors have been a distraction for many within the manufacturing sector, particularly where they have been looking to adopt, implement and engage with innovative technologies. Their focus has been on aspects such as their supply chain and changing cost base and this detracts from new projects. That’s been a notable challenge this year which will continue.
The other challenge is the nature of skills and resources required in the manufacturing sector. There’s a requirement for a workforce that can see the digital opportunities and the transformation that they can bring – but who also understand the requirements of manufacturing. It’s a gap that needs to be bridged.
As a leader of a scaleup, what has been the value of being in an Innovate UK EDGE peer group?
It’s a safe space where like-minded CEOs can spend a day and put their head above the parapet, share challenges and gain an understanding of best practice. It’s an opportunity to get together with a group of people who have a significant amount of ‘on the court’ experience. Even if I had the budget, I wouldn’t be in the position to pay for the kind of support that I get from the peer group. The insights I have gained have helped operational decisions and strategic board discussions that have in turn supported our growth.
In what ways has the growth of your business benefited to date from engagement with Innovate UK EDGE – and will that continue?
Innovate UK has been a key part in the growth of our business. They have supported our innovation roadmap with funding. They have supported one of my colleagues – Dolores Sanders – in recognising her as a Women in Innovation award winner. And they help to keep us focused on the broad strategic future of the industry and what should be next for us – it’s easy to be focused on the immediate issues when you are scaling up.
Where do you see the principal growth opportunities for your business in 2023?
Fundamentally the manufacturing sector needs to discover how to produce more and waste less. That means optimising use of people, machines and materials, and managing inventories better – and our technology can make a significant impact to help them have the right resources doing the right things at the right time in the right place. We’ll continue to focus on the fabrication industries because in today’s environment their materials are expensive and in short supply. Geographically we will remain focused on the UK but we are seeing more deployments of our technology overseas.
GEORGE MAY
In your sector, what have been the main challenges to growth in 2022 – and will they be the same in 2023?
It has been a positive year for the business with continued growth in sales, improved operational performance and new products taking their first steps into the marketplace. However, there is little doubt that it has also been a challenging year both on a macro and micro scale.
From ongoing Covid (and dare I say it, Brexit) related issues through to the impacts of inflation, the energy crisis, and the conflict in Ukraine, there has been, at times, a noticeable slowing down in the speed of innovation and ability of companies to explore opportunities that are not deemed ‘core business’. To us, this often feels counter-intuitive. Now is the time to challenge the status quo!
As we grow the business, our demand for raw material increases and to access large volumes requires behaviour change – at scale. We continue to encounter outdated, short-term ways of thinking, often exacerbated in large organisations where there are numerous stakeholders with their own agendas leading to siloed thinking and processes.
Will these challenges persist into 2023? Yes, in all likelihood they will. But we will continue to forge ahead, pushing for greater innovation and better dialogue in the knowledge that we have the ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the ~250,000T/year of discarded spent grounds in the UK alone.
As a leader of a scaleup, what has been the value of being in an Innovate UK EDGE peer group?
Being part of the Innovate UK peer group has offered me, and continues to, significant value, which only increases as our group gets to better know and understand both each other and our respective businesses.
Scaling a business is a rollercoaster. Your mood is often only as good as your last email or phone call!
The opportunity to spend time with other scaleup leaders, to share the challenges we’re all facing helps us understand these challenges aren’t unique. To be able to use one another as sounding boards and sources of information and ideas sounds remarkably simple, and it is. But without the peer group I wouldn’t have this opportunity.
In addition, the peer group has offered me space to reflect on how I lead the business, what areas I need to work on to become a better leader and therefore get the best out of my colleagues and the business. It has been a great learning environment in that respect. There is no judgement – we’re able to be vulnerable, safe in the knowledge that others will challenge, but with a view to helping each other develop through mutual support.
In what ways has the growth of your business benefited to date from engagement with Innovate UK EDGE – and will that continue?
Our relationship with Innovate UK goes back a number of years. Undoubtedly, we wouldn’t be where we are today without the support that we’ve received from Innovate UK.
Whether through grant and loan funding, participation in the peer groups and access to the Knowledge Transfer Network, the wider Innovate UK network and ecosystem has played a material role in the growth of bio-bean. Examples range from support with exporting in and around Brexit to introductions to potential partners, and from support with developing our business plan through to funding during Covid that allowed us to bring our Inficaf product to fruition.
Our engagement with Innovate UK will continue. We currently have ongoing funding for a particular project, and we’re in the process of looking at a new funding call to allow us to carry out R&D into possible further applications for spent coffee grounds for which we’re seeing a likely demand. We will continue to make the most of all that Innovate UK can offer.
Where do you see the principal growth opportunities for your business in 2023?
We expect to see growth across the business in 2023 and beyond. It is an exciting time for the company! From onboarding new major suppliers of spent coffee grounds to implementing further continuous improvement in the processing plant and to growing out our sales pipelines across all our products.
Next year is shaping up to be a breakout year for our most recent product Inficaf. The product is a bulk, versatile and sustainable raw material for innovative product development. It is currently being used in the automotive friction, (bio)plastic and cosmetic sectors with several other applications currently undergoing development. Inficaf displaces virgin, synthetic and/or petrochemical derived materials, reducing the carbon footprint of the products it is used in, whilst also reducing the burden on the earth’s finite raw materials. The exciting thing about Inficaf is the scale at which it can be used and therefore the impact that it can have.
And at the same time we have an eye on expansion outside of the UK, with the possibility of setting up a bio-bean plant in the Benelux region very much on our radar. Discarded spent coffee grounds aren’t just an issue in the UK.ess support on offer.

CHRIS GOLBY
In your sector, what have been the main challenges to growth in 2022 – and will they be the same in 2023?
The volatile and inconsistent environment outside of the business has been our biggest challenge this year. Every C-suite in every organisation has been distracted – whether by the impact of the war in Ukraine or the after-effects of the Covid pandemic. People are waiting to see what happens next.
You would hope things will shift but I’m not confident that they will in the first half of next year. There is a great deal of stress and anxiety at present – so the biggest thing that business leaders can focus on is the culture of their organisation and how they are looking after their people. The workplaces that are succeeding are the ones who are doing more to communicate with their employees and make them feel that they are being supported.
As a leader of a scaleup, what has been the value of being in an Innovate UK EDGE peer group?
There’s a chance to talk in a controlled, secure environment. Just having the ability to talk through your challenges out loud can really help. And I’m still surprised that my problems are the same as everyone else’s. All my problems appear to be unique to me until everybody else tells me they’ve been through the same one. In mental health support there is group facilitation, so it’s no surprise that replicating that model supports people who are in high stress situations.
In what ways has the growth of your business benefited to date from engagement with Innovate UK EDGE – and will that continue?
Innovate UK support is beginning to kick in really nicely right now. There are big risks that a business needs to take and their support allows you to propel initiatives forward while de-risking them. It means that we can keep our innovation going and going.
Where do you see the principal growth opportunities for your business in 2023?
The HR function has changed more in the last three years than it has in the previous 15. (Actually, the term ‘Human Resources’ needs to go completely – it’s just not applicable for the workforce anymore.) Organisations are beginning to realise that they need that board-level data to understand what’s going on with their people, particularly with the use of remote, hybrid and flexible work practices. The mission of our organisation is to make wellbeing and culture an actionable part of every board meeting. So we are driving that forward.
CONTENTS

Introduction 2022

Chapter 1 2022
The ScaleUp Business Landscape

Chapter 2 2022
Leading Programmes Breaking Down the Barriers for Scaleups

Chapter 3 2022
The Local Scaleup Ecosystem

Chapter 4 2022
The Policy Landscape

Chapter 5 2022
Looking forward

Annexes 2022

SCALEUP STORIES 2022

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