BACKGROUND

Scale Up New Anglia (SUNA) has expanded the support it offers over the past year, encouraging more businesses to focus on their scaleup status. Proactive in identifying companies with high-growth potential, SUNA now supports more than 100 scaleups across its range of programmes including its ‘Silver to Gold’ and ‘Mastermind’ pathways. SUNA’s new online growth journey assessment tool delivered in partnership with Insight Works ensures scaleups are put on the right pathway and gathers impact data throughout the scaleup journey. 

SUNA has maintained strong partnerships and many referrals come through the region’s innovation hubs, including the Hethel Engineering Centre and the Scottow Enterprise Park. Its approach remains focused on building communities and networks around innovative scaleup companies.  

The region has a strong ecosystem and is focused on how it develops its key scaleup clusters in the technology, food and manufacturing sectors. The new Broadland Food Innovation Centre will house around 25 businesses innovating in food production including vertical farms.

ONS data for 2020 shows that there are 750 scaleups in the New Anglia LEP: 240 are classified as scaleups due to rapid growth in their employees, 625 are classified as scaleups due to rapid growth in their turnover and 115 are scaleups that are increasing both employment and turnover simultaneously.

The ONS data reflects that across the four-year period from 2017 to 2020 the density of scaleups has decreased by -1.79 per 100,000 of population per year.

SCALEUP PROGRAMMES

Scale Up New Anglia (SUNA) was established in 2018 by the New Anglia Growth Hub to support the scaling journeys of key local businesses seeking to achieve scaleup growth. SUNA identifies potential scaling businesses via the Local Enterprise Partnership’s core programmes and through referrals from other economic development partners. The programme is now fully embedded in the local business support ecosystem and incorporates a range of growth support including:

• Silver to Gold Growth Pathway supports around 50 scaleups annually through a guided, highly interactive learning programme. Delivered over six months, it works through the core areas of business management to produce a roadmap for growth. Participants work together with their peers and successful business leaders from a variety of industries who understand the challenges faced by scaling businesses. Growth masterclasses supplement this learning focussed on specific issues. 
• Scale Up Mastermind Pathway offers fully funded long-term support delivered through fortnightly peer learning sessions. These bring together like-minded CEOs who understand the growth journey as a ‘virtual board’. The six-month programme gives business leaders the opportunity to share success stories and explore challenges and potential solutions. 
• Scale Up Masterclasses provide short focused support aimed at business leaders and owners and cover key challenges such as finance options HR and marketing strategies.

Additional support for early-stage and scaling pipeline businesses under the SUNA offer includes:

• High Growth Network – a new 15-hour programme aimed at microbusinesses with three or more employees that have traded for at least a year. Accredited by the Institute of Entrepreneurs, it supports each cohort of eight businesses to develop a growth-centred business plan. Launched in September, the programme is currently supporting 44 early-stage businesses and will engage 88 businesses by June 2023.
• Skills Programmes are new skills-focused shorter programmes led by industry experts. They cover key business areas including sales, HR and digital marketing. Delivered through over six weeks, they act as a gateway to SUNA’s Silver to Gold and Mastermind pathways. 

As part of their commitment to the escalator of support, SUNA alumni are supported to achieve further growth ambitions through national scaleup programmes. These are run by partners across the ecosystem such as Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK, Tech Nation Upscale and the London Stock Exchange. Local scaleups can also access mentoring support from Chadwicks Sounding Board and a range of innovation and growth expertise from Innovate UK EDGE. 

A range of additional public and private programmes operate in the East of England – find out more on the scaleup support finder here.

IMPACT AND RESULTS

Scale Up New Anglia (SUNA) has supported 390 scaling businesses since 2018 and a further 175 will be supported by December 2022. Since the programme’s launch in 2018, the 390 participating businesses have more than doubled their employee headcount. 

SUNA has provided £4.4m in grant funding and facilitated £15.5m of private sector match leveraged funding. SUNA scaleup support has created £59.9m net GVA to the local economy. 

The Growth Journey Assessment (GJA) tool captures the impact on participating companies following SUNA – alongside improvement for all participant in their personal effectiveness and efficiency and increased confidence in their leadership abilities and communication skills, 69% reported positive impact in developing their growth strategy; 43% in managing operations and 43% in developing people. Additionally over half of participants are now pursuing further external development and growth support to continue their journey. 

LESSONS LEARNED

Post-pandemic, SUNA has moved from online to hybrid delivery models to especially enhance the peer-to-peer aspect of the core programmes as there was a clear need for in-person delivery. The new approach introduced virtual groups and online breakout rooms which created more space for discussion and collaboration. The project now employs a hybrid of physical workshops and online webinars to maximise the benefits of both. The team currently open and close Pathways with in-person events.

The introduction of new short programmes have extended the reach of SUNA into the scaling pipeline and acted as a gateway to the Silver and Gold and Mastermind pathways.  

FUTURE PLANS

Programmes tailored to the region’s creative industries will sit alongside further support focused at helping scaleups address skills gaps. The recently launched Create Growth programme, funded by DCMS, will offer scaleup support and investor building activities in the area. SUNA also plans new initiatives to support scaleups to achieve their net zero and CSR ambitions. 

The SUNA team have recently introduced a series of skills programmes to enhance the core offer. These cover a variety of themes such as HR, digital marketing, and finance and are open not only to founders but also to other members of the clients senior team, while local alumni groups are to be expanded as many past participants are already meeting up informally.

It is pretty rare to find the kind of precision support we have experienced through our participation. The course is expertly run with precise subjects that easily get to the heart of how to grow your business. The support around the course is outstanding. Robert Breakwell – Bruha Brewing 

The Mastermind sessions with Scale Up New Anglia have been a phenomenal asset to my role as Director. The sessions have forced me to put time aside to not only talk to like-minded peers, but to reflect on my own personal journey. Iain Aimes – Diamond Controls 

The Mastermind programme has surprised and impressed me in ways I had not imagined. Alan Mills – Falcon Global

LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS

According to ScaleUp Institute analysis of data received directly from ONS for years 2017-2020, the following picture emerges on the local environment.

Local Authorities located within the New Anglia LEP have a moderate-low density of scaleups, and the trend between 2017 and 2020 reveals that few of the local authorities showed an increase in the density of scaleup businesses, but few showed an above median increase in scaleup density.

Scaleups by Density: Needs Improvement

The vertical axis of this matrix shows where local authorities located in this LEP stand compared to the rest of the UK: 8 of the 12 local authorities have a below median density of scaleups measured by employment growth and 6 of the 12 local authorities have an above median density of scaleups measured by turnover growth.

Scaleup Trends Over Time: Needs Improvement

The horizontal axis of this matrix shows whether the density of scaleups has increased or decreased over time relative to the rest of the UK: 9 of the 12 local authorities are below the median in terms of improving the density of scaleups by employment in their community and 6 of the 12 local authorities are above the median for scaleups by turnover.

The ScaleUp Institute will continue to monitor this closely in the coming years to track whether local initiatives move the dial in the right direction for increasing the density of scaleups.