Explore the ScaleUp Annual Review 2023
Select a section to expand and explore this year's review..
CONTENTS

Introduction 2023

Chapter 1 2023
The ScaleUp Business Landscape

Chapter 2 2023

Chapter 3 2023

New Anglia

486 businesses supported by SUNA programmes

£779.5k of grant funding secured by High Growth Network participants

69% of SUNA alumni reported a positive impact in developing their growth strategy
Background
Proactive in identifying companies with high-growth potential, Scale Up New Anglia (SUNA) has supported close to 500 scaleups across its range of programmes. Top sectors receiving scaleup support include Manufacturing and Professional, and Scientific & Technical; while the relationship between the number of businesses from each area attending SUNA Programmes broadly correlates to the total numbers of businesses within each District and/or Borough Council.
The New Anglia Growth hub throughSUNA maintains strong partnerships across the scaleup ecosystem 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 New Anglia is focused on how it develops its key scaleup clusters in the technology, food and manufacturing sectors.
New funding has been secured by the LEP, UKSPF and DBT for the management of the portfolio of the SUNA and the High Growth Programmes, and the area has started delivering from September this year. Maintaining its focus on growing the wider local economy there will be further focus on developing support on business mentoring and skills development designed to help businesses cultivate scaling strategies and action plans.
ONS data for 2021 shows that there are 635 scaleups in New Anglia: 225 are classified as scaleups due to rapid growth in their employees, 510 are classified as scaleups due to rapid growth in their turnover and 100 are scaleups that are increasing both employment and turnover simultaneously.
The ONS data reflects that across the four-year period from 2018 to 2021 the density of scaleups has decreased by -2.65 per 100,000 of population per year.
SCALEUP PROGRAMMES
Scale Up New Anglia (SUNA) supports the scaling journeys of key local businesses seeking to achieve scaleup growth and identifies proactively companies with high-growth potential, since 2018. Fully embedded in the local business support ecosystem, SUNA incorporates a range of growth support including:
- The new Scale Up Pathfinder, which replaced the Mastermind & Silver to Gold Pathways. The programme is specifically designed for scaling businesses looking to develop a pathway route map and action plan to scale up. It aims to support 60 scaling businesses per year offering them up to 12 hours support including free one-to-one mentoring, workshops, events and roundtables delivered by New Anglia’s ecosystem stakeholders.
- Scale Up Masterclasses provide short, focused support aimed at scaling business leaders and owners. These cover key scaling challenges such as finance options HR and marketing strategies.
Further support for early-stage and scaling pipeline businesses under SUNA is available through:
- High Growth Network – aimed at business owners or their senior management, looking to grow their businesses 6 or 7 times more their revenue in the next 12 months. The programme runs in cohorts of up to 8 participants and lasts for 12 weeks and 15 hours. It offers skills workshops, peer learning and networking and one to one support helping early-stage businesses develop a Business Plan to lead their growth ambitions.
- Skills Programmes are skills-focused six-week programmes led by industry experts and cover key business areas including sales, HR and digital marketing
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 and the London Stock Exchange. Local scaleups can also access mentoring support from Chadwick’s Sounding Board and a range of innovation and growth expertise from Innovate UK EDGE.
Furthermore, the recently launched Creative East: Create Growth Programme is a £1.275m investment readiness and business support programme for creative industries in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Fully funded by DCMS, the programme offers a series of specialist seminars and masterclasses, roundtable sessions, pitching sessions, one-to-one expert and specialist support and networking events to help businesses with high growth aspirations gain investment opportunities and grow.
Additional public and private programmes operating in the East of England can be found on the scaleup support finder here.
IMPACT AND RESULTS
Since 2018, 486 businesses have been supported by one or more SUNA programmes. Impact survey analysis completed this year showed that all participants reported positive impact on their leadership behaviours and over 50% of respondents reported they were actively pursuing external pathways signposted through SUNA.
Last year’s alumni assessment showed that alongside improvement for all participants in their personal effectiveness and efficiency and increased confidence in their leadership abilities and communication skills, 69% reported a positive impact in developing their growth strategy; 43% in managing operations and 43% in developing people.
177 early-stage scaling businesses have been supported by the High Growth Network programme with over 80 have been influenced towards the development of Business High Growth Plans. Participants secured £779.5k of grant funding.
SUNA has made 183 referrals to other supporting programmes including grant schemes and external pathways like Innovate UK Edge, TALE, SEETEC and DIT.
FUTURE PLANS
Building on findings from the Scale Up Institute and it 2022 Annual ScaleUp Survey, New Anglia Growth Hub will move further towards an account management model of service for scaling businesses and will develop further its programmes offering centred around key topics that ScaleUp Survey respondents identified as being fundamental for their scaling up journey.
Alongside its move towards an account management model for scaleups that will deliver bespoke supporting programmes blending peer learning with business and leadership development, the New Scale Up Pathfinder will develop working groups for relevant local scaling businesses with ecosystem players and advisors and also regional roundtables focusing on areas such as scaleup finance, leadership programmes and educational sessions for scaling businesses.
It will also collaborate with academia, public and private sector organisations, other ecosystem partners and nationwide programmes and networks including Innovate UK to give scaleups access to the latest developments in business thinking and support.
“It was really good to use this as a sounding board to measure and compare with other businesses and learn from each other. Good to hear what problems others were facing and allowed us to have things in place before it happened to us”. – Chris Hudson, SGH Engineering
“The growth curve really helped us to understand where we were and where we needed to get to…The programme made us review our growth targets. We weren’t being aggressive enough”. – Adam Scott, Ipswich Embroidery
LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS
According to ScaleUp Institute analysis of data received directly from ONS for years 2018-2021, the following picture emerges on the local environment.
Local Authorities located within New Anglia have a low density of scaleups, and the trend between 2018 and 2021 reveals the following:
Scaleups by Density: Moderate
The vertical axis of this matrix shows where local authorities located in this locality stand compared to the rest of the UK: 7 of the 12 local authorities have a below median density of scaleups measured by employment growth and 7 of the 12 local authorities have a below 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 7 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.
CONTENTS

Introduction 2023

Chapter 1 2023
The ScaleUp Business Landscape

Chapter 2 2023

Chapter 3 2023

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