The UK’s technology trade association, techUK, has released its Scale-Up Action Plan which the organisation hopes could provide a blueprint to help companies scale. 

Developed in collaboration between techUK members and the body’s Scale-Up Council, which includes Riverlane, Sage, KPMG and Wayve, along with input from across the scale-up ecosystem, the report outlines practical steps that the UK Government can take to nurture successful tech scale-ups.

With recent data from Sage showing that UK scale-up businesses have averaged an annual revenue increase of 43% over the past three years, more than double the OECD benchmark, techUK claims that it is essential the government continues to send a strong message that the country is dedicated to supporting high-growth tech businesses.

techUK said that its Action Plan comes at a pivotal moment, with an immediate opportunity through the UK’s modern industrial strategy, Invest 2035, to better support scale-ups, unlock economy-wide benefits, and contribute to Labour’s plans for growth. 

“Scale-ups should be thought about as ultra-growth companies – bringing unparalleled dynamism to the economy,” said Antony Walker, deputy CEO of techUK.

“If the Industrial Strategy is to deliver on its vision it will be a compelling plan for supporting scale-ups, powered by technology at its core.”

Supporting Scale-Ups

According to techUK, the priority for the government should be to simplify operations and reduce costs for tech scale-ups, creating room for growth by preventing early-stage failures. 

To that end, among the immediate steps the trade body recommends is the review, streamlining and joining up of different types of financial support, such as that from ‘arms-length’ bodies like UKRI and the British Business Bank, which could make it easier for scale-ups to access adequate financing.

The action plan also advocates for wider capital market reforms, making the scale-up worker visa more competitive, and the creation of a dedicated support package – including a ‘concierge service’ to connect tech scale-ups with relevant experts – to be run out of the Department for Science and Technology.

This could include access to dedicated account managers, targeted regulatory and policy support, and the tracking of market opportunities for high-potential tech scale-ups, with the hope of ensuring promising businesses are noticed early.

The report claims that these steps would tackle key challenges currently faced by growing firms, with techUK advising the government to place particular focus on helping tech companies overcome barriers to entry into new markets.  

techUK argues that such measures could have a significant positive impact on the UK’s scale-up ecosystem, citing figures from the Scaleup Institute which found that 64% of scale-ups identified access to markets as the number one barrier to growth.

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The plan also recommends that the government do more to drive diversity into tech scale-ups, calling for the Office for Equality and Opportunity, HMRC, and Companies House to improve data collection of diverse tech founders to provide policymakers with stronger evidence on diverse entrepreneurship and founders.

“The upcoming Industrial Strategy and Small Business Strategy offer excellent opportunities to double down on scaling businesses utilising data to greater effect and account management structures to join up public and private services to unleash collaboration, funding, talent and export opportunities,” said Irene Graham, ScaleUp Institute CEO.

“It is now essential to anchor clear policy into action that matches the ambitions of our dynamic UK scaling firms to enable them to continue to grow, scale and stay here.”