Big Four auditor PwC is eager to put UK scale-up firms in touch with leading accelerators, investors and experts, via a series of interrelated programmes.
As the organisation announced on 23 August, the overall initiative – PwC SCALE – “hopes to provide the missing link between fast-growth start-ups and large organisations”.
This will be done “by connecting them with potential customers, industry decision-makers, investors and leading experts who can procure, partner, go-to-market, advise or invest in their businesses”.
In its announcement, PwC pointed out that there are currently around 5.3 million microbusinesses with fewer than 10 employees in the UK – accounting for 96% of all the nation’s firms.
Those businesses, it stressed, will be increasingly important for the UK’s economic growth post-Brexit.
“PwC SCALE,” the auditor said, “aims to provide support at a critical stage of a business’s growth, fostering commercial opportunities between companies post-start-up, and large organisations looking to innovate.”
As well as encompassing schemes targeted specifically at Edinburgh and the Midlands, SCALE includes programmes devoted to four, key industries: commerce, health, fintech and govtech (the latter an umbrella term for technology designed to improve government processes – for example, by digitising transport ticketing systems).
PwC UK digital private business leader Nigel Howlett said: “We recognise that the primary needs of scale-ups are to access new customers and gain further investment.
“In our SCALE programmes we help businesses become fit for scaling – then open the doors to our network, facilitating introductions and funding opportunities.”
Howlett noted: “Small businesses are an essential part of the UK economy and it’s important we do everything we can to help them prosper post-Brexit.
“We’re bringing fast-growing and ambitious scale-ups from all over together with the world’s biggest brands, in an environment that allows both sides to learn from each other and build commercial opportunities.”
He added: “Interest is extending beyond the UK, and we’re seeing increased collaboration from overseas… from our global PwC network, scale-up applicants and programme partners.”
Participants in PwC’s earlier scale-up initiatives managed to raise a total of £60m in equity within the schemes, and have since mustered a further £20m.
In addition to investment avenues, the cohorts were introduced to more than 500 relevant stakeholders, facilitating more than 70 pilot projects.
PwC’s announcement follows a recent surge of interest in the fortunes of scale-up firms and their ability to expand, as covered by The Treasurer here and here.