North East LEP: Scaleup Annual Review 2019 showcases North East business success

Written by the North East LEP.

The North East LEP’s ambitious goal of increasing the number of scaleups in the North East by 50 per cent by 2024 through its multi-million pound Scaleup North East programme has had a significant boost.

According to the Scaleup Annual Review 2019, the region has 27 per cent more scaleup companies than in 2016 and the increase in the density of scaleups is ahead of the national average.

The definition of a scaleup is an organisation that has increased turnover or employment by more than 20 per cent annually.

Local businesses that have recently achieved scaleup status include ABCA Systems Ltd; Atom Bank; Crafter’s Companion; Cussins Ltd; END.; Lanchester Wines; Mailprotector; Oil Consultants; and Tharsus.

The Scaleup Annual Review 2019 provides oversight of the national scaleup business landscape and drills down into the local scaleup ecosystem and regional performance.

The page related to the North East states that: “ONS data for 2017 shows that there are 820 scaleups in the North East LEP: 290 are classified as scaleups due to rapid growth in their employees, 680 are classified as scaleups due to rapid growth in their turnover and 150 are scaleups that are increasing both employment and turnover simultaneously.

“The ONS data reflects that across the four-year period from 2014 to 2017 the density of scaleups has increased by 4.13 per 100,000 of population per year, which is above the median of +3.90 per 100,000 of population.”

The Scaleup Annual Review 2019 attributes this success to interventions made by the North East LEP, from bespoke packages of Scaleup North East support delivered by established Scaleup Partners and its Mentoring Programme, through to work with the Entrepreneurs’ Forum’s established Scale-up Leaders’ Academy.

It also cites the North East LEP’s Supply Chain North East programme, which is designed to empower North East businesses to diversify their offer, as well as the High Potential Startups programme launched in July 2019 to increase the number of businesses reaching £1m turnover in three years.

Through High Potential Startups, support is facilitated through peer-learning plus coaching, mentoring and investor relation activities.

Colin Bell, business growth director at the North East LEP, said: “The results within the Scaleup Annual Review 2019 show we have made strong progress to achieving our goal of increasing scaleups in our region by 50 per cent by 2024.

“It also reflects the strength and ambition of our scaleup businesses who continue to drive ahead with focused expansion plans despite the current political uncertainty. These results should be celebrated but will not distract from our longer-term goal and we look forward to welcoming a whole new cohort of scaleups in 2020.”

For more information on Scaleup North East, please visit www.scaleupnortheast.co.uk.

If you would like to stay involved with Bdaily’s Scaleup Focus Week, follow #ScaleupFocusWeek and keep up to date @Bdaily on Twitter.

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →