The government has opened applications for Scale UK Connect, a 12-month pilot that will give 200 high-growth companies account management, investor introductions and trade support. London & Partners will lead it, with delivery partners in Manchester, the West Midlands, the South West, Yorkshire and Scotland.
The scheme is part of the founder package in Chancellor John Healey's Budget, alongside Founders' Relief and changes to public procurement. It targets four barriers that ministers say keep UK companies from scaling: finding customers, raising capital, hiring talent and dealing with government.
How the programme works
Each company in the cohort will get a dedicated account manager, tailored expansion advice and structured access to founders, investors and major funds, along with routes into trade opportunities at home and abroad.
The timetable is long:
- Now to January 2027: recruitment window open to companies across the UK
- February 2027: the 200-strong cohort formally launches
- February 2027 to February 2028: 12 months of support
- April 2028: final evaluation report due
London & Partners, the capital's growth agency, is the lead delivery body. Regional partners are the Manchester Growth Company, the West Midlands Growth Company, TechSPARK in the South West, Tech SY in Yorkshire and Pathways Forward in Scotland.
The government cites Quantexa and Synthesia as the kind of outcome it wants to repeat.
The regional angle
Ministers named three early applicants, none of them in London:
- Raven Controls (Glasgow): software that helps venues and events respond faster to safety incidents
- GeoPura (Newcastle): portable hydrogen power to replace diesel generators
- CyberQ Group (Birmingham): round-the-clock cyber security monitoring, founded in 2016
CyberQ founder and chief executive Chris Woods said Birmingham is good at starting businesses but needs help taking them to the next stage. He argued for a "founders for founders" model in which entrepreneurs who have reached £2m, £5m or £10m in turnover mentor those coming behind.
Science minister Chris McDonald said the pilot will give companies "from all over the country" the advice and investor connections they need to "grow here, stay here".
What it means for cap tables
Scale UK Connect brings no capital of its own. No funding pot, equity stake or co-investment mechanism has been announced, so its effect on fundraising will depend on the quality of the investor introductions it delivers.
Timing is also a factor. The cohort does not start until February 2027 and the results will not be reported until April 2028, whereas the Budget's tax measures, including Founders' Relief, act on founders' returns directly. The pilot does not address late-stage capital, the gap that continues to push UK companies towards US investors and listings.
Original source: BusinessCloud — https://businesscloud.co.uk/news/scale-uk-connect-plans-to-accelerate-200-uk-scaleups-revealed/
