Innovation is critical to UK productivity, competitiveness and long-term growth, with innovative scale-ups making a disproportionate contribution to productivity and job creation.
The challenge
The UK excels at research, start-up creation and early-stage innovation, but struggles to convert these into sustained investment and globally competitive firms anchored here. The UK is also becoming less competitive as a location for innovation investment by more established firms: over half of businesses surveyed by the CBI believe the UK is a less attractive destination than three years ago. The UK therefore faces a dual challenge: helping innovative firms scale domestically, while remaining attractive for high-value activity as businesses expand internationally.
This matters for businesses across every size and sector of the economy. Scale-ups bring new products and services to market, stimulate competition and drive innovation across the economy. As they grow, they also create opportunities through supply chains and partnerships, helping driving growth opportunities across the wider business community.
Yet barriers including access to growth finance, slow regulation and limited access to customers and markets, make it hard for innovative firms to scale and retain high-value activity in the UK. Without improving the environment for scaling innovation, the UK risks continuing to lose talent, investment, and growth overseas.
What the CBI is doing
The CBI's Scale and Retain project is a year-long initiative focused on how the UK can better support innovative firms to scale, while retaining high-value activity as businesses grow globally.
Building on the CBI's wider work on innovation investment and capital markets , the project is examining practical reforms across five key areas:
Growth finance and pensions investment
Improving access to the capital businesses need to grow, including work planned for early 2027 on improving navigation and access to growth finance.
Procurement of innovation
Helping innovative firms win customers and encouraging greater adoption of innovation across the economy, including a planned business workshop with the government's Procurement of Innovation Champions as they start their role.
Regulation of innovation
Creating a more innovation-friendly regulatory environment, including member sessions across autumn with the BIST Regulating for Growth Bill team, and the Regulatory Innovation Office testing their new front-door service.
Partnerships between established and scaling firms
Strengthening collaboration to accelerate innovation, commercialisation and growth, including a series of roundtables across autumn in partnership with the Startup Coalition, on corporates as an innovation partner, customer, and investor for scaling firms.
Championing scale-up success
Recognising and championing UK business success stories, including an October social media campaign, and looking ahead to a showcase of UK innovation at the 2027 B20.
The project was launched in May 2026 with a roundtable chaired by CBI Chair Cressida Hogg, bringing together Business Secretary Peter Kyle, senior government officials and business leaders across the CBI’s membership – scaling firms, financial institutions, investors, and established innovative firms.
We are now working collaboratively with the government across the policy areas outlined above to stress-test policy initiatives, accelerate implementation and identify opportunities for further reform.
Get involved
The Scale and Retain project brings together innovative scale-ups, established primes, investors and other organisations with an interest in the UK's future growth and competitiveness.
There are opportunities to contribute evidence and case studies, participate in roundtables and working sessions with government teams, and shape recommendations to government.
If you are interested in getting involved or would like to learn more about upcoming activities, please contact Nicola Eckersley-Waites, CBI Senior Policy Manager, Tech and Innovation Transformation.