Skip to main content
Menu
  • The CBI chevron_right
  • Supporting businesses to scale

Supporting businesses to scale

The CBI has published a new playbook to create the competitive environment to help businesses scale.

10 Oct 2024, 2 min read

The UK has a world-leading start-up ecosystem. Now is the time for the government to deliver the conditions for these businesses to scale and be the Growth Engines the economy needs.

The government are correct in identifying scale-ups as a key source to delivering the growth mission - CBI research showed that the UK’s nine decacorns alone contributed £4.6bn Gross Value Added to the UK economy in 2021. Growth Engines sets out recommendations the government can implement to support businesses to scale. Developed with members at various stages of scaling, the playbook spans four areas: pro-innovation regulation, unleashing investment, harnessing our national assets and access to the best talent. The playbook highlights the barriers members are facing when scaling and how the government and business can work at pace together to unblock them.


The recommendations


Pro-innovation regulation

  • Regulatory Innovation Office to establish competitive service level agreements between regulators and businesses
  • Regulatory Innovation Office to facilitate the adoption of outcomes-based regulation
  • Regulatory Innovation Office to move at pace to expand the use of innovative regulatory science approaches.

Unleashing investment

  • HM Treasury to continue working with pension funds to unlock the potential of the Mansion House reforms
  • HM Treasury to review limits or the need to create new follow-on venture capital and employee share option schemes to better support businesses to scale.

Harnessing our national assets

  • Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology to partner with business on the development of the National Data Library to harness data for growth and public good
  • Increase the use of Innovate UK’s Contracts for Innovation across government departments, setting targets in line with Industrial Strategy and Mission goals
  • Department for Business and Trade to leverage the UK’s research and technology organisations as core delivery partners in the Industrial Strategy.

Access to the best talent

  • Home Office to consistently deliver against service level agreements, providing support and compensation when they are not met.

Growth Engines: The UK scale-up playbook

If you are interested in finding out more about the CBI’s Growth Engines report and project, please contact Kapila Perera.