- The Scale up Generator is a source of information and insights to help scale up leaders and facilitators to access and understand support.
- Resources include the scale up support map with 400 services highlighted, a scale up company map and information to support the local investment community.
- The new website is a partnership between West of England Growth Hub and Engine Shed.
- The Scale Up Generator houses the new ‘Scale up Yearbook’ which marks the culmination of a 12-month experiment led by Scale up Enabler, Briony Phillips.
Engine Shed has launched the Scale Up Generator website, in partnership with West of England Growth Hub, to help growing companies find the support they need.
The Scale Up Generator comprises The Scale Up Yearbook, maps of scale up support and scale up companies and insights into the challenges of scaling up in the West of England. This resource has been created by the Scale up Enabler, Briony Phillips. Her work and this website aim to:
- Invigorate the investment ecosystem in the region and improve access to finance
- Inspire founders and aspiring scale ups
- Invigorate and build the profile of the region as a home for successful scale up companies
In order to achieve these goals, Engine Shed runs an in-house Investor-in-Residence service, the Quarterly Investment Briefing (with support from Smith & Williamson, TLT LLP, and KPMG) and the UKBAA Angel Hub. A series of Scale up Briefing events and a growing bank of case studies will offer inspiration for start ups and scale ups, and peer-to-peer networks, shared resources, and data and maps to expose the great work that happens locally will be available to support businesses. Engine Shed also aims to gather and share intelligence to minimise duplication and maximise collaboration in the region to make support more accessible.
The majority of Briony’s research will be accessible on the Scale Up Generator website (built in partnership with Bath based Rocketmakers), including hot off the press insights into finding office space, securing investment, useful networking information, and the scale up support map. In addition, TechSPARK has been commissioned to create case studies on existing scale up success stories, including Ultrahaptics, Duel, and Dialect.
Briony Phillips has written the Scale Up Yearbook as the culmination of her role as West of England Scale Up Enabler, after dedicating the last 12-months to making the West of England an even better place for businesses to grow. The Yearbook highlights the need for a uniting brand that will put Bristol and Bath on the map as a world-leader in sustainable economic growth. The 16-page report highlights the success of fast growth companies in the Bristol city-region since receiving scale up support over the past 12-months, and recognises the work that still needs to be done to invigorate the local investment ecosystem. This initial Scale up Enabler experiment was supported by our partners Business West, the West of England Growth Hub and the University of Bristol.
Briony, who has recently been appointed Scale up Enabler and Associate Director of Engine Shed, will continue her work championing and enabling scaling companies in the region with a focus on access to investment and leadership capacity, reflecting Engine Shed’s ongoing commitment to local economic growth.
Speaking of the Scale Up Generator, Briony Phillips said:
“The West of England is a national leader and innovator in this kind of work. The Scale Up Yearbook will be shared with colleagues across the world working towards scale up support, and we hope it will act as a framework for other regions as they move towards similar economic goals.
The Scale up Generator website demonstrates how rich both the scale up support community, and the scale up communities are in the wider Bristol and Bath region. Now, our collective challenge is to maximise the positive impact for all our citizens.”
West of England Mayor, Tim Bowles, said:
“The new Scale up Generator website supported through the West of England Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership will be a great add-on to our Growth Hub site, offering fast growth businesses more information on where to go for support and finance. We are an economically successful region where businesses start, grow and thrive in high numbers. As Mayor, it is one of my priorities is to ensure they get the continuing help and support they need to grow and prosper.”
You can find the Scale Up Yearbook and company case studies on The Scale Up Generator website, which will be updated regularly with advice and insights for fast growth UK companies.