SETsquared’s Scale-Up programme companies set to boost UK economy

Published by

Giles Gwinnett

The Ecomar Propulsion team - picture contributed

Companies supported by SETsquared’s Scale-Up programme are set to contribute £1.3 billion to the UK economy between 2018 and 2030, according to a new independent report.

The programme links the research talent of the six SETsquared partner universities - Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton, and Surrey - with innovative tech businesses to secure public and private investment.

The report from Warwick Economics and Development was released at SETsquared’s 'Future of the Economy' event in Bristol on September 20 and estimated the programme has helped:

raise £72m collaborative R&D funding for Scale-Up member companies

raise £14.2m collaborative funding for the SETsquared partner universities

secure 110 funded projects, giving a 35.5% success rate of winning grants, compared to an average success rate of 10%

companies secure £713m investment

members more than double their number of employees - with an increase of 260% between 2018 and 2023 (from 300 employees in 2018 to 780 in 2023).

Karen Brooks, head of Scale-Up at SETsquared, explained: "The Scale-Up Programme has proven to be a highly successful model to facilitate university and harder-to-engage SME R&D collaborations.

"It has created a dynamic market where researchers and companies can find the right partner to work with, greatly benefiting both parties.

"Academics need to demonstrate the impact of their research, and companies need university-grade research to continually develop and verify their cutting-edge innovations.

"The stats, however, only tell one side of the story," she added.

"Behind the figures lie many examples of world-leading innovations that will one day transform how we live and work, access healthcare, and significantly contribute to meeting NetZero targets.

"I’m incredibly proud of our part in setting them on this growth trajectory."

Anthony Bennett, the chief operating officer of Ecomar Propulsion, a Scale-Up member, said: "The Scale-Up Programme has moved us on probably five years beyond where we dreamed we would be at this stage.

"We now have 15 people in our workshops, producing one-megawatt internal ship systems for large vessels, whereas three years ago, it was two men in a tent on the driveway.

"Ecomar Propulsion could not be the company it is today without the work of SETsquared and the University of Exeter."

Funded by Research England’s connecting capability fund, the programme grew its membership base of over 450 UK-wide innovation-led companies across key sectors, including digital innovation, health and wellbeing, advanced engineering and manufacturing and environment, sustainability, marine and maritime.

For every £1 of funding, the Scale-Up programme’s return on investment is £7.50.

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Giles Gwinnett

Giles Gwinnett is a writer at The Business Magazine. He has been a journalist for more than 20 years and covered a vast array of topics at a range of media settings - in print and online. After his NCTJ newspaper training, he became a reporter in Hampshire before moving to a news agency in Gloucestershire. In recent years, he has been covering the financial markets along with company news for an investor-focused web portal. His many interests include politics, energy and the environment. He lives in Dorset.