Three quarters of business leaders feel location limits growth– HubSpot

According to new research from HubSpot, a global marketing, sales and customer service software provider, 76 per cent of mid-sized UK business leaders think their location limits their ability to become a ‘unicorn’ company. The definition of Unicorn means the firm has achieved a valuation of $1 billion.

While 2021 was a strong year for unicorns, with 25 new firms joining the list from Starling Bank to Octopus Energy, only four companies have reached the illustrious valuation so far this year.

Despite this, HubSpot’s ‘We Believe in Unicorns’ report found that, of the 88 per cent of leaders surveyed who harbour a desire to become a unicorn, 94 per cent believe it is likely they will achieve this ambition.

Location plays a large role in the aspirations of business leaders. Businesses in the East of England are highly likely to harbour ambitions to be come a unicorn (96 per cent), with 69 per cent confident they are “very likely” to achieve this. Despite this, 95 per cent say their business location places limits on their ability to be a unicorn – the highest in the country.

In the South, 51 per cent of leaders believe it is very likely they will achieve unicorn status, the second highest rate in the country, boosted by London.

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The leader’s seniority is also a factor, with more senior leaders more likely to be concerned with location. While only around half (51 per cent) of senior management feel limited by location, this leaps to 77 per cent for directors and 88 per cent across chief-level respondents.

Ed Barrett, VP, Sales, EMEA at HubSpot said: “Most of today’s unicorns are international and tech savvy. Businesses must lean on technology to gain an end-to-end view of their customer journey. An effective CRM platform can help everyone across the business understand customers and insights that propel growth.

“A troubled economy begs an uncertain future, so it is promising to see that leaders are not letting these problems get in the way of them shooting for lofty revenue goals – but for the unicorn dream to become a reality, they must overcome these barriers and ensure their efforts are underpinned by a crystal-clear strategy.” 

Recruitment also plays a role in unicorn-status ambition. While only seven per cent perceive a shortage of candidates with the right skills, three in 10 believe they are difficult to find. This is especially the case for companies working in professional services (37 per cent), education (36 per cent) and financial services (31 per cent).

The full research can be downloaded here.

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