Berkshire: Scaleups in county now number 685, worth £26b

The number of fast-growing ambitious businesses with leaders hungry for success is increasing across Berkshire, new insights from the ScaleUp Institute reveal.

There are now 685 companies in the sub-region that meet the definition of scaleup because they have increased turnover or employment by more than 20% annually. Scaleups in the Thames Valley Berkshire area are employing a total of 82,000 staff and their turnover is worth £25.9 billion. This is according to new research by the ScaleUp Institute based on the latest 2017 ONS data.

In the area, the top five scaleups by employment growth are Hala, Archway Services, Anesco, Jake's Playbarn and AlertMe, while the top five for turnover growth are Displaydata, AlertMe, ESP, Neilson Financial Services and Teneo.

Across the UK there are over 36,000 scaleups, an increase of 3.7% from 2016.

ScaleUp Institute chief executive Irene Graham said: “Scaleups are the engine drivers of local economies; they are twice as innovative as large firms, employ twice as many apprentices, are twice as likely to be operating in international markets, and, significantly, they create high quality jobs.

"Their aspirations remain high. According to our recent ScaleUp survey eight out of 10 expect to scale again in 2019, generating £1.5b more in turnover and creating an extra 7,000 jobs.

While they are ambitious about their growth, scaleups continue to face major challenges. In Thames Valley Berkshire they particularly highlight access to talent, access to UK markets, access to external support and advice and access to infrastructure as key issues. They also want easier access to support from Local Government, local professional services and peer-to-peer networks.

Within Thames Valley Berkshire support through the ScaleUp Berkshire Programme, run through the Berkshire Business Growth Hub, is focused on a cohort of leaders of ambitious SME scale-up businesses with an annual turnover of over £1 million and 20% year-on-year growth. ScaleUp Berkshire provides account management services to these scale-ups helping them to easily access specialist scaleup support and a peer-to-peer network that provides an exclusive forum for scaleup founders to share ideas, learn what works and build mutually beneficial relationships with other leaders.

“This is encouraging, and we will continue to monitor the impact of the ScaleUp Berkshire Programme," said Irene Graham.

Robin Barnes, director and enterprise lead for the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP added: “The LEP is focused on ensuring that the sub region supports business growth. The new ScaleUp Berkshire Programme seeks to address the barriers faced by scaleups by providing expert guidance and assistance to shine a light on the scaleup community and support them to the next level of growth.”