EF News
Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough will each host a ScaleUp Summit on consecutive days this November, as part of the ScaleUp Institute’s national ScaleUp Britain programme with its partners to celebrate, highlight and support scaling companies across the UK.
More than 25 of the region’s entrepreneurs, among them Paul Callaghan CBE, Sara Davies MBE and Bill Scott OBE, will be on stage across the three days, alongside Irene Graham OBE, CEO of the Scale Up Institute.
The summits will take place during North East Entrepreneurship Week, a programme of events and activities which runs between 11 and 20 November under the theme The Place to Rise. Tickets for most events are free for business owners and available from today.
Led by the Entrepreneurs’ Forum and backed by more than a dozen organisations from across the region, the campaign is built for entrepreneurs, founders, scaleups, and aspiring business owners at every growth stage. From people thinking about starting a business, to those taking on their first employees and established businesses scaling nationally and internationally, the programme aims to make entrepreneurship and scaling leaders more visible, connect people with experience and opportunities, and show the next generation what is possible.
Alongside the ScaleUp Summits, the programme sees the launch of a new region-wide Ones to Watch Index which will identify 20 North East businesses with the potential to become some of the region’s most significant companies of the future. The final 20 will be revealed at Durham University Business School on 4 November, ahead of the main programme.
Elaine Stroud, Chief Executive of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, said: “Brilliant businesses are being started and built right across the North East, but their owners rarely get to see how much experience and support already exists around them.
“That’s what this week is for. Showing people thinking about starting a business that people like them are already doing it here, and for those scaling up, connecting entrepreneurs with others who have already faced the same challenges, and making the help that already exists across the region far easier to find.
“The Entrepreneurs’ Forum is delighted to have brought together so many organisations who collectively back the region’s entrepreneurs. The support is available and this week will show you how to find it.”
A region-wide programme
Alongside the three national summits, the week includes mentoring clinics hosted by experienced founders and investors in Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Durham, entrepreneur visits to secondary schools across the region, and a programme of independently organised fringe events. The North East Entrepreneurial Awards gala dinner at the Hilton Newcastle Tyne Bridge on 19 November celebrates the entrepreneurs behind some of the most successful organisations in our region.
The summits, the Ones to Watch Index launch and the mentoring clinics are all free to attend for business owners. The Awards dinner is the only ticketed event, with bookings required for all events and everything open today at NorthEastEntrepreneurshipWeek.co.uk.
Why it matters
The North East has 744 businesses for every 10,000 adults, compared to an average of 1,062 across England – the lowest rate of any English region. To level up, the North East needs to create 48,000 more companies.
Irene Graham OBE, Chief Executive of the ScaleUp Institute, said: “Strong scaleup economies are built locally. Our research consistently shows that growing businesses want hyper-local connections to skilled talent, including experienced peers and mentors, university R&D support, investors, and greater access to market opportunities at home and abroad.
“They want to see the public and private sectors working together to address these needs and fast-track access to opportunities. Regions that focus on building talent, clusters, and capital, and harnessing their broad infrastructure towards scaling ambitions, whilst celebrating success, should see their growth thrive.”
North East Entrepreneurship Week forms part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, an international celebration of entrepreneurship held each November, but has been developed specifically around the people, businesses and opportunities of the North East.
Jon Dudgeon, co-founder of Blu Sky Accountants and lead partner for the week, said: “Anyone who has built a business knows what it’s worth to have people around you who have already dealt with what you’re dealing with, and will tell you straight what they learned.
“The North East has no shortage of that experience. The job is connecting more of it. That’s why we wanted to back the week.”
Individuals and organisations can find out more, pledge their support, and discover ways to take part here.
