Growth Builder Presents Its First Cohort of Graduates and Announces Expansion Plans

9 March 2017, London: Growth Builder, the business growth programme designed by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, has today announced the graduation of its first cohort. 40 high-growth business leaders have spent the past 12 months working on their business, not just in it, gaining vital knowledge to help them scale.

Highlights:

• Businesses leaders focussed on gaining the knowledge to take on their next growth challenge

• During the past 12 months participants on the programme have won industry awards, sold businesses and raised over £10m of investment

• High approval ratings with 9 out of 10 participants saying they would recommend Growth Builder to other small business leaders

• The London-based programme attracted participants from across the UK and is planning a regional roll out over the coming year

The first of its kind to work with Government, universities, entrepreneurs, risk capital and leading UK corporates, Growth Builder has been built specifically to help established British businesses that want to take on the next stage of growth. Growth Builder offers a curated peer network, an educational programme tailored to ambitious business leaders and access to introductions and networks through its cross sector partners.

The cohort includes businesses from the tech, manufacturing and retail sectors, such as building products company Simco External Framing (West Midlands) and well-known social network Mumsnet (London). Over the past 12 months they have spent time learning about, and challenging each other on, a range of topics including company vision, culture, building teams and strategy. During the programme, members of the cohort have been acquired, won industry awards and raised over £10m of investment.

Growth Builder was the first time UK Government, entrepreneurs, universities and leading corporates joined forces to help scale British businesses. The programme has been designed by Natwest, PWC, Department for International Trade, PIE Mapping, UCL, Fast Growth Icons, BT, the UK Business Angels Association and Loughborough University London. Growth Builder also counts a number of successful entrepreneurs as Ambassadors including Brent Hoberman, Sherry Coutu, Sarah Wood and Simon Devonshire, the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Growth Builder is now looking to recruit a second cohort in London during 2nd quarter 2017 and hopes to launch elsewhere in the UK later in the year, with the North East and South West of England among the potential locations. Growth Builder is actively seeking potential sponsors, university partners and future participants as it expands across the country and welcomes all expressions of interest.

Interested business leaders can register at http://www.growth-builder.com.

Ben Fletcher, Chairman of Growth Builder, commented: “It has been really gratifying to have so many high quality companies on the programme, and a privilege to have met so many of them over the last year. I hope that the topics they have been learning about, and the connections they have made, form the foundations of their on-going growth and success.”

Comments from Growth Builder participants:

Jennifer Newton, Managing Director of Express Microbiology (West Lothian, Scotland): “Growth Builder gave me the space and practical tools to improve on my people strategy within the business. This has allowed me to re-evaluate and improve the company’s future strategies and ensure the business is in a place to continue its rapid growth.”

Nick Churchill-Evans, Director of cloudThing Ltd (Stourbridge, West Midlands): “The programme has been really useful providing food for thought and practical, professional development that has had measurable impact on my business.”

Rosie Caley, Director of BasementWorks (Wandsworth, SW London): “I feel privileged to have been a part of Growth Builder and to have met such a wide range of business owners and entrepreneurs. It has provided me with a fresh perspective on my company, its place and direction within the industry, and critically, what I can do to build a successful and rewarding growth business.”

Jon Cornwell, CEO of Newsflare (Farringdon, North London): “Growth builder created the space for me to think about my business and then added in two crucial ingredients: other business owners facing similar challenges and insightful sessions on a range of topics to unlock faster growth. I finish the course wiser, with a richer network and a renewed hunger for learning.”

--ENDS--

Notes for Editors

About Growth Builder

Growth Builder is a national support programme for high-potential growth businesses backed by a consortium of large corporations, government agencies, universities, entrepreneurs and investors.

It offers a 9-12 month programme of support to leaders of small businesses that helps to address specific barriers to growth, enabling them to develop their companies creating jobs and earnings. The progamme was developed by the partners from their experience of the Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (REAP), which helps regions to foster economic growth and was developed by MIT.

Growth Builder was launched in 2016 with a cohort based in London that attracted applications from across the UK and the programme is now looking to respond by recruiting and delivering cohorts in the UK regions over the next 12-18 months.

www.growth-builder.com


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About Growth Builder

Growth Builder is a business support programme helping high-growth UK businesses scale. It is backed by a unique mix of Government, Corporates, Risk Capital, Universities and Entrepreneurs. Its first cohort of high-growth business leaders will graduate on 9th March 2017.