The UK’s fast growth businesses are powering the country’s economy, a new survey has revealed. Research from the UK accounting software giant Sage has shown that UK scale-ups – companies that have sustained 20% or more annual growth in employees or revenue over three years – are outperforming global growth averages and delivering a turbo charge to UK economic picture.
Steve Hare, CEO at Sage, said, “Scale-ups drive innovation, jobs, and global competitiveness, making them vital to the UK's economic future.”
“With 94% of scale-up leaders seeing the UK as the best place to grow and most expecting faster revenue growth in 2025, our entrepreneurial spirit is clear.”
Tech driving growth
In terms of what’s driving the high rates of growth, Sage identifies investment in technology as a key factor. Technology adoption emerges as a central factor in this growth trajectory, with 90% of respondents identifying tech investment as a key accelerator for their businesses.
Nearly a quarter (23%) report having fully integrated artificial intelligence into their operations, indicating the increasing role of AI in business processes across the scale-up sector.
This technological integration comes against a backdrop of economic pressures including inflation and constraints on funding. Nevertheless, 89% of these high-growth firms expect their growth to accelerate further in 2025.
Home comforts
As well as this, the figures also show a growing confidence in the UK as a location to start and grow a business. The research indicates that while UK scale-ups are increasingly international in their outlook, with 67% already operating in markets beyond the UK (and more than a quarter (27%) have plans to expand their global footprint further), despite this international focus and growing competition from other countries, these businesses remain committed to the UK.
The vast majority (94%) view the UK favourably as a base for their operations, and 95% plan to maintain their headquarters in the country.
“This research is another strong indication that the UK remains fertile ground for growing businesses,” says Paul Beare. “The infrastructure, quality of workforce and integration with the global economy are key differentiators in the UK’s favour. But with that said, there are still challenges when it comes to access to finance.”
Help needed
This point was echoed by Irene Graham OBE, CEO of ScaleUp Institute, an organisation focused on making the UK the best place to scale a business, emphasises the economic significance of these firms: “Scaleup businesses, across sectors and localities, add over £1.4tn (US$1.8tn) a year and more than 3 million jobs to the UK economy, despite representing just 0.6% of the UK business population.”
“Scaleups are highly innovative and international and these survey results reinforce their growth and global aspirations and continued desire to scale at pace.
“If we are to grow the economy then we need to enable our scaleups to flourish and turbo charge the numbers of businesses that scale to significant size.”
Ultimately, despite the challenging economic environment, there’s no doubt that the UK remains a great place to do business. Young and growing businesses need time, patience and support to succeed. They also need high quality advice and service from their professional partners. That’s why at Paul Beare Ltd we offer a full range of accounting services, from tax and payroll to accounting and banking.