Do you work for an SME? If you work in the 海角视频, the answer is most likely yes. Defined as 鈥渁n independent firm which employs fewer than 250 people鈥, Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the economy.
There are over five million of these firms in the 海角视频, employing over 60 percent of the private sector and generating overall sales of 拢480 billion.
Clearly, SMEs are no small matter; politicians, the investment community and even big businesses (rightfully) praise them for their innovation, hard work and entrepreneurship. The need to provide support to the SME community has been the topic of countless discussions, forums, breakfast briefings and policy papers. How much has converted into meaningful action is hard to say.
While 鈥楽ME鈥 is a powerful entity, it has always lacked a unified, authoritative voice 鈥 because not all SMEs are the same. The term is used to cover everyone from a freelance designer to the local florist, from a family-owned construction firm to a tech start-up hoping to become next Google.
This lumping together, under one generic term, ignores the differences between SMEs and the distinct challenges they face.
By better respecting the differences, we can better understand how they can be supported.
For example, we need to recognise that there is a critically important small group of fast-growing, high-potential companies that are creating jobs and wealth faster than any others. These are businesses that could have a major impact on their local area and, ultimately, the national economy.
It is time that these businesses had their own name 鈥 the Germans call them 鈥榤ittelstand鈥, although I鈥檓 not too sure this will catch on around the Midlands.
I prefer the term 鈥榮cale-up鈥; it sounds as ambitious as the entrepreneurs themselves, and describes exactly what these companies are doing. A scale-up is a business that is demonstrating genuine growth in terms of sales and people.
They were discussed in 2014鈥檚 Scale Up Report, written by serial investor Sherry Coutu, which calculated that these businesses could create 150,000 jobs and contribute 拢225 billion to the economy if they were to reach their potential. Crucially, these rewards would be spread across the country and not just kept to Greater London.
I am not saying that small companies that don鈥檛 meet the scale-up criteria aren鈥檛 beneficial to the economy, and I am not saying that they don鈥檛 also deserve our praise and backing. But, a one-size-fits-all approach to nearly five million SMEs severely limits our ability to deliver meaningful action in terms of policy or support.
For example, further research found that scale-ups have very specific requirements for capital, management, skills and organisational processes. This is why BGF helped to establish the Scale-Up Institute (SUI), which collaborates with policy makers, corporate partners and educational establishments to champion the needs of Britain鈥檚 scale ups.
SUI is headed by some of the sharpest minds in the scale-up scene. Sherry Coutu is chairman and the board includes entrepreneurs such as Martha Lane-Fox, founder of lastminute.com, and Tamara Rajah of Live Better With.
These people know what scale-ups need, because they have scaled up themselves. But the SUI Board also includes representatives from big businesses, academia and government, because the real prize is to get everybody involved in the worlds of business and work to help create the very best environment to grow more 海角视频 scale-ups.
We know that no two businesses are the same. That鈥檚 not meant to sound glib and I鈥檝e met enough 鈥楽MEs鈥 to know it鈥檚 true.
But I like the term scale-up and my hope is that the Scale-Up Institute can help to put a spotlight on one Britain鈥檚 most valuable assets: our group of ambitious, growing 鈥榮mall and mid-sized鈥 businesses.
Gavin Petken, regional director, South, Business Growth Fund
