The University of Manchester's Scale-Up Forum is a peer-to-peer network for ambitious businesses at all stages of their scale-up and growth journey. Business leaders will have the opportunity to explore common challenges, share experiences and become part of the University's innovation ecosystem.
The Forum us free to join and will comprise of quarterly face-to-face meetings and regular ‘spotlight sessions', with agenda items and topics suggested and agreed by Forum members.
Members will benefit from;
- Cross-discipline academic insight and thought leadership.
- Opportunity to initiate collaborative R&D projects and access funding for growth.
- Connect with the University's regional and national business support organisations.
- Share experiences and hear about successful business scale-ups.
- Attend peer-to-peer networking events, webinars and roundtable discussions.
- Access an online portal to access forum resources and connect with other members.
- Receive annual Scale-Up Institute report and commentary.
The Scale Up Forum is an initiative run by the University of Manchester's Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange team, in collaboration with the Alliance Manchester Business School and is one of the many ways that businesses can enhance their innovation, productivity and growth through partnership and collaboration with the University.
Caroline Stanton, Head of SME Partnerships said
"We know, from research conducted by the ScaleUp Institute*, that scale up businesses play a vital role in the UK economy, contributing to significant advancements in key industries and accounting for 58% of the UKs overall SME output. However, businesses face challenges around access to markets, accessing the right combinations of finance, leadership capacity, recruitment and productivity.
The Scale Up Forum aims to help businesses overcome some of these challenges through the establishment of a peer-to-peer support network, introductions to business support organisations across the region, and providing proactive help to establish R&D opportunities to support innovation and growth".
Businesses of all shapes and sizes can benefit from partnering and collaborating with the University of Manchester, and there is a dedicated team on-hand to help businesses navigate through to the most suitable areas of expertise and mechanisms to support business innovation.
How to get involved
The Scale Up Forum will be hosting an event on 14th March focussing on practical support for businesses wishing to grow and diversify into new markets, featuring talks from the Department for Business and Trade and Innovate UK and plenty of opportunities to network with other business leaders.
The next event, on 19th June will focus on accessing the right combinations of finance to support business growth.
Follow the link below to find out more about joining the Forum and securing your place at the next meeting.
https://www.manchester.ac.uk/collaborate/business-engagement/scale-up-forum/
(*ScaleUp Institute Annual Review 2023)