Growth accelerator taken in-house by NatWest

NatWest

A growth accelerator is being taken in-house at NatWest following a shift in focus and ambition.

Entrepreneurial Spark, which has a base in Birmingham serving the Midlands as a whole, has been run for the past four years as a partnership with the bank but it said that if its fledgling companies were now to develop as hoped then the wider support offered by the bank was required.

Since the launch of the partnership in 2014, Entrepreneurial Spark Powered by NatWest, has grown to become the world’s largest free business accelerator with hubs in all four nations of the UK. As the partnership concluded its nation-wide rollout with the opening of a London hub at the end of 2017, it said focus had now shifted to allow both organisations to realise their wider ambitions so ar as entrepreneurship and growth were concerned.

The news came on the day the partnership announced its latest and most impressive impact results, reporting £255m in cumulative investment, collective turnover in excess of £650m, the creation of 8,096 jobs across the UK and support to a network of 4,000 entrepreneurs.

Lucy-Rose Walker, CEO at Entrepreneurial Spark said: “Over the last three years we have been on a mission to impact the lives of as many entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs as possible in order to create positive social change.

“NatWest gave us the opportunity to do that on a scale that we couldn’t have imagined when we first began this adventure, by tapping into their resource and expertise to unlock markets and provide locations for hubs across all four nations of the UK.

“Now that we’ve completed the programme rollout, it’s a natural evolution for NatWest to run the accelerator now and continue the trajectory we’ve set. It seems only fitting that we’ve reached this agreement on the next chapter as we announce our most notable impact report to-date.”

Alison Rose, CEO of Commercial and Private Banking at NatWest said: “As the latest Impact Report clearly demonstrates, the comprehensive programme of free enablement, mentoring and bespoke coaching developed in partnership with Entrepreneurial Spark has revolutionised the way we support entrepreneurs, and is really working.

“We are committed to continuing this success, and through our UK-wide network of 12 business accelerator hubs, we will support and continue to change the lives of entrepreneurs by providing full wrap-around care to the UK’s most inspiring start-ups and high growth businesses.”

Entrepreneurial Spark said it was now committed to realising its ambitions of generating positive social change but also, of widening its scope.

“After the successful partnership wraps up, Entrepreneurial Spark has the chance to further spread its wings and continue the wider mindset shift, thinking and acting like entrepreneurs,” added Mms Walker.

“We’re in advanced discussions with a number of organisations, businesses and policymakers over the role of mindset development as we approach the fourth revolution and contemplate the future of work. It’s very exciting times at Entrepreneurial Spark.”

The handover is scheduled to complete on February 28 before the next intake of entrepreneurs starts at the start of April.

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