Call goes out for Greater Manchester SMEs to join Global Scale-up Programme

The Growth Company is looking for ambitious businesses in Greater Manchester who are ready to take the leap to global success to join the second cohort of its highly successful Global Scale-up Programme.

Launched in July last year, the Global Scale-up Programme enables SME businesses across the city region to expand into international markets with the support of KPMG, DWF, Santander, Manchester Airport and The Department for International Trade.

There was great demand for the programme the first time around, with more than 200 applications for just 30 places.

The closing date for this second cohort is Sunday, March 15, inviting applications from ambitious Greater Manchester SMEs showing 20% year-on-year growth that want to expand further via internationalisation.

The first of its kind outside London, the programme gives the city region’s SMEs access to a global market entry network alongside a combination of tailored coaching, international growth sprints and regular bootcamps.

Split into four phases, it refines and identifies target markets for each business, ensuring that business leaders are fully prepared for an international visit to their identified growth market, with support ranging from strategy development to pitch practice.

Successful applicants will have access to unique peer-to-peer opportunities and the GC Business Growth Hub networks and will join the programme’s global scale-up community for Greater Manchester.

Anna Carson-Parker, Global Scale-up Programme project manager, The Growth Company, said: “As the success of the first Global Scale-up cohort continues, I’m looking forward to growing the network which is opening exciting doors for businesses.

“We want SME businesses to be filled with confidence about entering and expanding in both the UK and overseas, leaving behind the challenging and uncertain economic times we have been experiencing and be ambitious to new opportunities available in the knowledge that Greater Manchester is behind them.

“Spaces are filling up quickly, so any SMEs looking to expand globally should sign up and take advantage of this programme.”

The Growth Company has brought together a range of world-class partners with global networks to provide SME business leaders with the support they need to scale up.

Lisa Stavropoulos, partner at global law firm DWF, said: “Our contribution to the first cohort of Global Scale-up has helped some of the most ambitious businesses in the area take that next step into new markets. I’m excited about the potential opportunities that our international network of experts will be able to open up for the next group of fast growth businesses in the programme.”

Anna Carson-Parker

Feedback from the first cohort has been overwhelmingly positive, with comments from participants highlighting that the sprint sessions were “highly interactive, creative, expertly facilitated,” and that they “exceeded expectations in that it ended up being so personalised and focused on OUR issues, not just generalisations and buzz words.”

Sean Brown, founder and chief executive of ecommerce platform Mercarto, said: “We are a hugely ambitious company, with big plans to increase our global market presence over the next year, targeting the UAE, USA, Europe, Australia, Africa and India as well as growing our Manchester-based team by 50%.

“The Global Scale-up Programme has been an important source of real value for us over the last six months.

“The help we received from all of the organisations involved has helped us grow in key areas, from international growth to building internal structures and processes that will ensure our stability as we scale up.”

For more information on how to apply, visit: https://www.businessgrowthhub.com/globalscaleup