What to expect from techUK’s Scale-Up Council in 2024
Following a competitive set of elections, I am delighted to announce that techUK’s Health & Social Care Council has now elected a new Chair and Vice-Chair. Mireille Elhajj (CEO, Astraterra) will lead the Council as Chair. The Vice-Chair position will be filled by Hollie Hodgson (Head of Account Management, Tussell).
Mireille and Hollie will spearhead the Council’s efforts, guiding techUK outputs. Have a read below to find out what your new Chair and Vice-Chair will be prioritising, as well as to hear from two Council members Casey Calista (Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Vorboss) and Mike Eisenberg (Founding Partner, Genuine Capital) on their priorities for the Council.
See the full list of Scale-Up Council members here.
I will support the council in enhancing the scale-up support package, ensuring that it is accepted and embraced by all political parties. Start-ups offer great value creation at their early stages, but having the ability to reap this value and scale it up is crucial and challenging. Scaling has significant innovation and ecosystem effects, supporting the whole economy through the multiplier effect this would have on development, employment growth and value addition to the economy. As Chair of the Scale-Up Council, my objective is to lead initiatives that address the key barriers to scaling up in response to the techUK plan and the Seven Tech Priorities for the next Government. This includes developing talent pipelines, helping accelerate the formation of a stable and conducive regulatory framework that protects investors and companies, advocating for infrastructure development leveraging on the existing testbed, labs and infrastructure; help guiding new investments; work on improving access to various forms of financing, exploring and overcoming diversity and inclusion barriers for underrepresented groups. I will direct my efforts to supporting the Council in strengthening the UK's position as a leading destination for innovation and growth, ensuring scale-ups have the necessary support to thrive and contribute significantly to the economy.
I’m delighted to be nominated as the Vice Chair for techUK’s Scale-Up Council, a superb initiative in collaboration with DSIT, all about providing direct support to 100 scale-ups in the UK and a committee to provide strategic direction. 2024 is an exciting year for scale-ups: we’ve seen some positive steps by the Government in recent years and a push towards greater collaboration between the public & private sectors, the financial services industry, and key trade bodies like techUK. Scale-up companies are essential for driving productivity, local economies and innovation. My aim is to help bring awareness of the role they play and offer direct experience of working in this ecosystem. With Mireille as Chair and members of the whole council, I hope to drive collaboration, advocate for meaningful policies, and shape a future where scale-ups have everything they need to innovate, grow and flourish in the UK.
There is, rightly, an increasing focus on empowering UK companies to scale, and on ensuring conditions are right to drive investment and economic growth. All businesses will benefit from a pro-growth and pro-innovation environment, but making sure policy and outputs are aligned to this agenda is critical for the UK’s scale-ups. One underpinning factor in achieving this is connectivity. Reliable connectivity is the backbone of our economy. Given Vorboss’ expertise in this area, I plan to champion connectivity and infrastructure investment, resilience, and the ability to meet our future-facing connectivity needs so that UK businesses can benefit from emerging technology and stay globally competitive. In addition, I look forward to working with the Council to drive diversity, future-facing skills for all, and cutting public procurement red tape to the benefit of the public sector and the UK’s innovative businesses.
A whitespace exists within the UK's "early-stage / scale-up / later-stage" technology lifecycle. Without collaboration, execution, communication and investment, we won't be able to fully uncover and realize its maximum potential. I believe that techUK's Scale-Up Council has an awesome opportunity to guide dialogue regarding challenges and opportunities facing scale-up businesses in the UK and I'm excited to listen, engage and support the team as a new member of the council.
