Morning, Tuesday, 16th September 2025
Online
This conference will consider next steps for UK start-ups policy.
It will bring together key stakeholders and policymakers to assess the Government’s recently announced Small Business Strategy, looking at the way forward for reducing barriers for start‑ups and other small and medium-sized enterprises, improving growth prospects and productivity, and supporting innovation and competitiveness.
Sessions in the agenda examine the way forward for improving access to finance, supporting adoption of digital technologies, fostering job creation, and developing regulation to better serve the needs of small and high-growth businesses. The role of new initiatives such as British Business Bank Industrial Strategy Growth Capital, the British Growth Fund, the Green Growth Guarantee Scheme, and proposed Business Growth Service will also be considered.
The discussion takes place in the wider context of:
- Industrial Strategy, with increased funding through the British Business Bank to support small business and innovation across growth-driving sectors identified by the Government, alongside expansion of the Office for Investment
- measures in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement and Spending Review 2025, including productivity programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises, new skills funding, and increased British Business Bank funding for start‑ups and scale‑ups
- recommendations for accelerating technology uptake among smaller firms in the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Digital Adoption Taskforce: Final Report, published in July 2025
- the Department for Business and Trade’s ongoing consultation on Small Business Access to Finance
Small Business Strategy
Delegates will consider priorities of the Small Business Strategy, including plans to eliminate late payments costing the UK economy £11bn annually, to cut administrative costs for regulation, tax and customs processes, and to support transitions to net zero. We also expect discussion on plans to unlock access to finance through expanded start-up loans, further funding support for the British Business Bank and ENABLE programmes, and how domestic and international markets might be opened up for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Attendees will consider priorities for different types of businesses, looking at tensions between central government and devolved policy, and approaches to aligning with local and national growth initiatives such as the wider Industrial Strategy.
Plans for unlocking business skills through apprenticeships and T-levels will be discussed, as well as options for supporting smaller companies to adopt innovative technologies, and what is needed from the wider tax and regulatory environment to promote growth and productivity.
Regulation
Sessions will discuss the role of regulation in supporting start-ups, looking at next steps for promoting competition in incumbent industries and how regulation might be balanced with sector growth, particularly in the context of the implementation of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Delegates will look at establishing clarity and consistency across the Financial Conduct Authority, Competition and Markets Authority and Regulatory Innovation Office frameworks and how regulation can foster investor confidence and encourage innovation, considering concerns around inconsistent requirements delaying product launches or deterring investment.
Access to finance, capital markets and listing reform
Sessions will consider practical steps for making it easier for start-ups to access capital at each stage of growth, with the Government committing to reforming and streamlining UK Research and Innovation funding routes as part of the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan.
With the British Business Bank’s total financial capacity increased to £25.6bn in the Spending Review 2025, attendees will examine the way forward for distribution of start-up loans and support needed for small businesses in reaching equity deals and raising venture capital. The role of the British Business Bank and private finance in easing barriers for businesses will be discussed, as well as opportunities following announcement of an additional £500m going towards supporting underrepresented investors, and strategies for tackling regional imbalances in funding.
It will also be an opportunity to examine ways in which the UK’s financial ecosystem - including new listing platforms such as Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System - can better serve innovative companies, looking at concerns around proposed changes. Discussion is also expected on utilising incentives for UK start-ups and scale-up firms to list onshore.
Business support, procurement and public sector access
Delegates will examine the evolving role of digital tools in business support and the case for more integrated infrastructure to help scale-up firms, as well as how the proposed Business Growth Service might work in streamlining access to funding opportunities, export support, and reducing fragmentation.
Delegates will also assess early indications from the Procurement Act 2023, which came into force in February 2025, examining its impact on market competition, access to public contracts, and on procurement processes. We expect discussion to also centre on potential mitigations for new processes favouring established suppliers, looking at options for reform - including in defence - to enhance access to public contracts.
Regional growth
Discussion will consider how new policies can support fair and balanced growth across the UK, looking at how regional funding programmes such as Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II are being used, and how public sector contracts can better support start-up innovation. Strategies for managing risk and maintaining accountability in how start-ups are supported will be examined, as well as focusing on methods of working between regulators, industry, and support organisations that can best help businesses grow in a fast-changing, digital economy.
Innovation
Enhancing entrepreneur productivity through adopting digital technologies will also be discussed, as well as how recommendations in the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Digital Adoption Taskforce: Final Report might be implemented, such as e-invoicing standards and development of accessible artificial intelligence-powered support tools. Discussion is expected on lessons learned from pilot schemes, as well as whether early-stage firms have enough access to technical support for growth, and ways forward for expanding access.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those due to attend include officials from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Department for Business and Trade; Department for Science, Innovation and Technology; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; Department for Transport; Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland; Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland; National Wealth Fund; and the Welsh Government.
