Barclays Scale Up UK: programme overview

Barclays Scale Up UK is an innovative programme which aims to enhance the performance and competitiveness of high-potential early-stage businesses with growth appetite as well as growth potential that are deemed to be engines of growth in the UK. The programme is designed to support the companies by helping them formulate, articulate and implement a growth plan for their business through defining and articulating the business value proposition, designing a sustainable business model, enhancing operational and leadership capabilities and strengthening financial literacy.

The ethos behind the programme

Many founding teams reach a plateau and struggle to grow their business further. They think that they lack funds and resources. But is growth just increase of sales or hiring more people? Often founders fail to tackle difficult questions, focusing mostly on the business and fail to bring their leadership team together and develop a growth plan.

Our approach is one of a deep and personal engagement with each founding team and their company (on-site diagnostic visits, interview, questionnaires, initial assessment, coaching through the programme) that results with a tailored growth plan for each company. We aim to understand and help the early stage business solve the "unique" company-specific challenges being faced by participants. 

The programme is made up of a series of two-day workshops which provide access to the latest management thinking, facilitate the sharing of insights about commonly experienced challenges and a range of possible solutions. These will be augmented by regular company visits from dedicated Cambridge Judge Business School team members.

The programme will begin with an on-site diagnostic visit by a member of the Cambridge Judge team. This coach member will support you throughout your journey and provide a point of contact within the School.

Six core modules addressing six core topics, including Strategy, Marketing, Growth Models, Culture, Recruitment & Talent, International Expanding and Funding which will be delivered across a series of two-day workshops over 12 weeks.

A key component of the programme will involve collaborative problem-solving and learning from the experiences of other participants. In doing so, CEOs and founding teams will build the management capabilities of their organisations. These results rest on the condition that the CEOs and founding teams commit to attending the workshops and seeing their action plans through.