From 2-day London event to nationwide mission: The SCALE story

Two years ago, I was head of exhibitions at the Evening Standard, responsible for building a world-class exhibition and conference business.

In 2024, Will Fowler and I bought SME XPO from the Standard and have since rebuilt it as SCALE – a support platform aimed specifically at UK scaleups.

The UK economy needs more founders and SME leaders to succeed. Often, the only thing standing between their ambition and an incredible growth story is being in the right room at the right time.

With that in mind, we created an in-person events programme that connects founders with investors, partners and the tools to turn ambition into growth.

I’d love to say we had a grand national vision from day one. We didn’t. We bought the event because it wasn’t getting enough support, and I knew it was too good to be left to drift along.

Will and I could have worked hard for six months of the year and cruised through the rest, but neither of us is wired that way. As it turned out, nor was anyone else we brought on board.

SCALE is growing in ambition and impact every day.

Seeing the bigger picture

The UK’s scaleup community needs more than just another event. It needs community, support and a spotlight all year round, right across the country.

Scaleups create jobs and drive economic growth, yet they rarely make the news.

I’d had that ambition at the Standard but never had the chance to deliver it. After the management buyout (MBO), suddenly we did – and we needed a team that shared our vision.

Building this business with Will was the easiest decision. I’d hired him a few years before the deal, and within a month I could see what he was capable of.

Earlier in my career at Clarion Events, I learned that the most important person in an events business isn’t necessarily the chief executive or chairman. It’s the person out in the market building relationships.

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Will had spent years doing exactly that, brilliantly.

We work differently, which helps. I focus on a handful of opportunities and try to land every one. Will runs a much bigger pipeline and always makes time for the next sales conversation.

He has a phenomenal capacity to get things done. In five years, we’ve disagreed plenty, but never had a crossed word.

The rainy Tuesday test

Andrew B Morris became our chairman through a ‘right time, right place’ twist of fate.

We’d just completed the acquisition, and Andrew, who sold Earls Court and Olympia and later the Business Design Centre, was looking for his next challenge.

We had shared connections, but ultimately it came down to whether we believed in the same thing – helping founders and growth-stage businesses succeed.

My advice to any founder choosing a backer is to apply the rainy Tuesday afternoon test.

Imagine things have gone seriously wrong and you have to pick up the phone. What reaction will you get?

“OK, we gave it a try. What shall we do next?”

Or a furious summons to a meeting?

I’ve experienced both. Only one helps you scale a business.

Serendipity strikes again

Putting the country’s eyes on our scaleup community required skills we didn’t have. Neither Will nor I are communications professionals or natural extroverts. SCALE needed a voice in the public domain.

By pure chance, Amy Knight and I both forgot our photo ID for a networking event and were turned away.

Rather than go home, we went for coffee next door instead. A couple of months later, she joined us as communications director.

This summer, she became the first woman on our board and our first female shareholder. She’s been adding rocket fuel to the business every day.

Know the destination, not the route

Jeff Bezos talks about being stubborn on vision and flexible on details. That’s how I drive the SCALE bus.

The destination matters; the exact route to get there doesn’t.

There will be roadworks, open stretches and the occasional Mario Kart speed boost.

Mistakes will happen – we’ll all make them – and that’s fine, as long as we’re working smartly together.

When I planned this journey a year ago, I had a fraction of the information and almost none of the ideas we have now.

SCALE Manchester, taking place at Freight Island on 25 November, is one result – a new platform to showcase scaleups and Northern Leaders.

Women Who Scale, the female founders’ branch of our platform, is another.

Get the right people on the bus. They’ll work out the best way to get you where you’re going.