Gordon Bateman is a man driven by connection. Walking through Leeds Dock with him at the home of the event he created, Climb 25, it is clear to see his passion for genuine, value-driven human interaction.
It’s almost like being stood with a celebrity as the masses flock to greet him.
“It’s just for two out of the 365 days in the year!” he quips.
As the founder of ClimbUK – organiser of Climb 25 – and the CEO behind Investor Ladder and CRSI, Bateman is building something that is not seen often in the UK – a national platform for founders, investors and business leaders to collide, collaborate and grow, without needing to fly to California.
This all started with his belief of driving business growth. “If you want to accelerate regional economies, it’s about connection,” Bateman (pictured with designer Steve Edge, main image) tells me after spending hours hosting and speaking to over 2,000 attendees on the Summit Stage.
“It’s not about pumping more public sector funds into areas. That’s good – and should happen – but if we really want to make a difference, we need to be better connected.
“For example, people don’t say ‘I’m from a town in Silicon Valley’. They say they’re from Silicon Valley.
“So why don’t we better connect all our regions – and yes, that includes London – to share ideas, share knowledge? We’re a small country. We can do this.”
The concept for ClimbUK was born after Bateman returned from the Slush conference in Helsinki in 2022. By 2023, Climb 23 had already attracted plenty of attendees.
He explains: “Most of our events here are either boring or fragmented. You go to a meetup in Manchester or Leeds and it’s often the same 30 people who were there last week.
“What if we did something on a national or even international scale – a full conference where the chances of bumping into someone completely new are actually real?
“Most events start small and grow. But small already exists. Why tread on other people’s toes? Instead, I thought: let’s create something big – 300 to 400 people – and invite those running great events to bring them here.
“Got a cyber event with 100 attendees? Bring it to Climb, and you’ll meet another 100 people you’d never normally meet.”
The accidental entrepreneur
Bateman’s own background is filled with what he calls ‘fortunate accidents’.
“I was sponsored at university but when I graduated, the company reneged on the deal,” the now-serial entrepreneur tells me over some Mexican food.
Instead, he joined a small business, something he says ‘no one did that back then’, which eventually led to a management buyout and flotation.
Climb 25
“That was my first fortunate accident,” he says. “Then I left because the growth killed the culture. I didn’t enjoy it anymore.”
After a failed startup attempt due to a market collapse, Bateman eventually launched CRSI, a consultancy business that works with founders and fast-growth companies.
Later, a second ‘fortunate accident’ occurred: “Investors kept saying they were struggling to meet UK companies.
“So I set up a project to connect them. It wasn’t commercial, just solving a problem, but it worked. Everyone jumped on board. That became Investor Ladder.”
As discussions deepened around social mobility, inclusion and diversity, the idea for a larger festival — Climb — took shape.
“I’ve always run my own businesses,” Bateman says. “It’s just that over the last two years, this became the thing.”
Helping others is more than a passion
Bateman’s driver is simple – helping. Climb is the stepping stone that allows him to do that at scale.
He admits: “I want to help people. Whether that’s helping founders scale, or young people accelerate their careers.
“CRSI lets us do that with 30-40 companies a year. Climb lets us do it on a massive scale.”
He cites keynote sessions at Climb 25, like HomeServe founder Richard Harpin’s ‘How to make a BILLION in nine steps’ as examples of how you can deliver powerful impact at scale.
He continues: “We can’t do one-to-one with everyone, but if we put the right people on stage, we can help 200 or 2,000 in one whack. Then it’s up to them to take it further.”
The authenticity is another key factor to Climb. None of the high-profile speakers were paid to attend.
“Peter Hutton, Jeff Cohen, Jennifer Byrne — they came because they believed in what we’re doing,” Bateman says.
“They’re not here to do a £10,000 speaking gig. That authenticity matters.”
“I’ve been on my arse more times than you can imagine”
Bateman is frank about his journey and why helping others isn’t just a professional mission.
He recalls: “When I was younger, I was crap at school. I went to a private school but just couldn’t be arsed.”
A life-changing moment came from an unexpected source – his sister’s boss, a successful businessman, who was giving him a lift to school.
Bateman says: “He stopped the car and said, ‘If you don’t work hard now, you’ll work hard for the rest of your life.’
“Then he had a heart attack on the way home. That stuck with me. I got my act together, got my GCSEs, my A-Levels, went to uni.
“Since then, I’ve had loads of falls. But there’s always someone willing to help. All you have to do is ask.”
Making a national business festival feel intimate
Climb 25 is not your average conference. It opens with a live band. Conversations spill out of roundtables into areas containing street food and lively mobile bars.
The only things expected of attendees are to show up as themselves and engage.
Bateman, (left) hosting ‘Building Boards that Mean Business’ at Climb 25
As the founder says: “You create a vibe where you feel like you’re at a social event, but you’re talking about business.
“For most founders, business is their hobby. So this just fits.
“Let’s stop kidding ourselves — we’re here to network. I asked the crowd, ‘stand up if you don’t want to meet anyone’. No one stood up. That’s the truth of it.”
However, the intimacy can be hard to build at such a large-scale event.
“Everyone wants to be the centre of the universe,” he says.
“Everyone wants personalised experiences. We have 400 informal speakers, not 200 formal ones because everyone here is a speaker in some way.”
Why the biggest challenge is… charging £200
Despite its value, Bateman still feels that the event can still go further up the ladder but is being held back by the lack of willingness of some entrepreneurs.
He says: “People don’t want to pay. They don’t see £200 as a good investment in their personal or business development.
“That’s crazy. You’re meeting people here you could never email, never get into their office. But because it’s not free, they hesitate.
“You’ve got people like Jennifer Byrne just walking across the square. Or Peter Hutton – a guy I first met here.
“You’ve just spent 60 minutes in a room with 20 people. Now you grab a coffee and boom – you’ve met 19 new people.
“That’s the magic. That’s the value. But that’s the hardest thing to scale.
“It’s helping people. Whether that’s their business, their wellbeing, their future. That’s what we do. And we’re just getting started.”