The UK has no shortage of startup support programmes. But how well do they work?
In our new paper, Full Speed Ahead: Accelerating Britain’s network of startup support programmes, we ask whether the startup support ecosystem is delivering on its promise to founders, funders and the wider economy.
We spoke to programme operators, founders, and policy experts to understand the challenges and opportunities, and we propose four areas of reform to help startup support programmes deliver lasting, measurable outcomes.
As our Patron, Steve Rigby, writes in the foreword:
“We are world-class at launching startups – but not yet at helping them scale. If we want the UK to remain globally competitive, we need to raise the bar on the programmes we fund, back, and promote.”
Our report unpacks why issues persist. The common problems we found include:
– Misaligned expectations: Many accelerators focus heavily on mentoring and workshops, whereas founders need investor and customer connections.
– Duration mismatches: Most programmes last under six months, but founders in deep tech, health and regulated sectors need much longer runway to become investment-ready.
– Short-term funding cycles: Stop-start grants disrupt mentorship, break community continuity and undermine the long-term trust essential for founder development.
– Flawed impact measurement: Startup survival and funding secured are important, but this doesn’t capture long-term founder development or second-time success. A "failed" startup can produce a much stronger entrepreneur.
Our recommendations include:
– Establish standards and shared definitions for different programme types to bring clarity, comparability, and baseline quality to the sector.
– Reform impact measurement to track long-term founder development, not just short-term startup outcomes or programme activities.
– Move to longer-term, outcome-linked support, replacing stop-start grants with adaptable contracts that support iteration, trust, and planning.
– Pilot demand-led funding vouchers to let public funding follow founder needs and reward high-performing programmes.
We believe these reforms matter because founders need clarity, funders need accountability, and programmes need time and tools to improve.
Done right, these changes could help ensure that public investment flows to the programmes that deliver the most value for founders and the UK economy.