Scale-Up

How to grow from £1M to £100M — operational playbooks for ambitious British businesses.

• £700m Strategic Sites Accelerator Launches to Unlock Up to 10 Major UK Industrial Sites (Scale-Up, 4 November 2026)
  The government launched its £700m Strategic Sites Accelerator on 2 November 2026 to unlock six to 10 major industrial and commercial sites, using loans, equity, targeted grants and technical support, with the aim of attracting up to £2bn of private investment.
• FCA Tells Banks to Cut Delays for Defence SMEs After Review of Access to Banking Services (Scale-Up, 2 November 2026)
  The FCA's review of defence SMEs' access to banking, published on 26 October 2026, found banks are generally willing to serve them but onboarding friction and delay are the main problem. It has written to banks expecting proportionate, risk-based decisions.
• Capital Allowances After Budget 2026: First-Year Allowance Rises to 50% from January 2027, Writing-Down Allowance Cut to 12% (Scale-Up, 30 October 2026)
  The Autumn Budget on 28 October 2026 raises the main rate first-year allowance from 40% to 50% for spending from 1 January 2027, while the main rate writing-down allowance falls from 14% to 12% from April 2027.
• CSOP Becomes EMI2: Share Option Limit Doubles to £120,000 from April 2027 (Scale-Up, 29 October 2026)
  The Company Share Option Plan has been renamed EMI2 and, from 6 April 2027, its individual option limit doubles from £60,000 to £120,000, with the maximum exercise period extended from 10 to 15 years.
• Five Questions to Ask Before a Senior Hire, and the Employment Law Changes Scale-Ups Need to Know (Scale-Up, 31 July 2026)
  From 1 January 2027 employees can claim unfair dismissal after six months instead of two years, which makes getting senior hires right more important. Here are five questions to answer before you recruit.
• Growing a UK E-commerce Business in 2026: Unit Economics, Reviews and the Rules (Scale-Up, 26 July 2026)
  Online sales made up 28.8% of UK retail in September 2026 and were 6.8% higher than a year earlier. Here is a practical checklist for growing an online shop, including the CMA's tougher stance on fake reviews.