A brewery seeking to upscale its brewing capacity, a televised events company wishing to further invest in training for its rigger teams and a portable toilet company seeking to implement new systems are among enterprises in Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire reporting positive impact from High Growth Accelerator support.
Summary of outcomes reported by enterprises from the High Growth Accelerator:
- 230 engaged on the project so far
- 111 accessed one-to-one business support and/or attended one-to-many High Growth events, forums and workshops
- 47 reported creation of new jobs
- 37 saw an increase in productivity
- 29 received grants
- 25 introduced new or improved products or services
The High Growth Accelerator project is for high-performing businesses that have achieved at least 20% annual growth in revenue, employment or market share over each of the past three years.
The project has received £455,249 from the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to enable businesses in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Nottingham to access expert insight. It is delivered by East Midlands Chamber on behalf of EMCCA (the East Midlands Combined County Authority).
Alongside the High Growth forums and series of workshops on Growth Builders and Growth Drivers, delivered in partnership with the University of Derby, University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, the Chamber has launched a new tranche of High Growth digital workshops that will run until the project’s end in March 2026.
Highlights from the January schedule include:
- Growth Builders: Increase Your Profitability through Productivity Gains & Pricing Strategies (15 January, Nottingham Trent University)
- Growth Drivers: Thinking Like a Strategist (22 January, University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus)
- Generative AI for Scaling Companies: Building teams with ChatGPT and Copilot (27 January, Nottingham Belfry)
- The High Growth Academy: Growth Forum: Driving Business Growth Through Innovation (29 January, Nottingham University Business School, where there will be a particular focus on finance & funding and partnership building from Professor David Park, Dean of Nottingham University Business School; Lewis Stringer, Senior Manager, UK Network Team at British Business Bank; and Professor Veronica Pickering, social entrepreneur and Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire)
- Embedding AI Workflows into your Growth Strategy (30 January, Chesterfield)
East Midlands Chamber Deputy Chief Executive Diane Beresford said: “It’s a tall order for a rapidly growing business to introduce wholesale changes to key areas such as strategy, profitability and company-wide implementation of AI when sales delivery often needs to be its firm focus. With the guidance of an East Midlands Chamber business adviser, however, scaling businesses have been able to tap into the expert knowledge they need – not only from EMCCA’s High Growth and Export Accelerator projects but also from the Derbyshire and Nottingham Accelerator projects and from signposting to national projects such Help to Grow: Management, Innovate UK Business Growth, Create Growth and Made Smarter East Midlands.
“It’s testament to the quality of the experts involved that so many businesses have reported a positive impact on employment, productivity and new products and services – all within the project’s first nine months of operation.
“It’s only a matter of weeks now before the support comes to an end. If they haven’t done so already, I would urge any high growth business to take advantage of the skills on offer to help secure their long-term growth.”
Mayor of the East Midlands Claire Ward said: “I’m ecstatic that after just nine months, 230 local businesses have joined the High Growth Accelerator.
“Of these, 47 have already created new jobs, 37 have increased their productivity, 29 have received grants, and 25 have improved their products or services! 111 businesses have also accessed one-to-one support or exclusive events, forums, and workshops.“If you own a growing business in Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire: this programme works, and you have until March 2026 to take advantage of it.”
Enterprises receiving High Growth Accelerator support include:
Little Brewing Company, Derby
This small business of only 13 people faces fierce competition from large multinational brewers who can offer their products at a much lower price and lock pub groups into supply agreements. Nevertheless, the business’s growth has been exponential. Despite investment in additional brewing capacity in 2024, however, there are already limitations on the range and volume of beers the team can produce, all of which are gluten free.
The business was successful in applying for support from the High Growth Accelerator project to scale-up its brewing capacity and, in turn, the range of beers on offer. Complementary funding from the Export Accelerator project will support the re-design and re-print of the business’s canning labels in readiness for its launch into new export markets.
Little Brewing Company Director Matt Willers said: “We honestly could not have navigated the grant process without the support of our East Midlands Chamber Business Adviser David Smith. It has enabled us to push on with high-growth projects that will not only safeguard jobs but allow us to invest in additional people.”
Trans-Sport.tv, Bassetlaw
Trans-Sport.tv is a global events company specialising in the transportation and technical delivery of equipment and personnel to major televised events worldwide. For the last 18 years, the family business has been the contractor of choice for the BBC events team covering all royal and parliamentary occasions.
High Growth Accelerator funding is supporting the training and coaching of new rigger team leaders, including the creation of personal development plans to ensure each person has the skills and behaviours to deliver in their new roles. An Export Accelerator grant is also enabling the business to refresh its website to ensure the words, images and colours used are sensitive to the cultures of its emerging markets.
Registration on the High Growth and Export Accelerator projects has enabled the business to take advantage of a £2,000 commercial training bursary. This funding will support two members of the team to benefit from the Chamber’s Director Development and Manager Development training programmes.
The business believes the support will improve its sales conversion rate to 95%.
Trans-Sport.tv Director Helen Cope said: “Getting and retaining the competitive advantage, whether that’s via our people or processes is a constant challenge for our Executive Team. With the two-strand approach achieved via High Growth and Export Accelerator funding, our business will 100% be placed to access new markets, increase productivity, revenue, people and processes.”
Get Loos, Chesterfield
With their friendly motto ‘Don’t Worry, Pee Happy’, Get Loos provides fully serviced portable toilets for events, weddings and construction sites in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire. As a young and fast-growing business, accessing the right finance at sustainable rates has been a challenge, as has keeping up with enquiries and managing customers efficiently.
East Midlands Chamber’s Senior Business Adviser Peter Lawrence conducted a thorough business review and recommended that co-founder Adam Sinnott join the High Growth Academy for leaders of high-scale businesses. Peter also provided guidance on the application process to secure a High Growth Accelerator grant of £5,616, enabling the business to implement a new CRM system and automation tools. This has resulted in a saving of around 15 hours a week in administration time, increased conversions and significantly reduced missed opportunities through customer interactions. Valuable time and headspace to explore longer-term goals have been freed up as a result, including acquiring other portable toilet businesses and seeking investment partners to accelerate expansion across the Midlands and beyond.
Derbyshire Accelerator has provided other avenues of support, including a £2,000 Growth Voucher to support the business to tap into expert consultancy to develop a strategic management process to focus on what really drives growth. It has also funded a place for Adam to attend the Chamber’s five-day Director Development programme and the Access to Finance workshop, part of the High Growth Academy series, which provided a road map to understanding and securing funding.
The investment has increased competitiveness, safeguarded jobs and set the business up for sustainable growth.
Get Loos Co-founder Adam Sinnott said: “We knew we needed better systems and stronger leadership structures to match the pace of our growth, but finding the right guidance and tools wasn’t always easy. The High Growth Accelerator Grant, Growth Voucher and training have not only improved how we run the business day to day, but also how we think as business owners. We’re now more structured, more confident and more in control of our growth than ever before.”
The schedule of High Growth Academy workshops can be accessed here.
