A new study commissioned by an entrepreneurial support organisation aims to find the ‘missing middle’ in terms of support to help small businesses in Scotland to grow.
Elevator, which helps entrepreneurs, founders and early start ups, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to develop, wants to better understand what are the challenges to growing companies.
CEO Rachel Ross said: “Discussions with business owners over the last couple of years have demonstrated a perceived gap in growth support for established SMEs, and we want to scratch the surface around this important area through the survey.
“In Scotland, we are very good at supporting early stage startups at one end of the spectrum, and at the other end that would also be the case for scale-up companies, but where we could be missing a trick is around what has been described as the ‘missing middle’.”
Elevator has supported over 3,500 SMEs during the last few years, along with over 9,000 earlier stage businesses, with a focus on community and regional engagement. Its team partners with enterprise agencies, local government, universities, and the corporate sector to deliver co-designed programmes that accelerate growth for entrepreneurs and SMEs.
The survey incorporates questions around access to finance, government support, people, talent and skills, community wealth building, technology investment and AI, export plans, and overall sentiment on the economic environment. Ross said: “Our hope is that the survey findings bring much needed attention to how we can do an even better job of supporting the growth strategies of our most ambitious SMEs across the country.”
The Scottish Government’s Businesses in Scotland report in November 2024 revealed that there were an estimated 355,805 SMEs operating in Scotland as of March 2024, accounting for approximately 42 per cent of employment across the private sector as a whole.
Ross added: “We know that SMEs are the lifeblood of the Scottish economy, they consistently face economic and business challenges, so the more we can help them grow, the more we will all benefit as a nation.”
For more information and to complete the SME survey: www.elevatoruk.com/survey
