Listed companies shouldn’t be excluded from Burnham’s Scale-Up Fund
Backing Britain’s future through initiatives like the Scale-Up Fund means backing its public growth companies too, writes Danny Lopez.
In the summer, Prime Minister Andy Burnham introduced a £1bn Scale-Up Fund to support UK science and technology companies, acknowledging the lack of scale-up capital despite a surplus of talented firms. This initiative aims to ensure these companies have access to the necessary investment, allowing them to grow and become global success stories.
To further strengthen the ecosystem, the government is proposing a British Business Bank-backed investment vehicle supported by major pension providers. While the focus is on private companies, it is crucial to include listed growth companies in the funding scheme as well. These companies, like Glasswall, face challenges in scaling to become global entities and require patient capital, committed investors, and a funding ecosystem that evolves alongside their growth.
However, there is uncertainty whether the fund will extend to companies listed on public markets, potentially excluding them due to the requirement of public transparency and governance discipline. As the chair of the Aquis Stock Exchange and CEO of Glasswall, Danny Lopez urges policymakers to consider the inclusion of public market companies in the Scale-Up Fund, recognizing that public and private markets are complementary parts of the same growth ecosystem.
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