THE West of England has been has been praised for the way that it supports businesses.

The region's innovative plan to encourage and support business to help them grow is a role model for the country, according to industry experts.

A national report by the ScaleUp Institute heaped praise on the region after the West of England Growth Hub, run by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) and Local Enterprise Partnership, appointed a “scale-up enabler” to bring together the region’s vibrant and diverse companies.

The ScaleUp Enabler, Briony Phillips, works with Engine Shed to increase the opportunities for scale-up businesses across the West of England.

The Annual ScaleUp Review 2018 comments: “The appointment of a ScaleUp Enabler has driven increased interest in scale-ups and helped to ensure that the support provided responds directly to the challenges that growing companies face."

West of England Mayor, Tim Bowles, said: “This is a terrific accolade for the West of England.

"Developments such as the ScaleUp Generator website supported through the West of England Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership’ are a great add-on to our Growth Hub site; offering fast growth businesses more information on where to go for support and finance.”

Briony Phillips, ScaleUp Enabler and Associate Director, Engine Shed, said: “Armed with an understanding of the challenges faced by the scaleup business community and the breadth of support available, I have been able to target and help overcome specific barriers to growth such as office space availability and access to finance. To have this innovative approach celebrated by the ScaleUp Institute is a great accolade.”

The Annual ScaleUp Review 2018 is published by the ScaleUp Institute, a private sector, not-for-profit company which aims to make the UK the best place in the world to scale up a business.

A copy of the review is available via: scaleupinstitute.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/chapter_three.pdf.