AAccelerate For Growth 2018 Update

When starting a business from scratch, it is often a slow, if steady, climb to a summit before reaching a tipping point of growth. AAccelerate, one part of our response to the Government’s Industrial Strategy, focuses on growing businesses through the power of multi-channel advertising in both Scotland and the West Midlands with a view to scaling across the UK.

We know from our own independent research by Deloitte that SMEs constitute just 18% of overall UK advertising spend. But we also know that SMEs’ growth through advertising is disproportionately large by comparison to other sizes of business when advertising across multi-channel. A smaller business undertaking multi-channel advertising can benefit as much as eight times their initial investment.

Our aim is to recruit businesses with a budget for advertising. We also want to work with businesses who are willing to gain advice from advertising agencies but who do not perhaps know how best to go about scaling their business through advertising generally or a multichannel approach. In return, the participating businesses will enjoy excellent value on their media spend and also, professional advice from agencies.

We announced the first five Scottish SMEs to participate in AAccelerate in October and are now in the process of recruiting SMEs to be part of our first cohort in the West Midlands with one SME already secured.

The pilot scheme has a governance structure in each pilot location, a team of willing agencies and media owners offering the best rates in the industry to AAccelerate participating SMEs.

We have also launched a website (www.aaccelerategrow.com). The site acts as an advisor to businesses wishing to understand more about how to advertise, the advertising industry and the different channels available in which to do so. It also offers an opportunity to understand more about the offer in Scotland and the West Midlands and to apply to be an AAccelerate SME.

We’re aiming to scale the scheme via a lead generation campaign, focusing initially on Scotland and then following on in the West Midlands. AAccelerate is a good opportunity to grow the advertising industry and UK SMEs in tandem.