Publication
High Growth Firms and Demand for Business Support
Published: 12 November 2026
ERC Research paper No 129
Associated Themes
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Longitudinal Small Business Survey
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a central role in economic growth and job creation. Policy discussions often focus on so-called high-growth firms (HGFs) or “scale-ups”, reflecting their disproportionate contribution to economic performance. However, recent Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) research has highlighted that business growth is rarely continuous (Hart et al. 2020). Most firms grow in episodes, with a growth spurt, then a plateau, a pause and then potentially another spurt. Furthermore, many business owners hold growth ambitions that are not yet reflected in their current performance (Hart, 2026). This raises important questions about whether business support reaches only firms already experiencing growth or also those with the potential to grow in the future.
This research paper examines patterns of business support use among UK SMEs, focusing on firms currently experiencing high growth and firms with strong growth ambitions. Using data from the UK Longitudinal Small Business Survey (LSBS), the research explores which firms access support, how support use varies within growth-oriented firms, and whether business support is associated with a greater likelihood of translating growth ambitions into realised business growth. The analysis combines evidence from more than 10,500 SMEs in the 2024 LSBS wave with longitudinal data tracking firms between 2021 and 2024. Findings should be interpreted as evidence of associations rather than causal effects.
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