In the first edition of the High-Growth in London report, published back by Beauhurst in March of 2019, they noted the extent to which 'London-based companies dominate the UK?s high-growth scene'. Back then, 30% of ambitious UK companies had grown in the Capital, and had collectively secured 54% of all UK equity fundraising since 2011.
Beauhurst use 8 criteria to identify high-growth and ambitious companies with each growth company having met at least one of the below growth triggers.
Since then, their report, 'High Growth In London 2020' reveals that 'the Capital has only taken a larger slice of the pie. London now accounts for 33% of all high-growth and ambitious companies in the country, and has received 58% of all pounds invested since 2011' revealing that for every pound of equity investment made in the UK during Q1 2020, 70p of it went to London-based companies.
Now, the COVID-19 outbreak is set to deepen this inequality with 'companies in London being less likely to be at risk from the pandemic than those in other areas of the country because 'they tend to be tech-focussed and more agile than those in the regions, and have better access to a wider variety of support'.
The report asserts that those that are at risk 'are far more likely to be large companies that generate an above average turnover' and 'losing just a handful of these companies could drastically change the high-growth landscape in London, and the country as a whole'.
At the time of publication, 'just nine individual business in the Capital have permanently shut up shop as a direct consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, although most will have been facing problems before hand'.
The full report can be accessed here.
