Creating a fairer future for the UK: scaling-up the potential

A few years ago, we observed that while there were a large number of support programmes for start-ups there were very few for businesses who were already established and ready to grow. We recognised the potential to leverage our PwC business expertise and extensive networks and the Scale-up programme was born. 

Each ten-week programme of workshops and masterclasses culminates in participants pitching to interested parties, with the potential to sell their services.

For the second round of the GovTech Scale-up programme we saw an opportunity to draw a link with our PwC Future of Government campaign on creating a fairer future for the UK. We wanted to explore solutions focused on improving how public services can engage with citizens digitally to allow them to have more of a say in their communities.  

The potential in this space is huge - there are so many companies with great ideas. Over three months we researched 400 companies, held initial calls with 100 of them, had interviews with 40 and then selected the final 10 participants. These companies are at the forefront of harnessing emerging technologies for public benefit.

The founders of these businesses are all so passionate about what they are doing and have real vision for how their ideas can make a difference. One organisation uses technology to gather data from the general public about whether they feel safe in the community and then feed it back to the police force to inform resourcing and decision-making. Another works to give people a voice about major regeneration projects, gathering proper data and insights from people in the communities ahead of developing regeneration plans. Some of the other businesses’ solutions include: mining anonymous data to provide insights, for example where to prioritise road gritting in winter; providing secure ways for adopting the cloud-based systems; and using technology to improve energy use and building health. 

On 28 November, the Scale-up programme launch event,  the 10 participating companies are pitching to a large group of government and public service providers and potential commercial customers. With their new found skills and enhanced networks, these organisations have the potential to influence a fairer future for the UK. And we are very pleased to be supporting them.  

Visit our website to learn more about the Scale-up programme.

To learn more about our Future of Government programme focused on making a fairer future for the UK, visit this website. We'll be launching our research on fairer access to public services through digitisation.

Visit our website to learn more about our prior research on GovTech.