Businesses must take risks and build networks, Ward Hadaway Yorkshire Fastest 50 is told

Mark Roberts, the co-founder of Beer Hawk, a business which grew from a shed into a major enterprise, told the Ward Hadaway Yorkshire Fastest 50 awards that companies must keep innovating in order to grow.

He said the guests at the event, which attracted more than 300 people, must inspire others with their stories of rapid expansion.

Mr Roberts who served on the board of the Leeds LEP (local enterprise partnership) for several years, said he really leaned into the business community in Yorkshire as he was growing his business.

He told the audience at Aspire in Leeds: "I got the pleasure to meet with a lot of businesses and talk a lot about what does regional economic growth mean. Economic growth is in the news all the time these days. Lots of politicians are talking about it.

"How many of those politicians have built a business? How many know what it is to do it?’’ he added.

"It’s the businesses in this room who are fast-growing who are the key to economic growth and we need to find ways for the Government and the public sector and other networks to support you to create jobs and to create the economic prosperity that we need because the UK has a scale up problem.

“A lot of businesses don’t break into that scale up mode and I’ve spent a lot of time just reflecting on why,’’ he added.

Mr Roberts, who now backs high growth businesses as an angel investor, said: "I think there are three reasons. The first reason is around innovation. Businesses get to a certain point and they stop innovating.”

"If they get success, I’ve seen so often that businesses want to protect that success and they make their processes more efficient, which is great, but they forget to do the new stuff. They forget how to take risks.

"If you’re not taking risks on the new stuff and the new innovations then it’s really hard to push on for growth.

"The second thing is networks; we lack networks,’’ he added. “Thinking back to my story, I really benefitted from the networks and the communities that we have. This is such an amazing room in which to build extra networks to try to grow.

"The third thing is ambition. I think our US friends can be a bit more ambitious in trying to change the world and get to a certain size; we need to be OK with that ambition, we need to celebrate success and we need to share those stories. Which is why it’s brilliant to be here today and to celebrate this success.”

The Ward Hadaway Yorkshire Fastest 50 awards have been held in partnership with The Yorkshire Post since they were established in 2011.

Greg Wright, The Yorkshire Post's deputy business editor, told the audience: “Yorkshire is full of business leaders who actively embrace change because they are so determined to stay ahead of the competition. You are the region’s brightest and best. I salute you all.”

There is full coverage of the awards in The Yorkshire Post this week.