start-ups through a structured 12-week programme of incubation and acceleration activity. The programme offers traditional services such as office space, mentoring, and education. However, it offers access to John Lewis data, customers and the something that is organisation’s expertise – attractive for start-up firms in the retail space in particular. Other well-known corporate brands that are making in-roads in the incubator/ accelerator space include Barclays (Barclays Accelerator/ Techstars), Red Bull (Red Bull Amplifier), Pearson (Catalyst for Education) and Telefonica (Wayra). Interestingly these corporate incubators also mirror an emerging trend in incubation that of the sector-specific programme. For example, John – on retail-sphere start-ups, Red focusses on music industry Lewis’ JLAB focusses Bull’s Amplifier start-ups and focusses on disruptive education start-ups. Pearson’s Catalyst However, the majority of the incubation ecosystem can still be found within London (approximately 2/3 of all programmes). There are concerns that this clustering in London draws resources and opportunity away from other regions of the UK. Additionally, there is concern that this clustering may also create an that may be harmful if it were to burst. This said, growth unsustainable ‘bubble’ can be seen in other major UK hubs such as Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh and Manchester, though this tends to be less developed than that found in London. Start-up Eco-system in Country and History + Current Incubation / Acceleration Practice Timeline: incubators in the US. 1960’s: First First recognised incubators in the UK. 1980’s: Mid-1980’s: First university science parks established. 1998: UKBI established, bringing more focus to measuring impact and outcomes of start-up activity. 2005: First co-working space set up in London. 2015: Wider dissemination of co-working ideas and activity around the UK. Set-Squared UK enterprise/ university partnership named best incubator in the world. HEI Eco-systems entrepreneurship development and incubation – Key facts: 157 universities in the UK 2.27 million students in 2014/15
start-ups through a structured 12-week programme of incubation and acceleration activity. The programme offers traditional services such as office space, mentoring, and education. However, it offers access to John Lewis data, customers and the organisation’s expertise – something that is attractive for start-up firms in the retail space in particular. Other well-known corporate brands that are making in-roads in the incubator/ accelerator space include Barclays (Barclays Accelerator/ Techstars), Red Bull (Red Bull Amplifier), Pearson (Catalyst for Education) and Telefonica (Wayra). Interestingly these corporate incubators also mirror an emerging trend in incubation – that of the sector-specific programme. For example, John Lewis’ JLAB focusses on retail-sphere start-ups, Red Bull’s Amplifier focusses on music industry start-ups and Pearson’s Catalyst focusses on disruptive education start-ups. However, the majority of the incubation ecosystem can still be found within London (approximately 2/3 of all programmes). There are concerns that this clustering in London draws resources and opportunity away from other regions of the UK. Additionally, there is concern that this clustering may also create an unsustainable ‘bubble’ that may be harmful if it were to burst. This said, growth can be seen in other major UK hubs such as Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh and Manchester, though this tends to be less developed than that found in London. Start-up Eco-system in Country and History + Current Incubation / Acceleration Practice Timeline: 1960’s: First incubators in the US. 1980’s: First recognised incubators in the UK. Mid-1980’s: First university science parks established. 1998: UKBI established, bringing more focus to measuring impact and outcomes of start-up activity. 2005: First co-working space set up in London. 2015: Wider dissemination of co-working ideas and activity around the UK. Set-Squared UK enterprise/ university partnership named best incubator in the world. HEI Eco-systems – entrepreneurship development and incubation Key facts: 157 universities in the UK 2.27 million students in 2014/15