18 Jun 2025
by Mia Haffety

Event recap: Meet the Scalers: Growing a Tech Business in 2025

On Tuesday 10 June, techUK brought together key stakeholders from the ecosystem to continue our campaign to better support scaling tech firms to scale and stay in the UK.

We were delighted to have hosted a packed audience and a stellar line up panellists addressing some of the key building blocks needed to successfully scale a tech business in the UK.

Topics ranged from accessing finance, building the right talent base and expanding into new markets. Along with the opportunity for the UK Government to seize the moment and better support scaling tech firms to build the next tech sector giant.

A few key takeaways from the day? 

  • ‘Ambition’ and ‘faith’ should be at the heart of decisions on growth.
  • Maintaining and investing in innovation while building the operational foundation creates sustainable growth.
  • Invest in the right team early to drive future success and ensure talent acquisition doesn’t become your biggest bottleneck.
  • Strategic partnerships and seeking involvement in ecosystems can become critical differentiators – i.e., to secure funding and investment.
  • Accessing new markets requires building local market intelligence with trusted partners who understand the legal and regulatory requirements, culture, and customer behaviour patterns.

techUK's full Scale-Up Action Plan report can be accessed here.

Highlights from the event include the opening keynote from Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State of the Future Digital Economy and Online Safety, and a firside chat with Julian David OBE, CEO at techUK, Tim Smith, VP Corporate Affairs at Multiverse and Ray O'Brien, Chief Operating Officer at Quantexa.

Fireside Chat with techUK, Multiverse and Quantexa

Opening the day, was the fireside chat between Tim Smith, VP Corporate Affairs at Multiverse and Ray O'Brien, Chief Operating Officer at Quantexa. Both drew on lessons to successfully scale a tech business in the UK, and what the government could do to create an enabling environment.

Multiverse, the first ever EdTech unicorn following record-breaking funding. Quantexa recently completed a record $175 million Series F investment round. This milestone is fuelling Quantexa’s progress and mission to help enterprises and government agencies stay ahead in the race for AI-driven Decision Intelligence.

Quantexa's Ray O'Brien commended the UK Government's recent action to drive more institutional capital into scaling firms through recent pension reform. Ray noted the importance for the UK to create an AI-fit infrastructure – reducing the electricity price, leveraging chips capacity. 

Tim drew on the need to invest internally in upskilling and embed a culture of ambition to deliver success. Aswell as investing in digital tech adoption to drive productivity gains.

The key words to succeed as a scale-up? Ambition and faith.

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Thank you to all of our delegates and speakers for making the event such a success. 

Thank you to our sponsors Hawksford.

techUK Scale-Up Action Plan

Scaling with ambition to drive the UK's economic growth story.

Find out more


Mia Haffety

Mia Haffety

Policy Manager - Digital Economy, techUK

Daniel Clarke

Daniel Clarke

Policy Manager for International Policy and Trade, techUK

Matt Robinson

Matt Robinson

Head of Nations and Regions, techUK

Ed Bevan

Ed Bevan

Head of SME Engagement, techUK

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Meet the team 

Antony Walker

Antony Walker

Deputy CEO, techUK

Alice Campbell

Alice Campbell

Head of Public Affairs, techUK

Edward Emerson

Edward Emerson

Head of Digital Economy, techUK

Samiah Anderson

Samiah Anderson

Head of Digital Regulation, techUK

Audre Verseckaite

Audre Verseckaite

Senior Policy Manager, Data & AI, techUK

Mia Haffety

Mia Haffety

Policy Manager - Digital Economy, techUK

Archie Breare

Archie Breare

Policy Manager - Skills & Digital Economy, techUK

Nimmi Patel

Nimmi Patel

Head of Skills, Talent and Diversity, techUK

Daniella Bennett Remington

Daniella Bennett Remington

Policy Manager - Digital Regulation, techUK

Oliver Alderson

Oliver Alderson

Junior Policy Manager, techUK

Tess Newton

Team Assistant, Policy and Public Affairs, techUK

 

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Authors

Mia Haffety

Mia Haffety

Policy Manager - Digital Economy, techUK

Mia joined techUK in September 2023.

Mia focuses on shaping a policy environment that fosters the expansion of the UK tech sector while maximising the transformative potential of technology across all industries.

Prior to joining techUK, Mia worked as a Senior Policy Adviser at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) within the Policy Unit.

Mia holds an MSc in International Development from the University of Manchester and a BA(Hons) in Politics and International Relations from the University of Nottingham.

Email:
[email protected]

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