Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the number of companies requiring additional funding to help scale-up.

The estimated equity finance gap (the difference between actual equity investment and potential equity investment) for all but established companies was £7.5 billion in 2021. [1] There is an equity finance gap in every region and nation of the UK; London has the largest absolute equity finance gap, while Yorkshire and Humber has the largest relative gap. [2] The British Business Bank is helping to close that gap through its Nations and Regions Investment Funds and the Regional Angels Programme, which also attract additional private investment for businesses outside London and the South East.

[1] Supporting Innovative Start-Up and Growing Businesses: Equity Finance Provision through the Pandemic: Interim Report by Marek Kacer, Nick Wilson :: SSRN (DBT commissioned and funded)

[2] Equity Finance and the UK Regions (BEIS research paper)