NatWest Accelerator

Welcome to the London NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator

Content All of this would not be possible without our Partners 3 Accelerator Hubs 4 Entrepreneurship 5 Our impact in the last 18 months 6 Coaching | Environment | Network 9 London NatWest Accelerator 10 Our local impact 11 Local Ecosystem & Partnerships 13 Eco-System Network Events 15 Meet the Team 16 Lets get social 17 Apply for the Accelerator Programme 19

All of this would not be possible without our Partners

Accelerator Hubs Purpose built co-working space Access to Wi-Fi, telephones & printing Presentation space and meeting rooms Tea & Coffee facilities RBS HQ Edinburgh Newcastle Glasgow Belfast Leeds Manchester Birmingham Milton Keynes Cardiff London Bristol Brighton

Entrepreneurship • Entrepreneurship is an area that clearly defines NatWest. As the UK’s biggest bank for business, we understand that SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy and that we have a responsibility to help them succeed. With micro (0-9 employees) and small (10-49) businesses making up over 99% of the UK’s 5.7 million businesses in 2018, it is vital for the sustainable growth of the UK economy that we create an environment where entrepreneurs can start, scale and succeed. • At the heart of our support for entrepreneurs is our comprehensive programme of free mentoring, insight and bespoke coaching, specifically designed to meet the needs of entrepreneurs who want to grow and scale their business. We provide entrepreneurs with full wrap-around care, connectivity and know-how, all crucial for their success and a strong national economy. • We know that every entrepreneur is different and that the motivations for starting a business can vary greatly. Therefore we have developed a variety of support programmes that focus on the specific needs of the individual. Developed over the past five years, these programmes have revolutionised the way we support entrepreneurs, and has proven to really work.

Our impact in the last 18 months Entrepreneur Turnover: £170,208 Investment raised: £60m Jobs created: 1,290 Businesses supported: 15,314 Business survival rate: 87% Female Entrepreneurs: 49%

Our impact in the last 18 months Pre-Accelerator Accelerator Fintech Next Level To support the needs of those early stage start ups that want to grow and scale their business, our Pre-Accelerator programme focuses on the key driver to success – the entrepreneur. This 8-week programme is a hybrid digital and physical engagement proposition encompassing three core areas: digital learning; environment; and network. Our core Accelerator is a 6 to 18 month programme for entrepreneurs with high growth businesses looking to scale up. Designed to ensure that these businesses get the best chance to succeed, entrepreneurs will receive free office space, free wi-fi, free business advice and mentoring, bespoke coaching, and access to the bank’s networks and supply chains. We launched four specialist FinTech accelerators based in our Bristol, Edinburgh, London and Manchester hubs last year. Underpinned by NatWest’s core Accelerator offering, FinTechs also receive access to specialist Webinars, FinTech mentors and the opportunity to pitch to and get advice from the bank’s technology and innovation teams. NextLevel differs from a traditional incubator programme as there isn’t a stringent curriculum to support outcomes. Instead participants will be responsible for driving and delivering on agreed outcomes which support their businesses while they are actively scaling. Those involved will have flexible access to 13 hours of coaching and access to invite only events.

Our impact in the last 18 months 1 Coaching 2 Environment 3 Network The three pillars of our Accelerators are: Environment – In addition to the benefits outlined above, the hubs provide a priceless community of like-minded people for peer to peer learning, collaboration and feedback. Coaching – Entrepreneurs benefit from dedicated one-to-one time with experienced development and acceleration managers who have worked with thousands of entrepreneurs, getting them to think differently, pushing them out of their comfort zones and supporting and challenging them as leaders. Network – As the UK’s biggest bank for business, we have an unrivalled customer base and supply chain which helps us ensure that entrepreneurs are connected to the right people with the knowledge they need to help start, scale and succeed. This connectivity has allowed us to build an extensive mentor and partner network who can deliver specialist insight and skills.

Coaching | Environment | Network Start Hub Network Workshop: Coaching Network Welcome & 1-1* Customer 1-1* Events Ignition* Discovery Marketing Validation Month Month 01 02 Coaching Workshop: Network Coaching Workshop: 1-1* Finance Events 1-1* Mindset* Team Month Month 04 03 Network Workshop: Coaching Network Workshop: Coaching Events Leadership 1-1* Events Risk 1-1* Funding* Sales Month 05 Final: Network Coaching Workshop: Network Celebrate Events 1-1* Visioning Events Success* Innovation Infrastructure Month 06 Finish Ignition Workshop Meet up Community These are educational These events will include sessions to upskill you in a keynote speakers and range of topics to support panel Q&A, giving you the your development as an opportunity to network entrepreneurial leader with mentors, experts and your local ecosystem * Mandatory attendance

London NatWest Accelerator London is one of the most vibrant cities in the world with everything here to set up a global business – amazing and diverse talent, investment and specific business support, access to cutting-edge technology and a local Government changing regulation in the right way to change peoples lives. This has created a incredible business community full of world class entrepreneurs. October 2019 Accelerator Entrepreneurs supported £330,810 255 Accelerator Average annualised turnover Average team size 681 Pre-Accelerator 5 19 Next Level Accelerator impact Diversity Since April 2018... 34% of Businesses 175 Supported are Jobs created BAME-LED £14.3m 30% of Our Businesses Total turnover Leader are £17m FEMALE Total investment raised Most popular sectors Accountancy, Banking & Finance Information Technology Retail

Our local impact “I wasn’t sure what to expect from my time at the accelerator, but I can say its surpassed all of my expectations. The community has been the best part of it for me, - to find a group of people again on a similar journey was what I was missing. With this programme you have to be in it to win it, constantly observing and listening to what’s going on around you to get the most out of it. Since I’ve been here, I feel the energy has been so much better around my business, giving me the confidence to change things. I’ve had opportunities to pitch and sell at events, plus collaborate with other amazing businesses. So grateful to NatWest - I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone!” – Anna, MakeUp54 “The programme helped me feel supported in this otherwise very lonely and tough world of growing a business. It’s great to be in the company of other founders who are going through the same things or have even successfully gone through the things you are getting into. The sessions with the EDMs are brilliant too. It gives you time to pause and reflect on the business and always result to important decisions that change the course of your business for the better.” - Von, Nimble

Our local impact Our businesses We have a wide range of businesses in the hub ranging from food & drink businesses to fintechs. We are sector agnostic when it comes to choosing who we invite to join the programme, as a result you are bound to meet really interesting people running businesses that you genuinely have an interest in. Here are some examples TLC Lions - Igniting emotion back in the corporate world by bringing ordinary people in to the workplace to share their extraordinary stories. This story telling encourages employees to share their own stories with each other. Nice - Wine for anytime. After scrolling through Instagram the founder of Nice found that wine in a can was a thing in the US but not in the UK, Nice seeks to fill this gap. Sustainably - allows users to link their bank account so that they can round up their payments and donate to charity.

Local Ecosystem & Partnerships London has a diverse and extensive Office to share what we do across ecosystem. The depth of the the capital and support as many ecosystem and the diversity of entrepreneurs as we can. talent make London a brilliant place to start and scale from. Without a The London Hub is well connected doubt, London is an exceptional across the capital, working with place for start-up development. enterprise support bodies including The third largest tech hub in the the Guild of Entrepreneurs and the world, and leading start-up hub Entrepreneur Network to help every in Europe, is known for its vibrant start-up build a fruitful network, as community, a high concentration of well as maintaining a crucial group capital and a massive concentration of Funders available for helping of international talent. There is no entrepreneurs scale, including Angels shortage of accelerators and tech Den and Fuel Ventures. events in London, or government support, making it one of the fastest- We also work with local universities growing start-up ecosystems in the and education bodies, such as world. Middlesex University, CASS Business School, Kings College London and London is home to large corporates, many more, helping brand new including Deloitte, Pinsent Masons, entrepreneurs to success once they Google, and we continue to connect finish higher education them with our entrepreneurs. The EDM has a good working We maintain a strong connection relationship with the wider NatWest with the local Government bodies, Bank as well as our sister brand including the London Growth Hub, Coutts, seeing the success of working London & Partners and the Mayor’s together and cross referrals.

Local Ecosystem & Partnerships Government Bodies Enterprise Support London Funders Education

Meet the Team Georgina Mackey Entrepreneur Development Manager [email protected] For all queries, please contact: [email protected]

Lets get social @GeorginaMackey1 @LeoPinto85 @OluPeyrasse @Piers_NatWest @alexandraj0sie @JoshW_Business @Dale_SideyNW #PowerUpNatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator Hub – London

Apply now!

Apply for the Accelerator Programme We are now accepting applications for the Entrepreneur Accelerator programme, offering fully funded support for growing businesses with ambition to scale to join the programme Gordon Merrylees, MD Entrepreneurship, NatWest: “I’m thrilled to be opening our doors to applicants for our new 2020 intake to our Entrepreneur Accelerator programme for our fifth consecutive year helping the UKs brightest new businesses grow. We want to give all businesses the best possible chance of success and welcome applications from business people from any background, and so I’m really excited to see another diverse, disruptive intake joining us for 2020 and beyond.’ Apply Now! https://www.business.natwest.com/business/business-banking/services/ entrepreneur-accelerator.html