Can we double the number of large companies in the UK?

Wait just a minute. Hold on a second. How on earth, with the best will in the world, even if the stars align and everything goes perfectly to plan, could a membership organisation possibly hope to double the number of large businesses in the UK?

Because that’s what Business Leader is aiming to do. We’re on a mission to increase the number of large companies in the UK from 7,500 to 15,000. But what’s really going on here? Are we lying? Are we secretly developing a new form of AI or nuclear fusion? Have we unearthed a secret supply of magic beans?

Well, no. We really do believe we can double the number of large businesses in the UK. We really believe we can unleash growth throughout this green and pleasant land. In fact, we’re confident enough to say we’re going to do it. And we’re going to do it by harnessing humanity’s greatest innovation.

No, not AI. Nor nuclear fusion. We’re not even going to use magic beans. Despite countless technological developments, humanity’s greatest innovation remains our ability to talk to each other. But in the UK – and particularly in the business community – we don’t spend nearly enough time using this wonderful feat of human ingenuity. As a result, so many of the secrets to business success remain just that – a secret.

In the 1960s, Massachusetts was the world’s biggest tech hub, while Silicon Valley was barely known. Today, the Massachusetts tech hub is dead and Silicon Valley is, well, Silicon Valley. One of the key reasons for this is that businesses in Massachusetts were siloed – the offices were a mile apart and people drove to work. By comparison, founders in Silicon Valley mixed freely and shared ideas.

Today, much of the US is like Silicon Valley, whereas Britain is like Massachusetts in the 1960s. When two US CEOs get together, they ask: “How’s your business doing? What can I do to help you? What can you do to help me?” When two UK CEOs get together, they ask: “What’s going on with this weather?”

In the US, there is an abundance of peer-to-peer business memberships where founders and CEOs share their ideas and concerns with a trusted peer group. But until Business Leader came along, this practice was almost unheard of in Britain.

That’s why a US CEO is nearly twice as likely to scale a mid-sized business as their UK equivalent. And that’s why, if we can get this right, if we can change the culture in this country and get our best leaders to share their secrets with each other, if we can put our CEOs on a par with those in the US, we really can double the number of large businesses.

That’s our mission. That’s our purpose. And that’s why you should join our membership. One day, historians may say that the difference between joining and not joining Business Leader in the 2020s was akin to the difference between being in Silicon Valley or Massachusetts in the 1960s.

So if you want to be a part of our ambitious, outlandish, but genuinely possible mission, please do get in touch today. You’ll grow your business. You’ll meet fascinating people. And best of all, you’ll get access to our secret supply of AI, nuclear fusion and magic beans.