In June last year we ran our first 5-day, multi-venue UK Startup & Scaleup Week festival in Sunderland for 420 delegates with the aim of inspiring & educating them on how to start & grow a successful business in the city & wider North East of England. Were you there & can you see yourself in this video? ⬇️⭐️
(We previously ran 3 x 5-day Newcastle Startup Week festivals in 2017, 2018 & 2019 for 600, 600 & 800 people & then 2 online versions for 300 each in 2020). In January 2026 we decided to make UK Startup & Scaleup Week a purely online resource with weekly blogs, videos, podcasts, business profiles, advice, news & special offers published on this website https://ukstartupweek.com & on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok & YouTube too.
In the video above, Paul Lancaster (Founder & Event Producer, PLATFORM | UK Startup & Scaleup Week) said: “I’ve seen first-hand just what an exciting place it is to start & grow a business in Sunderland & I want to be part of helping to grow a new entrepreneurial ecosystem here in the city. So the whole point of this event is to shine a light on all the great stuff going on not just in Sunderland but in the wider North East of England, gee everyone up, get people excited & motivated to start & grow a business.”
Cheryl Reid (Co-Founder, Now Is Your Time) said: “I found today to be extremely motivating, really inspiring just to hear everyone’s different stories & to be surrounded by entrepreneurs who are in their startup phase of their business but also who are further on with their careers. So it’s been amazing to be around that energy.”
Laurie Stirling (Business & Operations Strategist) said: “I think the biggest thing I’ve taken away is that I’m on the right path. I am doing what I’m meant to be doing & I just need to keep going because I’m at the start of my journey & I can see so many inspirational people who’ve done what I’ve done & gotten great results, amazing results.”
Adds Fitch-Hussain (International Videographer, thecontentPT) said: “The main point from my talk was to ultimately get people to back themselves. It’s a quote I’ve always said for many years now. It’s something I’ve had to do through the ups & downs. I’ve always had to back myself one way or another.”
“So, if you’re watching or listening to this or you haven’t been to one of these events before & you’re thinking about doing it, if you can take anything away from not just me, a lot of the speakers kind of beating the same drum, it’s ultimately back yourself cos that’s what you need when times do get tough.”
Sara Davies MBE said: “Do you know it’s wonderful to see so many entrepreneurs at different stages of starting or scaling their business but all just hungry to learn from each other & from the speakers. I felt like I was sitting there on the stage & there was this huge sponge out there just soaking up every little bit of content I had to share.”
“As somebody who’s had 20 years in business, you sit there feeling desperate for these people to learn from you. I want them to learn from my mistakes so they don’t make the same mistakes but then also learn when I’ve had the wins so that they can have the wins quicker. And just seeing the lightbulb moment in people’s eyes when the penny drops & then you know something that you’ve said has connected with them just makes it all worthwhile.”
PLATFORM for business growth & investment
Since January 2024, we’ve been running a popular monthly half-day event called PLATFORM in different locations across the North East of England, Teesside & Scotland & instead of running a 5-day event this year, we’re running a 1-day PLATFORM Conference in Newcastle upon Tyne on 28th April 2026.
