North East entrepreneur invited to Downing Street for scale-up seminar with Chancellor
An entrepreneur from North East England has been invited to Downing Street to take part in a senior seminar focused on the future of UK growth, scale-ups and collaboration between government and business.
Kevin Howell, founder of HTG, a North East-based technology and managed cyber security services business, was among a small group of founders invited to attend the session involving the Chancellor of the Exchequer, reflecting the growing recognition of founders building and scaling businesses beyond London and the South East.
The seminar took place against the backdrop of the government’s newly published Entrepreneurship in the UK prospectus, which sets out a clear shift in approach towards backing ambition, innovation and scale.
In her foreword, Chancellor Reeves said: “Entrepreneurs do not wait for permission: they take risks, they build, they push the boundaries of what is possible.”
She adds that while scaling firms represent just “0.8% of all businesses”, they deliver “over half of all SME output”, underlining the outsized role founders play in driving economic growth.
For Kevin, the invitation is recognition of both the progress his business has made and the wider contribution of entrepreneurial companies operating in the North East.
HTG helps businesses unlock the value of technology by creating secure, high-performing digital workspaces, and it has evolved over the years through Kevin’s determination to focus on collaboration, long-term relationships and practical solutions.
The business now employs more than 20 staff, serves customers nationwide and has digitally transformed 350,000+ end-users, achieving £2.1m ACR.
Kevin said: “It was a real privilege to be invited to Downing Street. The North East is emerging as a serious technology hub, built on collaboration, talent and resilience.
"As Chancellor Rachel Reeves has highlighted, if we’re serious about sustainable growth, we must back entrepreneurs properly and create the conditions for ambition to turn into long-term value.
“For many founder-led and family-owned companies, it’s about building something that lasts – sustainable jobs, reinvesting locally and growth without being forced into selling out.”
He noted that while government rhetoric around scale-ups is encouraging, there remains a lack of structured support for businesses that want to grow organically and remain independent.
Current investment models often prioritise accelerated exits within three to five years, which can sit at odds with the goal of creating sustainable, long-term employment and wealth within local communities.
Kevin added: “Too often, the system rewards short-term return over long-term resilience.
Investors are typically incentivised to look for rapid ROI, but that can undermine businesses that are committed to building generational value and regional stability.”
Kevin said this shift presents an opportunity for government to rethink how it supports scale-ups that want to remain independent: “If we want strong regional economies, we need funding models that support patient capital – whether that’s grants, low-interest loans or incentives for investors aligned with sustainable growth rather than quick exits.”
The event also reflected a more direct engagement between founders and policymakers. Alexandra Depledge MBE, an aide to the Chancellor, set out the government’s intent to tackle structural barriers facing scale-ups, saying: “We’re not tinkering around the edges.
"We’re going straight at the hard stuff: using procurement to actually power innovation, not smother it; building a real front door into government so founders don’t need a PhD in Whitehall navigation; and pushing far more capital into scale-ups.”
She also emphasised the importance of founders being visible and heard: “Founders are usually too busy building to make noise. Too busy carrying the risk to be visible. But that silence has a cost – and it has to end.”
That message resonated strongly with Kevin and the other founders in the room.
Being invited to Downing Street presents more than a one-off opportunity Kevin believes. It signals a growing acknowledgement that regional founders are central to the UK’s growth story and need to be involved and heard.
As the government moves into what it describes as the “next phase” of its engagement with scale-ups, the presence of entrepreneurs from across the country sends a clear message: that now is the right time to capitalise on this energy by engaging with founders directly, while policy direction and investment frameworks continue to develop in the background.