5 June 2026 · London Stock Exchange, 10 Paternoster Square

On Friday 5 June 2026, the Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs brought together more than 200 registered delegates at the London Stock Exchange for Scale-Up Capital, the Company's flagship investor showcase under the theme Scaling Enterprise, Funding Ambition.

Over half of those in the room were active investors: venture capitalists, banks, pension funds, sophisticated individuals, and angels. They came to meet 18 high-growth, revenue-generating businesses, each presenting for ten minutes across three simultaneous stages throughout the afternoon. The afternoon closed on the Exchange balcony, where every delegate signed the LSEG welcome book as the market closed for the week.

What happened in between was the reason the event was conceived.

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Why This Matters

The numbers that opened the day were striking. In 2025, just 0.007 per cent of UK pension assets were invested in UK venture capital. Put another way: for every £14,000 in your pension, £1 reached a UK high-growth business. In the United States, the equivalent ratio is one dollar in two hundred.

Alderman Alastair King, the 12th Master Entrepreneur and Lord Mayor of London 2024–25, has made this disparity the animating purpose of his year as Master. As Lord Mayor, he convened the Mansion House Accord: a voluntary commitment by seventeen of the largest workplace pension providers in the UK to invest at least 10 per cent of their defined contribution default funds in private markets by 2030, with 5 per cent of the total allocated specifically to the UK. That voluntary initiative has since become law in the form of the Pension Schemes Act 2026.

Scale-Up Capital is the next step. As Master Entrepreneur, Alderman King is going further — using the unique convening power of the Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs to put capital and ambition in the same room, repeatedly, until the gap closes.

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Three Speeches That Set the Tone

The afternoon opened with remarks from Marcus Stuttard, Head of UK Primary Markets at LSEG, who offered both a welcome and a challenge. LSEG's ambition, he made clear, is to engage with founders long before any conversation about public markets: understanding businesses in their local context, supporting funding strategy, governance, and growth story years ahead of an IPO.

"We are working to create the best possible environment in this country for great companies to start here, grow here, scale here and stay here," Stuttard told the room. He identified a specific vulnerability in the funding continuum: the C, D, and E rounds, where domestic capital tends to fall away. VCTs, EIS, and SEIS are critical pillars, he argued, and AIM remains a jewel in the crown of that ecosystem. The UK has one of the largest pools of pension capital in the world. Too little of it, he said plainly, is invested in scaling domestic businesses.

Duncan Simms, the Clerk of the Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs, took the stage next — a rare occasion, as he noted, for a Clerk to make a speech. He used the moment to place Scale-Up Capital in the context of the Company's twelve-year history. That history comprises nearly 100,000 hours of volunteering across schools, universities, start-ups, workspaces, incubators, and accelerators. It includes nearly £100,000 in charitable grants through the Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs Trust, including £50,000 channelled through EASI, the Entrepreneurs' Award in Social Innovation.

Scale-Up Capital, Simms said, represents a serious progression: the first time the Company has stepped publicly into supporting high-growth businesses seeking institutional investment. "What was delivered is already being spoken of as a potential major legacy project," he observed.

Alderman King closed the formal speeches with the statistics that anchor the entire programme and the exhortation that gave the day its energy. To the investors in the room: fill your boots.

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The Room

18 companies presented. Over 100 active investors were seated across three stages. The floor team moved throughout the afternoon, connecting investors with founders, spotting the conversation that needed to happen two tables over, and keeping things moving. By the time the market closed, almost everyone in the room had spoken to almost everyone else.

The investor representation was broad: venture capitalists, institutional fund managers, pension fund representatives — including Mansion House Accord signatories — sophisticated angels, and advisers. The presenting companies spanned multiple sectors, each having been screened for commercial traction and realistic raise targets between £5 million and £30 million.

At 4.30pm, the full room moved to the Exchange balcony. The market closed. The welcome book was signed. The conversations continued.

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What Comes Next

Scale-Up Capital is not a one-off. The programme, delivered under the banner of the Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs in partnership with LSEG and other leading City institutions, will return. The inaugural events in 2025 brought 40-plus high-growth entities into the room with over 400 investors. Over £120 million in capital has been raised across those events to date.

The 5 June showcase is the 2026 flagship. There will be more.

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With Thanks

The Company records its gratitude to the LSEG team whose support made the day possible: Marcus Stuttard, Lauren Crawley-Booth, Luke Black and Luca Borgano.

The Scale-Up Capital team who delivered it: James Talbot, Mark Huxley, Chris Simmance, Andrew Fishwick, Kevin Cutler, and Rakhitha Dias.

The stage managers:

Andrew Fishwick and Harvinder Rattan (Theatre), Simon West and Mark Huxley (Forum North), Veronica Heaven and Sasho Kamburov (Forum South)

And to the 18 presenting companies and every investor, adviser, and entrepreneur who came to Paternoster Square on Friday and took part.

Photography by Lewis Patrick Photography for London Stock Exchange