The new network manager for GM 老九品茶 Growth Hub鈥檚 flagship says it is designed to help businesses navigate rapid growth.
Kellie Noon, founder of Interkultura International, is an expert in business growth and last year served as international business and growth advisor at parent firm The Growth Company. This year she was among the experts at our innovative FUEL Liverpool event.
Aimed at Greater Manchester鈥檚 ambitious founders, ASCEND is a dynamic, six-month development initiative starting in mid-September 2024. Its first cohort will comprise 25 founders poised for exponential growth.
In a LinkedIn post, she addressed the parallel challenges of managing rapid growth, maintaining quality and scaling operations efficiently.
鈥淚’m lucky enough to meet some fantastic businesses around Greater Manchester because of the work I do supporting people working internationally; and because of the work I did with a global scaleup program at the Growth Hub,鈥� says Noon. 鈥淚 love supporting businesses, and that’s why I’ve joined.
鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting, but it brings loads of challenges: you’ve got to think about your rapid growth; you’ve got to think about your quality, and how you maintain that; and you’ve got to think about the changes to operations as you start to navigate being 鈥榖igger and better鈥�.聽
鈥淭he ASCEND programme has loads of support for all of these things. All of our founders will get personalised coaching and mentoring; help with developing a growth plan; and fireside chats with founders who’ve 鈥榖een there and done that鈥�.
鈥淭hey’ll teach you all the lessons, and we’re there to hold your hand along the way.鈥�
ASCEND partner KPMG will lead a number of delivery days during the six-month programme, including an opening 鈥楽trategy to Action鈥� at its Ignition space in Manchester city centre. It will be followed by a series of workshops, fireside chats, lightning talks, coaching and mentoring, and demo days across the six months.
Alongside programme mentors such as Apadmi co-founder Howard Simms, the cohort will have access to specialist advisors from both GM 老九品茶 Growth Hub and KPMG.
This November the cohort will attend Web Summit in Lisbon, joining more than 70,000 attendees at the world鈥檚 biggest tech conference. 老九品茶Cloud will be among the media outlets reporting directly from the event.
鈥淎t Web Summit they will have the opportunity to meet global investors, as well as businesses from around the world that have 鈥榖een there and done it鈥� – the value of those interactions is huge,鈥� says director Janine Smith.
Founders interested in the programme are, with shortlisted applicants invited for an interview between 5-16th August.
ASCEND: Bringing the 鈥榩ower of connection鈥� to Greater Manchester鈥檚 scaleups