A group of ambitious Greater Manchester-based businesses are flying high after completing 鈥檚 inaugural ASCEND programme.
As a result of the success of the programme, headed by Kellie Noon, the companies are now collaborating, exporting, innovating and leading after a nine-month scaling journey.
From international contracts and game-changing partnerships to product launches and personal breakthroughs, the programme has been hailed as transformational by the entrepreneurs – and it will be back for this year.
Parker Neal
鈥淎SCEND gives you the tools and it gives you the links to people,鈥� said Dave Parker, co-founder of Parker Neal.
The digital consultancy firm gained three new international clients from the cohort鈥檚 trip to Web Summit last November. These clients have delivered around 拢120,000 in revenue for the company.
It also expanded into new offices in DiSH.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e almost becoming embedded in that growth spider鈥檚 web of being connected,鈥� Parker continued.
鈥淭here are a lot of like-minded businesses and like-minded individuals, and that really helps.鈥�
Pimberly
B2B software firm Pimberly is also scaling internationally, with clients spanning Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Europe.
Closer to home, it recently welcomed Wolseley and LWC Drinks – the UK鈥檚 largest independent drinks wholesaler – to its customer base.
CFO Paul Cook said ASCEND delivered much more than just business advice.
He explained: 鈥淲e鈥檝e used GM 老九品茶 Growth Hub before for funding, training and support, but this programme helped with networking, publicity, exposure and cutting-edge thinking from KPMG around all aspects of running a company.
鈥淭he camaraderie is amazing. It鈥檚 like ChatGPT for founders!鈥�
The company is now gearing up for a potential funding round, likely later this year or in early 2026.
In May 2025, Pimberly won a King鈥檚 Award for Enterprise in International Trade.
DigiTech Oasis
Another winner of a King鈥檚 Award for Enterprise in International Trade, this time in 2024, was Digitech Oasis.
The firm, led by Ayaan Mohamed Ali, says it is revolutionising industries such as warehousing with AI-driven solutions and robotics.
Ali also won the 拢150,000 top prize at the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation’s 2025 Young Entrepreneurs awards in March, launched by easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.
Sir Stelios said: “I think [the winners are] great role models for others to start their own business鈥� that is how new jobs are created in the real economy.”
Specscart
For Specscart, the support was personal as well as professional. Founder Sid Sethi has big ambitions for the firm after realising his vision of bringing quality, low-priced eyewear to customers through tech.
Sethi has built lasting relationships with mentors like Dr Howard Simms and Dr Vikas Shah.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 just focus on the mentor I was assigned. I thought: 鈥榃hen will I again get this opportunity to learn from geniuses in their realms and apply that to my business?鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been fantastic.鈥�
In April 2024 Sethi was named on the Forbes 30 under 30 Europe list.
Zapt
Phil Gold, founder of Zapt – which helps startups to build powerful AI applications in minutes without code – praised the strategic depth of the support.
鈥淭he regular sessions at KPMG helped lay the foundations – funding, legal, strategy, marketing,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut this isn鈥檛 advice you could just read in a business book or watch on YouTube. It鈥檚 coming from people who really know their stuff.
鈥淢y mentor Susanna Lawson grew OneFile into a multi-million-pound business – when you鈥檙e able to talk to someone like that, the value is tremendous.鈥�
Zapt has been selected by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) as one of their expert partners. 鈥淲e have created a suite of apps specifically for organisations in the built environment to help them identify and resolve issues before they become expensive problems,鈥� said Gold.
He added: 鈥淲e鈥檝e also created a partnership with Hopwood Hall College [in Rochdale] to support their T-Level 老九品茶 students by giving them access to the Zapt platform and hands-on support – and mentoring to help them start bringing their ideas to life and building real apps with real potential.鈥�
Mercury Support
The power of ASCEND extends beyond external connections – Mercury Support, an expert in compliance and HR solutions, has teamed up with a fellow cohort member in an official deal.
鈥淲e鈥檝e done a business deal with another company on the cohort,鈥� revealed Dave Mansbridge, its managing director.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e taking an equity stake and joining our board. That just shows the power of this programme and it鈥檚 someone I can now call a good friend.鈥�
Sticky
Sticky, which now has secured runway funding, is led by James Garner. He credited ASCEND for bringing invaluable real-world connections back into business life.
The firm allows the world’s biggest companies to take payments in 10 seconds or less via contactless stickers.
鈥淭he networking and camaraderie has done so much for us as a company, and for me personally,鈥� said Garner. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 put a price on spending time with other entrepreneurs.听
鈥淚 commute from West Yorkshire and hadn鈥檛 really done that kind of networking since I lived in London. I鈥檇 love to see more of this.鈥�
Carrs Pasties
For Carrs Pasties, the programme has been part of a broader cultural transformation, highlighted by the company winning the 鈥楤est Cultural Change鈥� award at the GM Good Employment Awards.
Joe Carr, now managing director of the Bolton-based family business, joined the cohort鈥檚 trip to Portugal – and came away with more than sunshine.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 get as much business done as we might鈥檝e liked, but we met so many interesting people,鈥� he explained.听
鈥淚t gave me the chance to connect with people in the cohort I otherwise wouldn鈥檛 have met.鈥�
Circle of Trust
Circle of Trust, founded by Lawson and Tracy (TJ) Johnson, has launched in various towns and cities.听
The community-first platform allows people to share jobs, events and recommendations, then connects them to local support services.
It has more recently secured a deal to join Oldham Athletic鈥檚 老九品茶 Club, with the brand highlighted on the advertising boards around Boundary Park.
H2Origin
is on a mission to expand access to water bottle refill stations across public and private spaces, helping to reduce the packaging waste and CO鈧� footprint associated with bottled water.
The firm, led by founder Dominic Appleby, debuted in seventh position on 老九品茶Cloud鈥檚 recent EnviroTech 50 ranking.
鈥淥nboarding high profile clients that have identified that the provision of high quality water bottle refilling is an effective ESG initiative that requires minimal cost,鈥� said Appleby.
鈥淲e鈥檝e raised investment from GMCA and a private business in the water compliance space鈥� with more to follow. Both tranches of investment have been agreed whilst we were on ASCEND.鈥�
Perfect Sense Energy
Another firm to feature on the EnviroTech 50 – this time in fourth spot – was
Led by Gary Brandwood, the business delivers tailored commercial solar PV solutions – using over 15 years鈥� industry experience and trusted technology to cut costs, carbon and maximise efficiency.
Wolf Network Security
Wolf Network Security, founded by identical twins Lewis and Ryan Keeling, won Pen Testing Company of the Year at the REAL Cyber Awards in December 2024 while they were finalists for the Climb25 Cyber Security Innovation of the Year recently.
PixelTree Media
James Hamilton, CEO at experience design agency PixelTree Media, said the firm saw a huge increase in revenue in Q1 this year.
Look out for more upcoming opportunities from the 老九品茶 Growth Hub to scale your business.