Cloud Nein
G-Cloud's financial tests are blocking innovative scaleups — plus our final call for the Female Founder Ambition Series and the King's Awards at 60
As the local election results come in, it’s worth remembering what councils actually do once the campaigning stops: they spend money — a lot of it on technology, and a chunk of that through G-Cloud, the framework designed to give innovative British suppliers a clearer route into the public sector. That is the theory. The practice looks rather different.
Just this week, and not for the first time, I heard from the founder of a genuinely innovative British technology company that has been blocked from the next iteration of G-Cloud. The reason was not poor delivery, a weak product or lack of relevance to public-sector buyers. It was negative EBITDA and a lightly capitalised balance sheet, both of which are completely normal for growth-stage tech companies.
It goes without saying that the government should not be cavalier about supplier risk. But there is a difference between a company that is structurally insolvent and one that is investing in product, people and expansion. There is a difference between a supplier whose failure would bring down a critical public service and one offering a substitutable software or data product. This is precisely the kind of domestic scaleup ministers claim to want in the public-sector supply chain.
This ‘computer says no’ approach needs to be replaced with something smarter. If procurement rules cannot distinguish between those cases, they will select for the wrong things: incumbency, corporate backing and the ability to satisfy a bureaucratic risk model. They will not select for innovation, and competition will suffer.
This matters because public procurement is one of the largest levers government has. If the state wants more British scaleups, it needs to be a better customer to them. If it wants more competition in public services, it cannot design frameworks that only large incumbents can comfortably navigate. If it wants domestic technology companies to grow, it should not tolerate blunt financial tests that keep them out of public-sector markets.
Get in touch if you have experienced similar issues with procurement frameworks, financial viability assessments or public-sector buying processes. If there is enough feedback, we’ll launch an evidence session through the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship.
Three of a Kind
A final call for applications for our JVF Female Founder Ambition Series, run in partnership with the Jessica Vollman Foundation.
The series brings together ambitious female founders for three small virtual roundtables. The first session, High Potential, takes place 20 May, 5pm–6pm, for earlier-stage founders with early traction who are working out how to scale. The second, High Growth, takes place 27 May, 5pm–6pm, for founders already growing quickly and navigating the pressures of expansion. The third, Going Transatlantic, takes place 3 June, 5pm–6pm, for founders operating, or seriously planning to operate, in both the UK and the US.
Insights from the series will feed into a briefing paper shared with our network and media contacts. We’ll also be undertaking interviews with some founders for Network Effects.
Crowning Achievement
Recipients of The King’s Awards for Enterprise have been announced. Congratulations to all the entrepreneurs in our network who received the award. You can already apply for the next round here. As mentioned here previously, there is a new Young Founder category that will spotlight founders aged 18–30 who are actively leading their businesses and building success with impact.
Our Next Events
JVF Female Founder Ambition Series, Roundtable I: High Potential
🗓 Wednesday, 20 May 2026
🕐 5pm to 6pm
📍 Online
ℹ️ The Entrepreneurs Network and the Jessica Vollman Foundation (JVF) are hosting a small group of high-potential female founders for an off-the-record virtual roundtable exploring what it really takes to build a business with serious ambition.
⏩ Request a place
An Audience with Tom Adeyoola, Executive Chair of Innovate UK
🗓 Thursday, 21 May 2026
🕐 9am to 11am
📍 Westminster
ℹ️ Join us in Westminster for an exclusive fireside chat with Tom Adeyoola to explore UK innovation, entrepreneurship and technology policy.
⏩ Request a place
JVF Female Founder Ambition Series, Roundtable II: High Growth
🗓 Wednesday, 27 May 2026
🕐 5pm to 6pm
📍 Online
ℹ️ The Entrepreneurs Network and the Jessica Vollman Foundation (JVF) are hosting a select group of high-growth female founders for an off-the-record virtual roundtable on the realities of scaling fast — and what needs to change to better support them.
⏩ Request a place
JVF Female Founder Ambition Series, Roundtable III: Going Transatlantic
🗓 Wednesday, 3 June 2026
🕐 5pm to 6pm
📍 Online
ℹ️ The Entrepreneurs Network and the Jessica Vollman Foundation (JVF) are hosting a select group of internationally ambitious female founders for an off-the-record virtual roundtable on what it takes to build a business that works on both sides of the Atlantic.
⏩ Request a place
News and Views
We published the latest instalment of Three Big Ideas
The latest monthly APPG for Entrepreneurship newsletter landed
UK government long-term borrowing costs reach 28-year high
Recent efforts to cut the time it takes to throw out anti-infrastructure lawsuits appear to be working
The shifting winds of the AI debate, from job destroyer to job creator
New research on what happened after Sweden removed inheritance taxes
The gap between spending and revenue is expected to widen in the long run (Paywall — Financial Times)
Additions to the housing stock in England decreased to just 180,000, a ten-year low
Why Europe needs a shift in energy policy
Join Us
Our Supporters, Advisers and Corporate Partners are essential in helping us understand what entrepreneurs need to flourish and are closely connected with our work. If you already support us — thank you.
Friends of the Network
Funding the Underfunded Parliamentary Reception
🗓 Monday, 18 May 2026
🕐 6.30pm to 9pm
📍 Houses of Parliament
ℹ️ Startup Coalition will be celebrating the end of its year-long Funding the Underfunded campaign.
⏩ Find out more
Support for UK Entrepreneurs
We’re often asked where founders should turn for practical support beyond policy. So we’ve curated a list of government sites and trusted organisations we regularly recommend. Each week, I’ll share a section from our Support for UK Entrepreneurs page. Are we missing something? Let us know.
Senior Hires, Boards & Governance
Freshminds provides consulting talent to support scaling businesses from its curated network of directors, consultants and analysts. Talk to Managing Director James Callander (Adviser to The Entrepreneurs Network) about their on-demand and permanent search offerings.
Best wishes,
Philip
Philip Salter
Founder
The Entrepreneurs Network