AI for Growth
Contact usI'm an SME
For UK businesses

AI can help your business do more. We'll show you how to get started.

Join a growing community of UK business owners using AI to save time and grow — sharing what's actually working, what isn't, and which tools are worth the effort. Free to join. No technical knowledge needed.

Join the SME Community — it's free

Takes less than two minutes. No credit card. No commitment.

UK SME business owner

What you get

Four things UK businesses get from the AI for Growth community.

  • 01

    Talk to people like you

    Ask questions without embarrassment. Share what's worked. Hear what hasn't. The community is built around peer conversation between people running real businesses — not advice from people who've never had to make payroll.

  • 02

    Learn at your own pace

    Practical guides written for business owners, not tech experts. Read them when you have ten minutes. Come back when you're ready for the next step. There's no curriculum and no deadline.

  • 03

    Join free events

    Regular sessions featuring UK businesses that have adopted AI — what they tried, what went wrong, and what they'd do differently. Ask questions. Meet people at the same stage as you.

  • 04

    Get tools that actually help

    Recommendations from people with no stake in which tool you pick. The community shares honest assessments of what works for specific tasks — not sponsored content, not vendor pitches.

You're not starting from scratch. Neither is anyone else.

Most people in the AI for Growth SME Community started exactly where you are: curious about AI, not sure where to begin, and slightly overwhelmed by the volume of noise around it.

The community isn't full of AI experts. It's full of business owners who tried something, figured out whether it worked, and are willing to share what they learned. That's more useful than any course.

You don't need a tech background or a dedicated IT function. You need a specific problem in your business that takes up more time than it should — and a willingness to try one thing and see if it helps.

Café owner
Retail business owner
Professional services
Construction business owner
Design studio owner
Tradesperson

Getting started

Getting started takes two minutes.

  1. 1

    Join the Community

    Sign up free via Circle — the platform the AI for Growth SME Community runs on. Takes less than two minutes. No credit card, no commitment.

  2. 2

    Find your starting point

    Browse the community spaces, read the pinned guides, or post a question straight away. You don't need to know what you're looking for — other members will help you find it.

  3. 3

    Take one step

    Pick one task in your business that costs you time. Try one AI tool on it for a week. Come back and share what happened. That's the whole method. Everything else follows from there.

Join the SME Community — it's free

Takes less than two minutes. No credit card. No commitment.

Led by people who get it

The SME Pillar is co-chaired by two people who've built businesses from the ground up.

  • Nick Harding

    Nick Harding

    Co-Chair, SME Pillar · CEO, Fifty One Degrees

    Nick is CEO of Fifty One Degrees, an AI consultancy that helps small businesses get AI working in practice. His team has implemented AI for businesses across retail, professional services, and manufacturing — so he knows what actually works at SME scale, not just what sounds good in a pitch deck.

  • Kai Feller

    Kai Feller

    Co-Chair, SME Pillar · CEO, Cyberstaff · Former CEO, Bark.com

    Kai is CEO of Cyberstaff and former CEO of Bark.com, one of the UK's most successful marketplace platforms. He's built technology businesses from the ground up and understands the real challenges SMEs face when adopting new tools — the budget constraints, the time pressure, and the scepticism about whether it's worth the effort.

Common questions

What people usually want to know.

Yes. The community, content, events, and tools are all free. AI for Growth is a national initiative backed by government and industry — the whole point is to help UK businesses adopt AI, not to sell you something.

Absolutely. Most people in the community started exactly where you are. Everything is designed for business owners, not tech experts. If you can use email, you can use the tools and content here.

As much or as little as you want. Some people check in for ten minutes a week. Others attend events and work through guides. There's no curriculum and no deadlines. Dip in when it suits you.

We're building content and community spaces for retail, manufacturing, professional services, construction, and admin and support services — with more sectors to come. But the community forums are open to all sectors, and a lot of AI use cases work across different types of business.

We're not going to pretend the question doesn't exist. In most of the businesses we've worked with, AI handles repetitive tasks and frees people up to do more valuable work. Some roles will change. But the businesses getting ahead are the ones investing in their people alongside the technology — not instead of them.

Part of something bigger

The AI for Growth SME Community is part of a national initiative — not a startup's side project.

AI for Growth was launched by Founders Forum Group and Accenture in February 2026. Its founding partner network spans frontier AI companies, large corporates, reskilling specialists, and infrastructure providers — all contributing technology, content, expertise, or reach.

The SME Community sits at the centre of the initiative's work. It's the most direct way AI for Growth delivers on its purpose: helping UK businesses adopt AI practically, securely, and at scale.

QuantexaSynthesiaMultiverseElevenLabsFacultyAccentureFounders ForumUpSkill UniverseLatent Space AdvisoryFunding CircleOlloFifty One DegreesBTCyberStaffDSITERA4Change The FaceTake Take TakeA-LIGNLumi

Practical reading

Start here if you want to go deeper first.

Ready to see what AI can do for your business?

Join the AI for Growth SME Community. It's free, it's built for UK businesses, and it's where business owners share what's actually working with AI — and what isn't.

Join the SME Community — it's free

Takes less than two minutes. No credit card. No commitment.