From Brilliant Science to Big Business: Reflections from Climb26

Where Ambitious Businesses Came to Scale Faster

On Wednesday 1 July 2026, Matthew Jones, Managing Director of LimestoneGrey, was invited to speak at Climb26, the UK’s Festival of Business Growth and Innovation.

Held in Leeds, Climb26 brought together founders, investors, scale-ups, business leaders and innovation partners with a shared purpose: to move beyond conversation and focus on practical, commercial growth. The festival is designed to help ambitious businesses scale faster, build meaningful networks and turn strong ideas into real-world impact.

For companies operating in innovation-led sectors, that purpose feels particularly timely. The challenge is no longer simply whether the UK can produce excellent science. It can. The bigger question is how more of that science can be translated into investable, scalable and commercially successful businesses.

A Panel Built Around Science, Scale and Support

Matthew joined the “From Brilliant Science to Big Business” panel on the ClimbHealth stage, invited by Bionow, which supported Climb26 as part of its focus on innovation, industry and investment.

The panel brought together a strong mix of founders, CEOs and people who support high-growth science-led companies:

Matthew Jones, Managing Director of LimestoneGrey; Chris Allen, CEO of Broughton Group; Professor Helen Philippou, CEO of ClotProtect Therapeutics; Paul Thorning, CEO of Crystec Pharma; and Karen Davies, Head of Strategic Relationships at Equans Sci-Tech.

That blend of perspectives made for a valuable discussion. It was not simply about celebrating innovation, but about looking honestly at what it takes to build a business around it.

Read the full article here.