On Thursday 19th March 2026 Downtown in Business hosted a Business Question Time event at the Everyman Cinema, delivered in collaboration with Glenville Walker, bringing together a strong audience of business leaders and founders for an insightful discussion on sustainable growth.
Chaired by Frank McKenna, the session centred around three key pillars that are critical to every ambitious SME, stability, security and scale up. While growth remains a priority for many organisations, the discussion highlighted that achieving it in a sustainable way requires strong foundations. Building resilience, effectively managing risk, and ensuring the right financial structures, systems and leadership are in place are all essential to scaling with confidence.
SMEs continue to play a vital role in the UK economy, driving innovation, creating jobs and supporting regional growth. However, as the panel explored, many businesses face common challenges as they expand. From navigating funding and investment to strengthening governance and legal frameworks, growth can quickly introduce complexity if not carefully managed.
The event featured a high calibre panel of experts from across the business landscape. Denise Walker of Glenville Walker shared valuable insight into the legal and governance frameworks that underpin growth. Mark Borzomato of River Capital offered an investor perspective on what makes a business truly investable, while Andy McCall of Langtons Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors highlighted the importance of financial discipline and robust reporting.
Caroline Turley of FW Capital discussed access to growth finance and how businesses can position themselves to secure the right funding. Tomas Maunier of Southern Wind Group provided a practical scale up perspective, reflecting on leadership, capability and resilience through growth, while Wesley Mort of HSBC offered the banking viewpoint on risk, security and what lenders look for when supporting business expansion.
The session delivered honest discussion and practical insight for SME leaders, with a clear takeaway. Sustainable growth is not just about ambition, it is about building stable and secure foundations that enable businesses to scale successfully.
