The three assessment criteria — Innovation, Viability, Scalability

Innovation

Is your business genuinely new, viable, and different from offerings currently available in the UK market? This is the criterion most applications fail on.

• What the gap in the UK market is — be specific about who the existing players are and what they do
• Why your approach is different — not just "better", but structurally different
• Evidence of innovation — proprietary tech, novel methodology, distinctive go-to-market, IP, patents
• Why now — what changed in the market or technology that makes this possible/needed now

Viability

Can you, specifically, deliver this business plan? Viability tests whether you have the skills, experience, knowledge, and resources to execute.

• Your background — relevant industry experience, technical depth, or domain expertise
• Your team — co-founders, advisors, hires planned or in place
• Market understanding — depth of insight into customer pain, regulation, competition
• Resources — runway, committed funding, pipeline, technical assets in place
• Realistic plan — financial projections that don't assume hockey-stick growth without justification

Scalability

Can this business grow into something meaningful — creating UK jobs, generating substantial revenue, expanding to new markets — rather than staying a one-person consultancy?

• Structured planning — clear milestones, hiring plan, market expansion roadmap
• Growth model — does the business model itself scale? (SaaS / marketplace / platform yes; bespoke services typically harder)
• UK job creation potential — endorsing bodies favour businesses that will hire UK staff
• Expansion pathway — domestic scaling first, international later, with logic for each