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The Middle Speaks: Narrowing the mid-market conversion gap through technology, talent, and trade

Download our latest report for mid-market insights.

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Our latest report, ‘The Middle Speaks’, finds that mid-market firms represent one of the UK economy’s greatest growth opportunities, but are often overlooked by support designed for smaller firms and large corporates.

The report explores the challenges facing mid-market companies through three areas that businesses consistently tell us matter most: technology, talent and trade.

With the right conditions in place, the UK's mid-market can play an even greater role in driving investment, productivity and growth. Unlocking that potential would strengthen local economies, support job creation and help deliver sustainable growth across every nation and region of the UK.

 

The conversion gap

Mid-market businesses contribute approximately £1.2 trillion in turnover and employ 7.3 million people across the UK ⁽¹⁾ making them a critical driver of economic growth.

Yet many mid-market firms feel underrepresented in policy discussions and underserved by support aimed at SMEs or large corporates.

Mid-market firms have greater capacity than smaller businesses but often lack the specialist capabilities and resources of larger corporates.

This creates what we have termed a ‘conversion gap’, preventing firms from fully converting their ambition into growth.

What are mid-market businesses?

The Mid-Market Growth Council defines mid-market firms as those with turnover of £10 million to £100 million and/or 50 to 500 employees.

The 3 Ts: Tech, Talent and Trade

Through our engagement with customers via the NatWest Group Mid-Market Champions network, and the work of the Mid-Market Growth Council (MMGC), we have identified three key challenges and opportunities: technology, talent, and trade.

Technology

Technology presents the greatest long-term opportunity for productivity growth.  AI adoption is rising, but firms are struggling to scale. Up to 72% of firms who are currently using AI have adopted at least one core AI tool, but up to two-thirds of users but up to two-thirds have not yet scaled its use beyond administrative tasks to unlock wider business transformation.⁽²⁾

Talent

Talent is the most immediate constraint. 55% of mid-market firms identify talent and leadership development as a top barrier to growth, while 42% say recruitment and workforce capability are the economic challenge most likely to constrain expansion.⁽³⁾

Trade

Trade is key to the growth ambitions of the mid-market segment. Many mid-market firms have established international relationships with ambitious plans to grow into new markets. However, they often lack dedicated customs, legal, and compliance teams, as well as geopolitical expertise and supply chain flexibility.

Five actions to unlock mid-market growth

The following recommendations can help both government and industry to prioritise policy development across five key areas:

  1. Develop a dedicated Mid-Market Growth Framework to close gaps in existing provision and give firms coordinated access to support.
  2. Ringfence funding for a mid-market AI Adoption Accelerator to help businesses move from experimentation to strategic deployment.
  3. Launch a Mid-Market Leadership Capability Programme that builds on existing initiatives and equips leaders to scale and deliver business-wide transformation.
  4. Build an employer-led growth and skills system that aligns training and technical education with regional and mid-market workforce needs.
  5. Cut the cost and complexity of international growth by reducing administrative and trade barriers and improving access to end-to-end export support.

 

Paul Thwaite, Chief Executive of NatWest Group, said:

“Mid-market businesses already make a significant contribution to the UK economy.

“They are one of the UK’s greatest growth opportunities, but too many are held back because, despite having distinct needs, the segment is often overlooked.

“As the number one bank for mid-sized companies, we have the specialist expertise, local knowledge and financing capabilities to help mid-market customers address the challenges they are facing and reach their full potential as growth engines of our economy across every nation and region of the UK.” 

(1) NatWest Group (2026) Championing mid-sized businesses.

(2) Figure taken from NatWest AI Adoption Report (2026)Note this statistic uses an older definition of the mid-market.

(3) Data provided by a Scale Up Institute Survey (2025) of 970 mid-market firms

The material published on this page is for information purposes only and should not be regarded as providing any specific advice, or used by consumers to make financial decision. Terms and conditions apply to any products or services mentioned.

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