The start of July saw the IDS team head to Climb25, the festival of business growth, hosted by ClimbUK, and the two-day event did not disappoint.
ClimbUK was founded with a mission to spearhead business growth through innovation, collaboration, and investment. It draws a bold community of startups, scaleups, SMEs, and enterprise leaders, all focused on scaling.
Now that the dust has settled — and our colleagues have recovered — here’s our take on Climb25 – the energy, the conversations, the takeaways, and what we’re already looking forward to about the next event.
- Starting as it means to go on
The event kicked things off with a Blues Brothers tribute that had everyone out of their seats, followed by a high-energy welcome from Climb UK CEO and founder Gordon Bateman.
West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin drove home the message that when we work together, across sectors and businesses, and utilise genuine collaboration, we unlock real growth. And that’s exactly what Climb25 was all about.
- Quality over quantity
As our cloud consultant Geordie Kingsbeer put it, the standout quality of Climb25 was exactly that — quality. Unlike some of the larger, more mainstream tech expos where meaningful conversations can be hard to come by, Climb25 offered real value in most interactions.
In fact, every second or third person we spoke with had a genuine connection to what we’re offering at IDS, whether through shared challenges, aligned ambitions, or exciting partnership potential.
- Talks that hit the mark
While we were mostly grounded at our stand (which turned out to be the right call given the foot traffic!), we still felt the impact of the speaker lineup.
Our commercial director Dominic Deacon’s talk on SaaS scaling cut through the noise with a no-fluff session focused on building strong foundations, and our founder and CEO Nick Halliday’s panel session alongside Achille Traore, Manpreet Singh, Michael Ruggier, and Caroline Cartellieri offered insightful, real-world advice on navigating and growing into the MENA region.
- More than a buzzword
Yes, AI was everywhere — in talks, at stands, and in virtually every conversation we had. But there’s been a shift in the sentiment, it’s not just about using AI because it’s popular, the conversation is maturing into one focused on value and actual business outcomes.
At IDS, we’re advocates for using AI where it counts, solves real problems, and improves real experiences.
- Sense of community
The IDS stand was buzzing throughout the festival, and we were thrilled to welcome partners Ingram Micro, who joined us to showcase our partnership (alongside AWS) to deliver peace of mind and top-tier managed services to our clients.
In fact, partnerships were a major theme across the floor, as we enjoyed conversations around joint ventures, co-creation, and bringing new value to clients together. We’re excited to see how many of these discussions evolve into something even bigger over the coming months.
We were also inspired by the number of students and early-career tech professionals who dropped by the stand, leaving us optimistic for the next generation of founders and leaders in the industry.
- Risk and investment
It wouldn’t be a festival of business growth without talk of investment, and we heard plenty. Founders and leaders shared both the highs and the headaches of their funding journeys so far. It seems investors are becoming more risk-averse, demanding deeper insight and clearer paths to ROI. A discovery which reinforces the importance of clarity and strong fundamentals when preparing for those investor conversations.
- And the award goes to…
The contagious energy carried into the evening with the awards celebration that recognised worthy winners and embraced a real spirit of community. It was brilliant to see a well-deserved spotlight on some of the most innovative people and businesses in the room.
It wouldn’t be a festival of business growth without talk of investment, and we heard plenty. Founders and leaders shared both the highs and the headaches of their funding journeys so far. It seems investors are becoming more risk-averse, demanding deeper insight and clearer paths to ROI. A discovery which reinforces the importance of clarity and strong fundamentals when preparing for those investor conversations.
Climb25 left us with a renewed sense of momentum, thanks to the conversations, new connections, and shared ideas throughout the event. It highlighted a business community that’s focused and committed to growth.
It was also a great reminder of the strength of the Northern tech and business ecosystem.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by for a chat. We’re looking ahead to Climb26 and we’re excited to see where the next chapter takes us.
If you’d like to carry on the conversation – or start an entirely new one – we’d love to hear from you.
