Support for tech firms "misconceived" Support from the Scottish and UK governments for high-growth companies is "substantially misconceived" and could even be holding back economic growth, according to a damning report. The study - commissioned by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta) and compiled by Glasgow, St Andrews and Stirling universities - calls for a "major overhaul" of the systems so they help existing high-growth small businesses. Current support - including research and development grants and venture capital co-investment schemes - focuses too heavily on technology companies and university start-ups, the report said. Instead, ministers should be trying to support existing small businesses that have the potential to grow, offering them advice rather than funding. Ross Brown, a management lecturer at the University of St Andrews and one of the report's authors, said: "Our research clearly shows that there is a mismatch between the nature of high-growth firms and the policies that have been developed to support them. "The vast majority of high-growth firms are in fact well-established firms from traditional business sectors and do not equate with the hypothetical "techie" view of these firms. At present, through their interventions policy makers may be over-subsidising technology-based firms that are incapable of growing. In the main public policy is largely ineffective in this area, which could be undermining economic growth. Brown added: "The UK has some fabulous growth-oriented firms - for example, Brewdog and Skyscanner - but, in the main, these tend to be in consumer-oriented or service industries not R&D-intensive sectors like life sciences. This is particularly the case for places such as Northern Ireland and Scotland, which have less well developed high-tech sectors than the south of England. Suzanne Mawson, an early career fellow in business and strategy at the University of Stirling, said: "Given what we know about HGFs - and what their unique needs are - it's frustrating that policy makers continue to push the same old support interventions. Simply providing funding is not the ultimate way of supporting growing firms. What these firms really need is a more flexible, responsive and relational support, where peer-to-peer support and specialised advice - for example, support for management buy-outs or acquisition of another company - are prioritised. Advice, often from peers, not cash, is paramount. Colin Mason, professor of entrepreneurship at University of Glasgow, said: "If organisations such as the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and Scottish Enterprise genuinely wish to create more of these firms, a significant overhaul of their activities is needed away from their dominant policy focus on transactional forms of R&D support and co-investment funding - which largely goes to high-tech firms - towards a stronger support on growth-oriented firms irrespective of their sectoral orientation."