The country has been celebrating a stellar performance at this year's Summer Olympic Games in Rio.
It was great to see Birmingham play its part in the medal haul, with three of the gold medal-winning women's hockey team hailing from Brum.
This achievement is clearly cause for celebration, especially when you consider the journey British Olympics has been on during the past 20 years.
Ever since the dismal performance in Atlanta in 1996, Britain has experienced games-on-games growth, climbing from 36th to second place in the medal table during that time.
Team GB has developed a winning formula and there are lessons here for UK business. First, funding is critical.
At last year's Business Growth Fund (BGF) CEO and Chairman Day, an annual gathering of the companies we back, we were joined by former Olympic rower Greg Searle who commented that, without doubt, one of the catalysts for the change in the fortune of British athletics was the introduction of National Lottery Funding in 1997.
Clearly, the importance of long-term investment in building the bigger businesses of tomorrow is something BGF believes in wholeheartedly.
During the past two to three years in particular, the supply of capital has been on the up and, as I wrote in a previous article, it is my hope that, in the post-EU Referendum world, investment in growing businesses will continue to flow.
Second, role models create virtuous circles.
This has become increasingly evident in UK athletics over the past 20 years and in particular following the London 2012 Games when everything from the bid, brand, slogan and execution focused on 'Inspiring a Generation'.
Role models are important in business too.
A 2014 report by Deloitte looked at the reasons why many entrepreneurs were holding back their ambitions to build a bigger business and highlighted that a significant number didn't want to scale-up until they saw their peers doing so - "How do I know what I want until I see it?"
That's something that BGF can testify to.
The past 12 months have been BGF's busiest yet in the Midlands, in terms of providing entrepreneurs with funding to grow their businesses.
I have no doubt part of this acceleration is down to the fact business owners can now 'see' growth capital in action and speak to the entrepreneurs we've already backed about their experiences.
Finally, another stand out factor in Britain's Olympic success, has been the ability to recognise and secure international talent to help coach and mentor athletes.
While we need to do all we can to help, support and encourage successful home-grown sports people, we also want to identify and attract world-class coaches.
Look at how English rugby has benefited from the hiring of Eddie Jones, who has turned a dispirited, losing team into a formidable unit.
Just as formidable is the trio of Kiwis Warren Gatland, Vern Cotter and Joe Schmidt, coaching Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
This applies at Aston Villa too, where the team have called on former Chelsea coach Roberto Di Matteo to get them back into the Premiership and he will be leading a squad bolstered by international talent.
There are a lot of frustrated entrepreneurs in the UK who want to scale up but find one of the biggest barriers is having access to people who have 'been there and done that' and can provide guidance.
This is why we have spent so much time and resources building the biggest pool of board level non-executives across the UK who are qualified to provide support to growing businesses.
Of course, not everything in the world of UK sports is replicable in business.
For one thing, many athletes train for years for one event whereas entrepreneurs have to be on top of their game every day.
But, without doubt, this year's Olympics have once again driven home the lesson that funding, role models and world class mentoring is a winning formula.
Gavin Petken, regional director, South, Business Growth Fund
