News

There has been plenty of networking during June with a number of business exhibitions, in Plymouth, Exeter, Taunton and elsewhere plus the Finance for Growth event in Exeter.  Over 50 people attended the latter and were appreciative of the presentations and were impressed by the facilities available at the Library’s Business and Information Hub.

Client referrals: I mentioned last time that a core function of the Business Finance Network is to facilitate client referrals so that SMEs get the best chance of speedy access to finance.  So it is interesting to see that, nationally, Santander have teamed up with Funding Circle to enable businesses to try crowdfunding where they are ineligible for bank loans.  A similar arrangement exists between all the main banks and the Community Development Finance Association which passes contacts to bodies such as the Fredericks Foundation and South West Investment Group.  Tomorrow, the CDFA is publishing  a vision setting out a means of enabling everyone across the country to borrow money at an affordable rate. As well as calling for banks to work with community lenders and pass on declined customers, the report suggests the infrastructure to link up community lending, saving and support, helped by a £150m capital fund from the government to expand the network, supported by community investment legislation.

Crowdfunder: if anyone still doubts the power of crowdfunding, Newquay based Crowdfunder has raised £650k through Exeter based Crowdcube, including the fastest ever £230k in the first 15 minutes.

Equity investment: nevertheless, there remains a significant gap in growth funds.  GAIN (Growth Acceleration and Investment Network) at Plymouth University is attempting to address this with an event next Friday when a dozen businesses will have the opportunity to pitch to potential private investors. Hopefully this will be the first of many such occasions.

Investment in shares by business angels can be an attractive option for high growth companies, where additional funds could accelerate profitable expansion.  Business angel networks (such as http://www.swain.co.uk and others) put growing companies in touch with such business angel investors.  Over the past month, I have been contacted by four companies seeking between £750k-£1.5m and it has been a struggle to identify local sources on this scale available in the short term, despite the potential employment benefits.  More concerted action is urgently needed in this sphere.

That’s my perspective but here’s a link to, perhaps, a London based perspective which should stir you up, especially if you work in business support!

http://www.angelnewsletter.co.uk/blog/features/the-equity-gap-83-years-old-or-dead/

Regional Growth Fund 6: the latest round in this source of grants has just been launched.  Wholly private applications of a minimum of £1m are invited by 30 September.

Hinkley Programme: through the good work of Somerset Chamber of Commerce and many others, the Government has just announced a programme of support related to building the new Hinkley nuclear power station which includes £150k to facilitate supply chain development and a comprehensive skills programme, plus inputs from the Manufacturing Advisory Service and Homes and Communities Agency.

Events:

-          Big Potential: tomorrow, Friday 27th, sees a focus on social investment at Devonport Guildhall.  I believe the event is fully subscribed now and I’ll invite Gareth from the Plymouth Social Enterprise Network to circulate a report.

-          Co-operative Business Lunch, Taunton, Weds 2 July: contact [email protected] for details of this discussion of citizen financing.

-          Digital marketplace: courses on selling on line are being provided at Plymouth on 16 July and Yeovil on 23 July, bookings through http://www.thedigitalmarketplace.co.uk

-          Finance for Growth, Torbay: this event has been postponed, look out for notification of the new date.

-          http://www.gaininbusiness.com has provision for listing events using a national software system so I’d recommend keeping tabs on this both to see what is available and to advertise anything you are planning.

Web sites:

-          http://www.gaininbusiness.com this beta site is being thoroughly tested, currently with 350 SMEs registered as users, and the content is being built by the users, as well as Plymouth University.  If you haven’t already done so, please try it out and encourage all your contacts to do likewise.  As a digital exchange, it has the potential to be  a really powerful, creative and sustainable source of business information and advice, harnessing the best of national resources with local intelligence.

Other relevant sites with news drawn to my attention include:

-          http://www.betterbusinessfinance.co.uk

-          http://www.fundingoptions.com

-          http://new.devon.gov.uk/fundingnews

-          http://www.fredericksfoundation.net

-          http://www.asc.co.uk

-          http://www.grantedltd.co.uk

-          http://www.localisingprosperity.org.uk

-          http://www.heartofswlep.co.uk

Happy reading!