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ALE OUT AND ABOUT
EXPERT ADVICE
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Business people get out of the office... and down the pub
Expect the unexpected to keep your business alive
What the Government’s latest SME campaign means for you
Business bristolpost.co.uk
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13
NOV 2013
ACCESS TO FINANCE ISSUE
READY FOR TAKE OFF Our guide puts you on course to get cash you need to take your business into orbit
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www.bristolpost.co.uk/business
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Fashion
Shop on course for rag-trade riches AN independent clothing store has scooped a major prize at a fashion-industry awards event. Fox+Feather, in Gloucester Road, impressed judges at the Drapers Independent Awards with its range of UK-designed fashion brands for men and women. The firm was named best new buasiness. Owner Clare Serjeant said: “We are thrilled and honoured to have been given this award. We have worked very hard to build our business and love being a part of the fantastic Gloucester Road community. “We hope that this award will help us to continue to expand our range and help promote the local and national designers that we love.”
Clare came to Bristol as a student, before going to work for numerous fashion brands and then returning to the city to start her own business in March 2012. The awards were held at the Waldorf Hilton, London. Eric Musgrave, editorial director of Drapers, said: “The shape of the high street is changing. Although there are strong signs of growth, now more than ever we need to support existing independent retailers and encourage more to open.” Research from The Local Data Company shows that in 2013 across the UK’s top 500 town centres there was a net growth of 424 independent shops.
● From left, Michael Hughes, managing director of Tom Hughes fashion store, Ian Serjeant, accounts manager of Fox+Feather, Clare Serjeant, owner of Fox+Feather, Scott McDougall, brand development manager of Fox+Feather, Eric Musgrave, editorial director of Drapers
Micro brewery
Creative beer maker has found his calling Gavin Thompson Assistant Editor (Business) gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk
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RESH from his “quarter life crisis”, master brewer Shane O’Beirne is loving life as the creative force behind a new venture. “Beerd Brewery exists to push the boundaries of quality beer as we know it,” said the 30-year-old, who is now head brewer at the Beerd micro brewery, an arm of Bath Ales which hopes to appeal to the younger, funkier beer drinker. “I love beer. I get a lot of freedom to make different kinds of beer – different flavours and different styles. “By combining international influences and flavours with the traditional British brewing techniques we’re offering drinkers something unique with each brew.” But it wasn’t always so. Mr O’Beirne – pictured – was a project management engineer until deciding in his mid-20s that his talents lay elsewhere. Even after training as a master brewer it wasn’t all straight forward. “I was working for a large scale lager brewer producing the same thing all the time and I hated it,” he explained. But now he has found is calling. The venture produces ale five barrels a time, that’s about 850 litres, and sells them to pubs across Bristol, Bath and beyond, not just Bath Ales establishments or the Beerd pub in St Michael’s Hill. And as a micro-brewery the range is always changing.
“I produce a new beer about every couple of weeks,” said Mr O’Beirne. Which means customers always have something new to try. Bath Ales managing director Robin Coulling said the new brand would allow the company to experiment, without messing with its popular core products, such as Gem and other ales which can be found not just in pubs but on supermarket shelves. “Demand for quality and craft beer in the UK is rising fast and our core range of beer attracts new drinkers all the time,” he said. “In the last few years our business has gone from strength to strength. We’ve significantly expanded the brewery to keep up with demand for our quality beer and we’re very ambitious – always looking to take the next step and keep pushing ourselves. “With Beerd Brewery we have created a way for us to experiment with new styles of beer without taking focus away from our core range. With a distinct identity consumers will know that a Beerd beer offers something interesting, yet still crafted to the very highest standards. “The Beerd ethos also reflects that we take quality beer very seriously, but we do not take ourselves too seriously. “This new initiative allows us to really show what we’re capable of and push boundaries – we’re challenging ourselves and the consumer which should make 2014 a very interesting year.”
● See pictures from the Beerd Brewery launch on page 7
Healthcare
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Private health firm’s £13m cancer centre THE private healthcare industry in Bristol continues to grow as Spire Healthcare starts work on a £13 million cancer care centre. It is predicted that by 2020 almost half of Britons will get the disease. Due to open in spring 2014, the development is further investment by Spire The Glen Hospital, Bristol – part of a total £30 million outlay in the past five years. This new centre, based in Aztec West, is being built to offer greater provision of cancer care in the region. Rob Anderson, hospital director, said: “In the UK the current capacity for cancer care is not enough to keep up with demand. If we don’t act now then we will be facing a significant shortfall. We’re fitting this facility with some
of the most advanced technology on the market, including a state-of-the-art linear accelerator. This equipment enables clinicians to provide highly-targeted radiotherapy, which means much greater precision for patients as healthy tissue around tumours is preserved. “The site is easily accessible from the South West and Wales and it’s located close to the motorway network. We already provide support to people with cancer, but this facility will enable us to offer integrated end to end care for patients from diagnosis through to recovery.” The facility will largely treat breast, prostate, rectal and lung cancers. The existing hospital at Durdham Down in Clifton, Bristol has 286 staff.
www.bristolpost.co.uk/business
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Back to the future
Networking
Finance
Bringing businesses and charities together ● BUSINESSES looking for good causes to support and the charities who need their help will be brought together at a new networking event. The event is the result of a partnership between the Novotel hotel in Victoria Street and healthcare provider Simply Health, based next door. Simplyhealth spokesman Jamie Wilson said: “We want to give local charities and businesses an opportunity to come together and discuss the ways in which they can work together. This is a fantastic chance for local businesses that are keen to support their community to find out exactly how they can help.” Hotel manager Tim Howes said: “Many companies wish to work with a local charity but finding the right one can be time consuming. “This makes it easier.” Charities will be given the opportunity to present to an audience of local businesses. Nibbles and drinks will then be provided and charity and business representatives will be given time to network after the presentations. A number of charities including Brandon Trust, Bristol Samaritans, Changing Tunes and St Peter’s Hospice have already signed up. Companies interested in attending should email amanda.willis@ simplyhealth.co.uk. The free event will take place on Thursday, November 21, from 5.45pm-7.45pm at the Novotel.
Top innovation award for accountancy firm
Chance at showcase ● VENTUREFEST is a chance for 40 tech firms to showcase their wares – from nanotechnology to spaceflights – and look for investors. It is also a chance for other business to network, hone their pitching skills and take inspiration from keynote speakers including mayor George Ferguson, Tim Prestige from Renishaw and Tim Harper from the Emerging Technologies Global Advisory Council. Business will be there reporting live tomorrow from 10am through a rolling blog on our websites, www.bristolpost.co.uk and southwest business.co.uk. ● Bristol Spaceplane’s Spacecab
Marketing
‘Planes actually have best potential for space travel’
Be kind and you could win a £10k website!
Gavin Thompson
● A DIGITAL marketing agency is giving away a tailor-made website after its owner was inspired by helping an old woman. Nudge Digital chief executive Luke Aikman helped the woman who was having trouble walking up some stairs with her shopping bags. She thanked him and expressed her frustration for there not being enough kindness in the world. Luke has now launched Nudge Kindness, to provoke random acts of kindness across the country. He is starting by offering a free website worth £10,000 to a worthy cause. Entrants should upload a picture, along with a short description of their act of kindness, to either the Nudge Facebook page or to www.Nudgedigital.co.uk/Kindness
Assistant Editor (Business) gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk
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BRISTOL company believes going back to the future is the key to winning the space race. Bristol Spaceplanes aims to use 1960s concepts to help the space tourism industry finally take off. Managing director David Ashford’s first job was in Bristol firm Hawker Siddeley Aviation’s space plane design team back in 1961 and he believes the industry has lost sight of what it could achieve. “The best ideas from the 1960s are way ahead of anything that’s been built since or that is proposed now,” he said. The basic idea is for a plane rather
than a vertical launch rocket. The space shuttle had to take off on a vertical rocket and Mr Ashford said this was more dangerous and more expensive because rockets were lost in the process. “Throwaway launchers used for human space flight have a fatal accident rate about ten thousand times worse than airliners,” he said. “Expendable vehicles cannot be made much safer because so many components have to work right first time. For larger numbers of people to visit space, these low safety standards are not acceptable. Space planes offer greater safety because they are aeroplanes in engineering essentials.” His Spacecab space plane would take off like an aeroplane then use rockets to reach speeds of Mach 4, when a smaller piggy back plane would launch to reach outer space. Both planes would be able to land intact, and therefore fly again, re-
Best deals - How the numbers stack up Business savings Inflation Business current CPI accounts accounts Bank of India
Cooperative Bank
1.01% Bank of £10,000 deposit Cyprus
1.75% £1,000 deposit
0.25% United Trust £1 deposit Bank
1.55% £500 deposit
0.12% United Trust £1 deposit Bank
1.5% £500 deposit
0.1% Bank of Unity Trust £25,000 deposit India Bank
1.49% £10,000 deposit
1.45% 0.05% Earl Shilton £1 deposit B. Society £10,000 deposit 0.05% National 1.36% £500 deposit Counties BS £1,000 deposit
Source: Business Moneyfacts - moneyfacts.co.uk
2.2 0.5 0.5 3.99
Weekly earnings
ducing the costs. “Two-stage-to-orbit spaceplanes were widely considered feasible some 40 years ago and the technology is certainly available now,” he said. Mr Ashford believes that, with the right funding, a prototype could be flying within four years and carrying passengers 12 months later. He says the need for rockets to reach Mach 4 would be costly as rockets can only be used a few times, but once long-life rockets were developed costs would fall dramatically. Mr Ashford said: “Most people under the age of 50 or 60 on middle incomes who are prepared to save could go to space in their lifetime.” Bristol Spaceplanes will be at Venture Fest at UWE tomorrow looking for investors.
● Find out how your business can access finance on pages 8&9
Corporation tax % %
%
Base interest rate % Ave mortgage rate %
23 20 13 10
Main rate
%
Small profits rate – below £300,000
Employer NI rates .8%
Standard rate on earnings above £148 per week
.4%
Employees in salary-related pension scheme earning up £770 p/w
National average petrol prices .29p
130 137 138 70
Unleaded
.73p
● A FAMILY-run firm of chartered accountants has won overall firm of the year at the national 2020 Innovation Awards for Accountants. Evans & Partners Chartered Accountants was established in Bristol since 1943. The award recognises good client service, innovation approach and success winning new clients. Managing partner Olly Evans, the third generation of the Evans family to run the firm, said: “We have worked hard to stand out from other accountants where poor service and high prices are often the norm. “We have focussed on delivering great service for a great price. “We have driven innovation through the business using cloud technology that allows us to be much closer to our clients, giving day to day support.” He picked online accounting tool www.xero.com as an example of that innovation. “We see more and more clients thriving as the recession recedes and needing input and support from us, often acting as finance director for a day,” he said. The firm has two partners and employs 25 people from its Kingswood office, is attracting new clients, has grown 10 per cent and is hiring new staff. It works with 1,200 clients across Bristol and the South West. Mr Evans added: “My grandfather would have been proud to see his firm win this prestigious award, against 500 other firms from all over the country.”
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Get in touch Assistant Editor (Business) Gavin Thompson Call 0117 934 3336 Email gavin.thompson @b-nm.co.uk Twitter @gavin_thompson1
Writer Rupert Janisch Email business@ b-nm.co.uk Advertising Robert Rodgerson Call 07828 941469 Email rob.rodgerson @b-nm.co.uk
Diesel
.76p Super unleaded
.81p LPG
Source: PetrolPrices.com
Advertising Jane Chapman Call 01179 343025 Email jane.chapman @b-nm.co.uk Advertising Simon Coy Call 07736 900 705. Email simon.coy @b-nm.co.uk
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Commercial property
Ideas forum
Supply not matching office space demand
New business club launched for women
● BRISTOL office investment volumes for 2013 will be slightly ahead of 2012 levels, according to research by property adviser BNP Paribas Real Estate. Patrick Pryce, BNP Paribas Real Estate’s head of Bristol, said: “So far this year, Bristol office investment totalled £77.3 million to the end of the third quarter, behind Q1-Q3 2012 when £89.5 million transacted. “This fall doesn’t reflect a lack of investor appetite, but the restricted flow of assets into the market place. “In fact this year the market has seen renewed activity, largely attributable to the attractive yields on offer.” Q1-Q3 2013, city centre (CC) take-up reached 427,673 sq ft, up 42 per cent on the equivalent period a year earlier. Take-up this year has been skewed by Bristol City Council’s 130,000 sq ft purchase of 100 Temple Quay and Imperial Tobacco’s 85,000 sq ft purchase on its new HQ in Winterstoke Road. Removing these two large deals, 2013 take-up is currently down 10 per cent on last year’s level. The out-of-town market remains particularly challenging with Q1-Q3 2013 take-up reaching 178,695 sqft, down 10 per cent on a year earlier. After a stronger Q1, out of town take-up for Q2 and Q3 averaged just under 50,000 sq ft per quarter, similar in level to Q2 and Q3 2012. Jo Warren of BNP Paribas Real Estate’s research department, said: “The supply level continues to fall in both the city centre and out of town markets. Q3 2013 city centre availability was 2 million sq ft, down nine per cent on Q3 2012.” But she said the recent pick up in speculative development will improve supply and should ensure Bristol remains an attractive market for new and existing occupiers. Out-of-town availability at the end of Q3 2013 was 1.26 million sq ft, down five per cent on Q3 2012. She said supply of grade A space out of town was “severely lacking”, with no readily available accommodation for bigger firms.
● Members of the Women Outside the Box Bristol Business Club outside the Arnolifini
A NEW business club for women entrepreneurs has launched in the city after finding that may businesswoman want to share their ideas. Research for the Women Outside the Box festival found that 34 per cent of men were driven by a desire to make it big, while 19 per cent of women wanted to share their ideas. Now Women Outside the Box has launched a business club in Bristol, following the success of the festival at the Arnolfini earlier this year. It meets on the first Tuesday of the month at Smith & Williamson. WOTB director Joni Farthing said: “Women thrive when they are able to share ideas and collaborate. “With this in mind we’ve decided to launch a monthly WOTB Business Club. Our aim is to capture the excitement, buzz and supportive atmosphere of the festival in another format which gives on-going support to women.”
Business support
Food
Cable launches a ‘Great’ campaign to back firms
Choice increased for hungry rail passengers
Gavin Thompson Assistant Editor (Business) gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk
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HE Government has announced its latest plan to help small and medium-sized businesses. Business Secretary Vince Cable launched the Great campaign last week, and local companies will be wondering how it helps them. A new business support website – www.greatbusiness.gov.uk – aims to make it easy to access services and products, including Manufacturing Advice Service, National Apprenticeship Service and Growth Accelerator, that can help businesses to grow. The announcement included a £1 million sector mentoring challenge fund to enable firms to benefit
Know how Andrew Fisher FCA Executive Director For and on behalf of Alanbrookes Ltd
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Wednesday, November 13, 2013
ENVISAGE the following scenario. You are the general manager and 20 per cent shareholder of a successful business. The director and 80 per cent shareholder dies unexpectedly. He’s the only signatory on the bank account, which is duly frozen. With neither a contingency plan or liquid funds, the company collapses and you are unemployed, together with the rest of the workforce. As the company is no longer a going concern, the director’s family are left with precious few assets and a whole raft of financial and non financial headaches. It doesn’t have to be like this. Business succession planning is either forced, as above, or foreseen and structured accordingly. The death of a business owner or co-owner has the following con-
from advice from experienced business people in their own field. And there will be a £10 million synthetic biology start-up fund from the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) to help entrepreneurial scientists working in synthetic biology get their business off the ground. Mr Cable announced that the first £45 million of funding from the British Business Bank – a Government bank set up to lend to businesses that can attract additional private investment – will be distributed through Praesidian Capital Europe (£30 million) and BMS Finance (£15 million) for them to lend from 2014. Mr Cable described it as a “a comprehensive package of measures” . “The first investments from the British Business Bank’s investment programme will provide choice to smaller businesses looking to secure
vital finance to help invest,” he said. He pointed to the worth of the Growth Accelerator programme, a Government backed partnership that provides advisers to helps firms grow faster. In Bristol the growth accelerator has helped 280 firms so far. Commenting on the package, Phil Smith, managing director Business West, said the individual initiatives would be welcomed by businesses, in particular new funding opportunities, but said it was hard for companies to keep up to date. “Even Business West, as a deliverer of business support, is struggling to keep abreast of the various announcements about new business support offers, so goodness knows how your average SME, for whom they are created, is keeping up,” he said, adding that chambers of commerce such as Business West could help guide firms through the maze.
● TRAIN operator First Great Western has pledged to banish the image of the old railway sandwich by adding 50 products sourced from within 15 miles of its lines. That’s potentially good news for local companies as the firm holds the franchise for the main line from London to Bristol and on to Wales and the South West. One firm set to benefit is John Sheppard Family Butchers, based on the Ashley Trading Estate in Bristol. Managing director Richard Sheppard said: “The South West has some of the finest produce in the world and Bristol is home to Brunel’s great railway line so we are proud to supply today’s trains with the finest Wiltshire bacon, Devon chicken and Somerset beef and lamb.” First Great Western’s customer experience manager Jo Elliot added: “We are proud to serve travellers heading west and want to show it in the food we serve. And this is not the end of the line for our local sourcing initiative, so I urge local producers to get in touch.”
Tales of the unexpected ...
sequences dependent on the type of business: ● A sole trader business automatically comes to an end, and it is likely all the family will have left is the “break up value” of whatever physical assets are in the business. ● Unless there is specific provision in the partnership agreement – and most partnerships have no formal agreements – a partnership will technically cease on the death of a partner and the deceased partner’s estate will become entitled to their share of the business, either as a lump sum or as a profit share in a new partnership. ● A limited company will continue in a legal sense, but often – as in the above scenario – not in any real sense. Even if it survives, the deceased shareholder’s beneficiaries will continue to share in the de-
cision making and the profits of the business. For many companies who are owned by two 50 per cent shareholders this often means that the surviving shareholder splits the profits with his co-shareholder’s spouse, who may have no interest in the business, and as a result will be working twice as hard for the same money. All in all, a gloomy prognosis. So what can be done? ● A sole trader can set up a life insurance policy and either assigns it to the person he wants to take over the business – a family member or an employee for example – or sets up a trust to pay that person after his death, in either case so that the business assets can be acquired. It is worth pointing out that although most trading businesses
qualify for business property relief for inheritance tax, if the rest of the estate attracts inheritance tax, the beneficiaries could have to sell the business to meet the tax bill. ● A partnership can set up a double option agreement (also known as a cross option). With this, the surviving partner has the option to buy the deceased partner’s share. The estate of the deceased partner also has the option to buy out the surviving partner. The business will be valued on an agreed basis, and each partner takes out a life insurance policy on their own life, to benefit the other partner. ● The partnership arrangements can also be used for the shareholders and their beneficiaries in a limited company. It is vital you use an experienced
professional who can avoid pitfalls, for example HMRC interpreting the agreement as a binding contract for sale, which would deny Business Property Relief for Inheritance Tax. It’s not just death that stops a business in its tracks – there are also policies that provide critical illness cover. It is particularly important with this type of policy to consider the circumstances in which lump sums are paid out and/or the business is transferred. In every case, you should get an accountant experienced in business valuations to value the enterprise – under valuing or over valuing the fruits of your labours can cause real problems later down the line.
www.bristolpost.co.uk/business
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Renewable energy
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Small business
Businesses urged to compete for awards
● Pictured left, the nED100; above, a shot of the turbines lined up in a facility that the Bristol centre will resemble
● BRISTOL businesses can take part in an awards scheme launched this week to find Britain’s best and most innovative small business. The Federation of Small Businesses and WorldPay have teamed up to launch the national Small Business Awards with more than £20,000 worth of prizes on offer. The awards are divided into four categories; Business Innovation, Young Entrepreneur, Micro Business and Online Business, where one entrant within each group will be named as overall category winner. Each of the four category winners will receive a prize fund of £4,500, plus a half-day marketing workshop.
Bristol is well “connected with
Spain with direct flights, it is close to Wales, an interesting and relatively unexplored market, and it is at the crossroads of the M5 connecting to the North and M4 to London.
Ivo Arnùs
Spanish turbine firm winds up in Bristol Gavin Thompson Assistant Editor (Business) gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk
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BRISTOL CHOSEN AS HQ
BUSINESS NEWS ON THE MOVE Our reporters file on the move, and you can keep up to date out and about via the mobile versions of our website bristolpost.co.uk/business
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SPANISH wind turbine manufacturer has chosen Bristol as its HQ as it endeavours to get a foothold in the UK market. Norvento is a 30-year-old family business that makes 100kw turbines for the “medium wind” market. The company has signed a lease on premises in Avonmouth from where it will base its technical and servicing team and some sales staff. The centre will also be used for transit and storage of turbines. Ivo Arnùs, director of business development, said Bristol was the perfect location for the firm. “Bristol is an area with good universities,” he said. “It is well connected with Spain with direct flights, it is close to Wales which we think is an interesting and relatively unexplored market and it is a the crossroads of the M5 connecting to the North and M4 to London. It makes sense logistically and in terms of human resources as we can recruit engineers here.” The company is leasing a 4,000 square foot site and will initially have four people based in Bristol but hopes to quickly expand into
double figures. “We want to sell 50 to 60 turbines a year so that will mean a bigger operation,” said Mr Arnùs. The turbines will still be made in Spain, for now at least, as Mr Arnùs said the business would have to reach “certain economies of scale” before considering investing in manufacturing facilities. “We are providing high-quality jobs and want to work with the universities as we are a very research and development focussed company,” said Mr Arnùs. The company has a 24/7 monitoring station in Spain, which will also oversee its UK turbines and, it says, allows it to offer “big wind” levels of service on medium scale developments. It believes its nED 100 turbine is ahead of the competition in terms of low noise levels and ease of connecting it to the National Grid. Norvento has signed agreements with several renewable companies and is looking at sites across the UK.
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www.bristolpost.co.uk/business
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
In pictures: Business people out and about
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UK Trade and Investment Explore Export event, at Tortworth Court Four Pillars Hotel, Wotton-under-Edge, South Glos
www.bristolpost.co.uk/business
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Launch of the Beerd Microbewery, held at Beerd pub in St Michael's Hill, Kingsdown
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Business diary ● Bristol Distinguished Executive Address Series: Peter Ayliffe, chairman of Monetise Plc, discusses the Leaderership Challenge of Growing Business in the Digital Age at City Hall from 5.45pm, today. ● Your Dental Practice, Your Future: A free seminar for dentists hosted by chartered accountants Milsted Langdon in conjunction with Meade King Solicitors and NatWest Bank, at The Clifton Pavilion at Bristol Zoo Gardens, from 6pm.
● From left, Janine Hall, 26, from Bath Ales; Georgina Woodman, 22, from Bath Ales; and Rhian Abraham, 23, from Bath Ales; at the launch of the Beerd Microbewery in St Michael's Hill, Kingsdown
● Head brewer Shane O'Beirne at the launch of the Beerd Microbewery, held at Beerd pub in St Michael's Hill, Kingsdown, Bristol Pictures by Gavin Thompson
● World Usability Day: Web designers and marking professionals talk about how better websites can tap into greater revenues. M shed, 9am-5pm, tomorrow. ● VentureFest: Innovation showcase for technology firms including speakers and workshops. UWE Exhibition and Conference Centre, 10am-4pm, tomorrow. ● Regional Growth Fund Roadshow: Help for businesses thinking of applying for round five of the RGF, open to private firms seeking £1 million or more for high quality projects that leverage private sector investment and create sustainable jobs. 2 Rivergate, Temple Quay, Tuesday, November 19.
● Above, Pete Ailton, 45, chief brewer at the Ship Inn, Alveston, and Mairead Costin, 31, a UWE physiotherapy student
Send your business events to gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk GALLERIES GALORE
● Left, music business student Fiona Riches, 18, behind the bar at the launch
FOR MORE PICTURES Check out our website at bristolpost.co.uk/business
● Above from left, Becci Calver, 24, from Hatch Mansfield wines and spirit supplier; Kate Calver, 51, a PE teacher at Winterbourne International Academy, and Mark Calver, 51, from Hatch Mansfield, at the launch
● From left, Bob Cary, 34, a home brewer; Sam Sidgwick, 29; Kelly Sidgwick, 32, of The Festival Elderflower Company in Gloucester Road; and Tony Sidgwick, 60, from New Zealand, at the launch
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● Robert Pile, 21; Anna Longhorn, 20; and Oli Sillick, 19, from The Porter bar in Bath at the launch of the Beerd Microbewery
● Be Your Own Boss: A chance for people to find out more about starting or strengthening their small business. Speakers are inventor Lorna Perks from LornaLou and Alex Poulter from East Bristol Bakery, plus lots of support organisations will be on hand. 10am-2pm, City Hall, today. ● Growth Clinic: Business West is encouraging managing directors of ambitious companies to step away from their day-to-day activities for an hour or so to focus on future business growth in one to one clinics. Leigh Court, today and November 21. To book email info@growthsouthwest.co.uk or call 01275 376 233.
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www.bristolpost.co.uk/business
Expert eye Damian Webb Restructuring and Recovery director Baker Tilly Restructuring and Recovery LLP damian.webb@ bakertilly.co.uk
Get funding for growth
R
ECENT economic data highlights that we are in the nascent stages of an economic recovery, with three consistent quarters of economic growth and the economy growing at 0.8 per cent from July 2013 to September 2013. This is positive news; an improving economy presents new opportunities for SMEs and should assist in their growth. However, managing a growing business is challenging and the principal issue in many cases is funding. Banks have increasingly been blamed for undermining growth through restrictive lending practices. SMEs say banks are not supportive and funding the consequent funding constraints are undermining the potential of their businesses. The banking crisis has meant that banks have reverted to their historic, more conservative lending criteria. Hence, they are no longer prepared to fund riskier propositions which are often more suited to potentially expensive forms of financing ie mezzanine or equity finance. The government has recognised the funding issues facing SMEs, resulting in various central initiatives, notably prescribed lending targets to banks (Project Merlin), the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme and various regional grant schemes. In addition, Asset Based Lending, Trade or Purchase Finance, Community Development Finance Initiatives, Peer to Peer lending and support from Business Angels are among a plethora of funding options available to SMEs in the absence of mainstream bank support. Despite these various initiatives many SMEs still struggle to access finance. Prior to submitting a borrowing proposal a SME should seek advice from well-connected professional advisors to ensure they are approaching the right funders with a coherently articulated proposition. Funding options are available for SMEs. But businesses need to be realistic about requirements, represent arguments in a clear and persuasive way and tailor their applications to the appropriate funders.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Access to funding special
YOU’VE GOT THE POTENTIAL, While the economy is undoubtedly growing again, small businesses are still finding it hard to get finance to help them expand. Gavin Thompson investigates funding options for SMEs
Y
OU’VE got a great idea for a business, you’ve worked it all out but you just need some capital to get going, to cover that first six months. You’re finance director of a small company. You think that new piece of kit, that bigger workshop, that extra person will take the business to a new level but you just need an injection of cash to make it happen. These are familiar scenes to small and medium-sized business owners, particularly in the last five years. Everyone is desperate to build on the growth we’ve seen in the economy, but it’s still hard to get hold of the funding. It’s not surprising given that loose credit was seen as the cause of the recession we are still recovering from.
“ Access to finance remains the number one concern for many of our members ... 40 per cent of SMEs who approached the banks for investment had been turned down. Sam Holliday, Federation of Small Businesses for the West of England But that’s little comfort to businesspeople caught at the bottom of an economic cycle. The National Audit Office believes that nationally there will be a potential £22 billion funding gap by 2017 between the amount of finance available to SMEs and the amount they need. Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said this month: “Access to finance is a significant and enduring problem for may small and medium-sized businesses.” There are a range of Government schemes to help but “there is work to be done in terms of managing the schemes as a unified portfolio and articulating what they are intended to achieve as a whole”. What support is available can be confusing. There’s the Regional Growth Fund, Start-up loans, innov-
● Tristan Fowler, above - securing investment means he will be able to expand his firm selling protective covers for handheld devices - like the one pictured right - to businesses
Backing will help one-man outfit take on staff ● FOR Tristan Fowler, securing investment means he will be able to expand his firm selling protective covers for handheld devices to businesses. Tristan has received backing from the Jenson Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme Fund to grow his Tuffscreen business based in Kingswood. Tuffscreen is a one-man outfit that outsources manufacturing – but Tristan hopes to take on staff in sales and production in the next year.
ation vouchers, Growth Accelerator, Passport to Export and more, each offering grants, match funding or in-kind support and mentoring. One of the most successful locally has been the Regional Growth Fund, backed by the Bristol Post, and distributed by the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership. It had a £25 million pot for firms, hoping to kickstart private investment too. Antony Corfield, programme manager at the LEP, said: “The pot is there
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Backing Bristol Businesses If you wish to discuss any restructuring or re-financing matters please contact:
Damian Webb or James Hester T: +44 (0)117 945 2000
Case study His idea is about saving organisations money. The former Bristol Grammar pupil, 31, said: “If you are a delivery driver and you break the screen on your handheld device in the morning, you have a van full of packages you cannot deliver because they cannot be signed for. Or if an airline steward breaks their device on a flight to New York you not only have to buy a
to support businesses with a range of projects and activities, such as investment in capital assets, research and development, and training. More than 300 companies applied for grants from the fund (the deadline has now passed) and we’ve so far agreed around 80 businesses grants worth approximately £8 million. “We’re anticipating making another 70 to 100 awards early in the New Year and we estimate the fund will generate an injection of £100 million
new screen but you lose money because you cannot sell duty-free goods.” Lothian and Borders Police was one of the first big customers. When looking for money, Tristan turned to the Growth Accelerator programme. That helped him approach the Jenson Seed EIS Fund. The fund was set up by professional-services company Jenson Solutions using a tax break created by the Government to encourage firms to invest in businesses with potential to grow.
of private sector investment into the local economy that wouldn’t otherwise have happened.” The LEP is “looking at ways we can continue the fund into the future” but for the moment, the door is closed to new applicants. So what about the banks? Are they lending again? Sam Holliday, development manager for the Federation of Small Businesses for the West of England, says his members don’t think so: “Access to finance remains
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Wednesday, November 13, 2013
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Know how Robin Goddard
SO WHERE’S THE SUPPORT? ● Martin Niblet at Merlin Tools and Fixings in Brislington Photograph: Barbara Evripidou BRBE2013 1112C-001_C
Pensions help tool firm power through its first year ● MARTIN Niblet needed a cash injection to see his Brislington-based power-tool accessories business over the difficult first year. Without any security for a loan, he turned to the idea of pension-led funding, which allowed him to invest his pension pot in his own company, raising £23,000.
Case study The 51-year-old said: “I had a few small pensions that are not going to make a significant contribution to my retirement but have made a very significant contribution to my business.” His firm Upstream Procurement
Solutions, which trades as Merlin Tools and Fixings in Broomhill Road, has used the money on branding, for cashflow and to develop an insulation product. Clifton Asset Management, based in Pill, helped Martin secure the funding. Assuming Martin’s business is a success, he will keep his pensions for old age.
thinks the owner is not putting their own money on the line, why should they do the same?
Any SME that hopes to secure lending from a bank or financial institution needs a solid business plan. Here’s what to include:
● Market research, with details of competitors and how the product or service fits into the marketplace
● An executive summary, highlighting the main points and designed to grab the attention of lenders
● Financial information for the last three years of trading and forecasts for the next three to five years
● How any potential lenders will get their money back or investors will see the value of the business and therefore their shareholding grow.
● Details of key people as well as their responsibilities, skills and relevant experience
● How much of the owner’s money is committed to the business. If a lender or investor
Source: Department for Business Innovation & Skills / ICAEW
the number one concern for many of our members and our most recent survey on the issue revealed that 40 per cent of SMEs who had approached the banks for investment had been turned down. “In addition some who had been offered support had to refuse it because the high interest rates offered were simply unaffordable.” He urged the Government to keep the pressure up on the banks – pressure seen earlier this month when
new RBS chief executive Ross McEwan admitted the bank was not doing enough to support SMEs and pledge to address the matter. “However, it is not just about the banks,” says Mr Holliday. “The FSB has also called on the Government to champion non-bank finance and work more closely with alternative finance providers such as peer-to-peer lending groups. “In many other countries, there is not such an over-reliance on the tra-
ditional high street banks to provide small business finance and we would welcome initiatives to encourage a wider variety of routes to finance including locally-based ones.” More business are turning to such alternative sources. For start-ups where sums are often smaller they can be an appealing option. And some are utilising them for bigger sums too. Somerset-based Hab Housing, Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud’s sustainable housing com-
pany recently raised a record £1.9 million on Crowdcube. There are two forms of crowdfunding, investment based, eg. Seedrs, which businesses offer equity (a stake in the business) to backers, and peer-to-peer lending, such as Funding Circle, where people invest in loans for businesses. The numbers using these methods are still comparatively small, but growing. And where the banks are not meeting a need, creative asset management firms are seeing a potential market. Tom McCarthy, chairman of the Bristol Institute of Directors and director of Odyssey Corporate Finance, says: “The banks are thawing, but there is still a disconnect between the local bankers on the ground trying to support their clients and remote credit committees who have the final say. “As a result, there has been growth in the number of small private equity players and alternative finance providers who have filled the gap. “Because of their size and swift decision making processes, these types of organisations can take a much more pragmatic view on opportunities and risks.” These organisations are looking at ideas including: Asset-based lending, where a loan is secured against an asset; pension-led funding where directors invest their own pension pot in their companies’ assets (including intellectual ones); and trade finance, where firms get credit or guarantees on specific orders which they repay when they get paid. Asset-based lending to business rose 10 per cent to £17.4 billion in the year to June, and commercial brokers arranged £10.5 billion of credit to SMEs, up 17 per cent, according to the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers. So there is hope. Phil Smith, managing director of Business West, says: “The array of new entrants into the debt market over the past two years is very welcome but as these are only marginal to overall lending the high street banks need to do even more. The British Business Bank (being set up by the Government in January) has a huge role to play here, and should be enhanced with additional capital to help plug the gap. “Over recent months through our surveys, our customers and members have told us that they are increasingly confident about their prospects and want to expand. Availability of finance is always one of the top three barriers to growth in our quarterly economic survey. “Improving access to finance for businesses should be a major priority for the government whose full attention must be focused on jump-starting business investment.”
Regional director Close brothers robin.goddard@ closebrothers.com 07809 877198
Asset-based lending can boost capital
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VER a third of business owners in the South West plan to expand their business during the next 12 months, according to the latest Close Brothers Business Barometer. The survey further revealed that 36 per cent of firms in the region are now benefitting from current trading conditions compared to only 18 per cent in the previous quarter. With recovery beginning to gather pace, it is vital that SMEs ensure that they have sufficient working capital in place to allow them to seize any opportunities for growth as they arise. However, obtaining credit through traditional methods continues to be difficult which is why business owners must fully explore the alternatives. Our study also showed that many SMEs are still unsure of their financial options. In fact, as many as 30 per cent of business owners in the South West admitted they do not understand ABL, while 23 per cent of those that are familiar with the product do not feel they know enough about it to consider it as a means of financing their business. Many companies have a considerable amount of capital tied up in physical assets, such as inventory, property, plant and machinery. Asset based lending is a strategic product that allows you to leverage the value of these assets, giving you access to substantial sums of working capital quickly and easily. It can be used in a balanced way to complement invoice finance and the size of the funding package can increase in line with your business growth. Whether the need is for increased working capital to fund growth or help deliver strategic objectives, such as cash for a management buy-out or buy-in, an acquisition, merger or simply to refinance, companies should consider ABL as a means of funding. For more information, please visit www.closeinvoice.co.uk.
Backing Bristol Businesses Damian Webb or James Hester T: +44 (0)117 945 2000
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If you wish to discuss any restructuring or re-financing matters please contact:
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Wednesday, November 13, 2013
The Big Interview
WELCOME TO A VERY BRITISH WAY Her childhood involved moving around to fit in with her father’s cricket career, giving Sarah Owen grounding in building social networks. Rupert Janisch learned how she has made a career of helping businesses do the same
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OU would be forgiven for suspecting that a concept which was born in America to formulate companies’ plans for word-of-mouth referral marketing would be in some way un-British. But for Sarah Owen, master franchise holder for the Referral Institute in the UK, planning how to use your network effectively is something which taps into our basic human nature. She said: “We refer from a young age. The first one is ‘My friend really fancies you’ and then it goes on when we are adults and we recommend restaurants or films. “All human beings are natural referrers. It is just that the Americans
Vital statistics
My working day
Name: Sarah Owen Age: 45 Place of birth: Dulwich, London School: Various! Hardy Manor, Kenya through to Weald of Kent School for Girls, Tonbridge First job: Mappin & Webb – Long Service Awards Department (my first responsibility was checking the engraving on gold watches and carriage clocks for people who had worked 25 or sometimes 40 years for the same company!)
Wake up at? 0600 (in term time as my son has to be in school early!) What do you have for breakfast? Healthy: grapefruit (tinned – I love it), Naughty: hot chocolate and croissant from Boston Tea Party in Clifton Village! What time do you start work? 8.30 What happens in your typical working day? A great deal, typically! Mainly delivery of training and consulting; operational/administrative management of the business; phone calls and visits from our franchisees from around the country and managing local client relationships; a nice lunch at The Engineers’ House is always included! What time do you go home? 6pm (in term time as this is the usual pick up time on the school run!) Do you take work home/attend evening functions? I don’t typically take work home but I do attend some evening events. If I am away speaking at conferences or events or in USA then I do work every evening because it is a great use of my time. PJs, room service and a lot of work and I enjoy that time.
My downtime What’s your perfect weekend? A weekend in the school holidays so I don’t have to get up at 0600 on a Saturday! A lazy time with my son, a good book and in the summer a game of tennis or a seat at a cricket ground. If I feel energetic – a few hours of gardening. What’s your favourite book or film or TV show? I read a lot but a recent good read is Give and Take by Adam Grant. My favourite film is As Good as it Gets and my favourite TV show is Judge Judy. What are your hobbies? Reading; sport; writing; gardening; cooking
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● Clockwise from above, Favourite film As Good As It Gets; recent good read Give And Take; and hobby, cooking
started educating people formally in the strategies.” And in a new age for business – one based on collaboration and trust – Sarah believes that making the most of your human capital makes more sense than ever. She said: “I think it is really important to take responsibility and create the world we want. It is not unrealistic to aspire to a business community where people trust each other, where they care and help each other to succeed. “And I really believe that the big companies are recognising that as well, that the day of dog-eat-dog is gone and that people collaborating and working together is the way forward. “And it serves people to do business by referral because you have never got to shout about yourself – you just get your friends to do it for you. It is a very British thing.” Sarah was born in Dulwich in south-east London. Her father, Bill Higginson, was a professional cricketer who played the county game and coached the England women’s team. Her mother is a retired international banker. Family life was spent watching cricket and included a spell living in Kenya. And with frequent changes of school, determined by her father’s career moves, Sarah found she had to make new friends and connections wherever she went. After working in London for silversmiths Mappin and Webb for nine years and in the insurance industry for a decade, she settled in the West Country after initially agreeing to look after the chickens of a lifelong friend who lived near Stroud. Having a diverse career, always with a responsibility to acquire clients, Sarah benefits from possessing real-life experience of growing businesses. So it was a natural step for her to specialise in the topic of referral marketing. Now 45, she is considered one of Europe’s leading experts on referral marketing. Businesses large and small from all over the country have benefited from her knowledge. In Bristol, she has been hired on retainer to work in many companies. At Engineers’ House in Clifton, where her company Referral Institute is based, hundreds of people each year attend courses on how to make the most out of their network of contacts. She said: “I worked for big companies which
had multi-million-pound advertising and marketing budgets. But the reason I like this kind of marketing is because it is easier and nicer to do business with people who are introduced to you personally. “Being able to pick and choose your clients is something that is considered out of reach to lots of small- and medium-sized enterprises. But that is what we teach people to do within an affordable marketing budget. “At the same time you are going to meet good people in the classroom. Many long-lasting relationships have been built while the learning takes place. “I believe if you give good people more
“ I really believe that the big companies are recognising ... the day of dog-eat-dog is gone and that people collaborating and working together is the way forward. Sarah Owen money and free up their time they are really going to do extraordinary things outside work. I have chosen my expertise carefully to work with a referral-based business community because, typically, people who do business by referral are good people to be around. “My real desire is to educate people in business to understand that referral-based marketing is an easy way to do business. In an already-complicated world at least let us make the acquisition of clients a simple process and do business with people we enjoy working with.” Sarah is well connected in Bristol. Apart from her main role at Referral Institute, which puts her in touch with hundreds of businesses in the city each year, she is also on the committee of the Institute of Directors and is involved heavily with several networking organisations in the area. But despite these roles and regular en-
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Wednesday, November 13, 2013
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OF GROWING YOUR BUSINESS up the BNI networking organisation which has 11 groups in Bristol and is the largest networking organisation of its type in the world. Sarah is his co-author of the book The World’s Best Known Marketing Secret. Referral Institute’s headquarters – opened in 2007 – are in Bristol, the organisation’s showcase region in the UK. The business has been franchising since 2010 and has nine other branches in the UK. These branches include Manchester, Oxford,
your business, and generating business for each other accordingly using proven models. Sarah said: “There is a statistic that 93 per cent of business owners know that referrals are an important way of getting new business, but only 3 per cent of them have a plan for putting it into action. “So after you finish with us you get a plan, and the implementation of the plan, and you get the local experts to support you. “We put at least 30 businesses through our programmes every month. The majority are owners of small businesses, usually with between £100,000 and £1 million turnover. “In addition we work with retained bigger companies designing and implementing a plan to help them grow by referral and to get real results from their employees’ business networking. “One of the biggest challenges the businesses we deal with, whether big or small, come across is that they confuse business networking with developing a network that will grow their business. “They do not have a distinction between the two. So they run about, meeting lots of new people, instead of using a strategy to add and gain value from an existing network. We teach them to do the right things, with the right people. “We work tactically on it, advising that there are eight sources of referral and seven different types of network, and working out a referral-marketing plan in advance to match the needs of a business instead of doing face-to-face cold calling at networking events.” Referral Institute started in America more than a decade ago under Ivan Misner, the ‘father of modern networking’ who also set
“The High Street is OK for shopping, but business banking calls for a specialist.” As a family owned business, we prefer to deal with a bank that focuses on owner managed businesses. We’re long-standing clients of our bank and they’ve been very supportive as our business has grown. Like us, they’re specialists who know what they’re doing. Mick Crossan, Chairman, Powerday
0845 045 0900*
Visit our website or call 8am-8pm Monday to Friday to contact your local branch Jason Fleming, Senior Branch Manager, Bristol branch, 19 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1PB
Our business is business banking
aibgb.co.uk
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gagements as a keynote speaker, Sarah said she is not naturally comfortable in the spotlight. She said: “I am a strategist. And while I know it serves me and others to be in those forums, I tend to surround myself with people who like to be in the limelight. I am a situational extrovert.” Helping Sarah run Referral Institute is Vic Vaughan, a 51-year-old former Royal Marine who specialised in weapons and tactics with the Commandos. With a passion for motorcycles, Vic worked for Bridge Motorcycles in Exeter, setting up branches in Andover and Southampton before starting up his own industrial-cleaning business in Devon, which is still running and was established purely off the back of referrals. Sarah said: “Vic is a model franchisee. Ex-Forces people can be perfect to build a large training and consulting business because they are great instructors. Sometimes they think they are not business people but, typically, they are looking after massive budgets and leading big teams and they are great communicators. “I think it is important that we look after people who have served our country when they come out of service.” So how does the concept of referral marketing work? It is the antithesis of what many owners of small businesses do – the scattergun approach of spending lots of time meeting new people and visiting networking meetings on the off-chance that some new contact might generate some business. The work of Sarah and Vic involves formulating a plan for referral marketing – specifying a target market, identifying who your key contacts are going to be, sharing your vision and emotional connection for
Birmingham, Cardiff, Northamptonshire and Norwich. Referral Institute is a business that grows by referral. As word spreads, franchise regions are opening around the UK with the support of the UK base in Engineers’ House in the heart of Bristol. It is taking off, and Sarah believes it is only a matter of time before far more owners of small businesses around the UK see the benefits of accessing the knowledge needed to grow their company in this very British way.
*Telephone lines open from 8am-8pm Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England and Wales. Calls may be recorded and monitored for security and training purposes. BT landline calls to 0845 numbers will cost no more than 5 pence per minute. Charges from other service providers may vary and calls from mobiles usually cost more. Allied Irish Bank (GB) and Allied Irish Bank (GB) Savings Direct are trade marks used under licence by AIB Group (UK) p.l.c. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c.), incorporated in Northern Ireland. Registered Office 4 Queens Square, Belfast BT1 3DJ. Registered Number NI 18800. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
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Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Up and coming
Movers & shake-ups The future of business
The latest appointments news. Send your news to business@b-nm.co.uk
Opening Doors Business Awards 2013
Prize for graduate determined to prove ‘burger jibe’ teacher wrong ● BUSINESS coach Paul Neck has been chosen again to head up the South Gloucestershire branch of the Federation of Small Business (FSB). Mr Neck, who is one of the Business Doctors team, was re-elected to the post of FSB branch chairman at the group’s annual meeting held at the Aztec West Hotel, Bristol. The branch is one of the biggest in the region with just under 1,000 members. Mr Neck pledged to continue to spearhead the branch’s flagship free monthly seminars also held at the Aztec West.
Rupert Janisch Business@b-nm.co.uk
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GRADUATE from Airbus in Filton has won a prestigious award after overcoming childhood hardship to make a success of his young life. Adam Taylor won the James Caan Award for an Inspirational Young Person in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Opening Doors Business Awards 2013. Adam was presented with his award by Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable at a glittering ceremony in Lancaster House in London. He also met Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and a host of other high-profile VIP guests from the worlds of politics and business. Adam, 24, was nominated for the award by colleagues at Airbus who recognised his exceptional talent and his determination to overcome challenges in his life and career. Born in Woolwich, one of South East London’s most disadvantaged boroughs, Adam is the eldest of three sons whose father was a lorry driver and whose mother left school at 14. He was singled out as an underachiever, designated special needs as a child and was brought up in a one-bedroomed caravan after his father’s business folded. As a 10-year-old wanting to go to grammar school, he became determined to prove wrong a teacher who told him his only job would be serving burgers and chips in a fast-food restaurant. But after succeeding at school he
● Adam receives his award from Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable (right), with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
“ I’m not one of those who finds academic work easy, but I know if you work hard enough, nothing is impossible. Adam Taylor
Education
achieved a first class honours degree in air transport management from Loughborough University and beat 100 applicants for a graduate placement scheme with Airbus. He said: “I’m not one of those people who finds academic work easy, but I know that if you work hard enough, nothing is impossible. “I’ve always thought that you can
turn a bad experience into a positive one by learning from it to make sure it doesn’t happen again. “My mum and dad didn’t want me or my brothers to struggle and really pushed us to do as well as we could. “They have made me who I am today, so this award is theirs as much as it is mine.”
● LAW firm Foot Anstey has recruited two new partners at its rapidly growing Bristol office. Deborah Carrivick joins from Burges Salmon where she has spent 15 years specialising in high value tax and trust work. Construction law expert Fran Button returns to the firm from industry. She has extensive experience drafting and negotiating complex building contracts as well as in renewables projects. Managing partner John Westwell said: “These arrivals will add further depth to our Bristol office and increase our national reputation for specialist high value advice.”
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Top chefs table advice at college New surveyor is ‘welcome addition’ STUDENT chefs at Weston College had the chance to work alongside Michelin-star restaurateurs as part of a chefs’ forum. The forum met at the college’s Hans Price Conference Centre and linked up with catering students to provide a day of events and industry networking. The collective of industry professionals shares skills with young people in education. It included television chef Arthur Potts-Dawson, who helped Jamie Oliver launch his Fifteen chain of restaurants. He was joined by Bristol’s newest Michelin-starred chef, James Wilkins, and Amy Hunt, a former Weston College student who has opened her own fine-dining restaurant, Oak and Glass, in Uphill. More than 80 chefs and industry representatives from across the South West were at the event, marking the college’s new partnership with the forum. James won his first Michelin star last month and runs Wilks restaurant
● Chef Arthur Potts-Dawson, students Chris Davies and Beth Fieldhouse, and chefs Amy Hunt and James Wilkins in Bristol with fiancee Christine Vayssade. He said: “It was really good to work with the next generation of talented student chefs.” Graham Smith, the college’s training manager for hospitality and event management, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for the college. The involvement of the area’s top chefs enriches our students’ experience because they learn with the best.”
THE Bristol office of property advisers CBRE has appointed Rebecca Maddison as a graduate surveyor. Rebecca recently graduated from Northumbria University with a first-class honours degree in estate management. During her placement year she gained valuable experience working in commercial-property agency and portfolio management for a small firm in Newcastle. Rebecca said: “Working for CBRE will provide me with a solid platform to develop my career under the correct guidance and structure. “The graduate programme will enable me to further my qualifications with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, while also introducing new service lines and relevant experiences that will eventually enable me to specialise in the future. I am thrilled to have joined.” Rebecca is one of 30 graduates who CBRE has recruited nationally as part of its in-house, two year training programme.
● CBRE has appointed Rebecca Maddison as a graduate surveyor Garry Hicks, managing director of CBRE Bristol, said: “At CBRE we have always believed in working closely with universities, colleges and schools to recruit the brightest and best talent into the property sector. Rebecca is a welcome addition to our team.” Following Rebecca’s appointment, CBRE, which recently celebrated its 10th year in the city, now has 40 people based at its Bristol office working across a wide range of commercial-property services.
● Colliers International has strengthened its Bristol operation in response to a significant increase in activity in the commercial property sector. The Broad Quay-based development consulting team has appointed Ben Meynell to help deal with a range of local authority, institutional and private company clients, and Andrew Frost, who is completing a property development and planning course at UWE. Jessica Jones is also joining the Bristol team as senior surveyor in the investment poroperty management team. Head of office Tim Davies added: “I am pleased to welcome Ben, Jessica and Andrew, all of who have made a positive impact already.”