M&A fever epidemic hits UK Telecoms sector

By on May 20, 2013   /   Blog Post, business, Investment   /   Leave a comment
M&A fever epidemic hits UK Telecoms sector

There seems to be no end to the M&A fever in the Telecoms reseller marketplace in the UK and it seems to have reached epidemic proportions with new “deals” being announced almost daily. But what is driving all of this activity? The simple answer is that the major Banks have woken up to a sector which historically has generated very strong cash flows and have started to lend again. As reported in Comms Dealer recently, Chess Telecom has strengthened its role in the acquisition marketplace with a further £10 million facility

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Banks accused of sabotaging deals via Crowdfunding sites

By on May 20, 2013   /   Blog Post, business, Crowdfunding, Investment   /   Leave a comment
Banks accused of sabotaging deals via Crowdfunding sites

Banks have been accused of deliberately making it difficult for small businesses to borrow via crowdfunding sites by delaying paperwork and charging high fees. Crowdfunding sites like Funding Circle, which has arranged more than £100million of lending to firms, said that it is dealing with several cases of firms forced to wait months to receive funding because of hold-ups by high street banks. The problems arise because most loans arranged through crowdfunding sites require a charge over the firms assets in the event that the firm defaults on the loan.  

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TMT start-ups set to benefit from £440m investment boost

By on May 20, 2013   /   Blog Post, business, Investment, SEIS   /   Leave a comment
TMT start-ups set to benefit from £440m investment boost

TMT start-ups are set to benefit from a £440million investment in the Government agency for innovation and growth – the Technology Strategy Board. Every pound invested by the board returns £7 to the economy by helping TMT start-ups to develop and bring ideas to market, according to research carried out for the agency. Digital Shoreditch, which starts today in East London’s Tech City, was founded 3 years ago with the backing of the board.   The annual technology festival, the brainchild of Kam Star who also founded games firm Playgen,

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Crowdcube values itself at £7.1 million after ‘world record’ three-day fundraising

By on May 13, 2013   /   Blog Post, business, Crowdfunding, Investment, PE/VC   /   Leave a comment
Crowdcube values itself at £7.1 million after ‘world record’ three-day fundraising

Crowdcube has raised £1.5 million through what it describers as a new world record for funds raised via an equity crowdfunding platform.  Founded in February 2011, Crowdcube allows businesses to showcase themselves and secure growth capital from a large group of investors. Crowdcube says it first set out to raise £250,000 but, having raised that within the first five hours, made it live for a further three days to raise the rest of the amount. In total, 259 investors contributed to the round. When Crowdcube last tried to raise capital through

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EIS and SEIS failing on awareness and eligibility fronts

By on May 8, 2013   /   Blog Post, business, Investment   /   Leave a comment

The Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme are failing to register on the radar of UK entrepreneurs, despite having been around since 1994 and 2012 respectively. Entrepreneurs are not up to scratch with details, and also don’t know the basics. A quarter of British entrepreneurs have not heard of the Enterprise Investment Scheme EIS, new figures show.   A recent study found that 25 per cent of business builders have not heard of the funding incentive, and 35 per cent are not aware of the EIS tax relief available to

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