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What the Government’s latestSME campaign means for you

132013NOV

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2 We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 3We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

� Bristol Spaceplane’s Spacecab

ABRISTOL company believesgoing back to the future isthe key to winning the spacerace. Bristol Spaceplanesaims to use 1960s concepts to

help the space tourism industry fi-nally take off.

Managing director David Ashford’sfirst job was in Bristol firm HawkerSiddeley Aviation’s space planedesign team back in 1961 and he be-lieves the industry has lost sight ofwhat it could achieve.

“The best ideas from the 1960s areway ahead of anything that’s beenbuilt 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 saidthis was more dangerous and moreexpensive because rockets were lostin the process. “Throwaway launch-ers used for human space flight have afatal accident rate about ten thousandtimes worse than airliners,” he said.

“Expendable vehicles cannot bemade much safer because so manycomponents have to work right firsttime. For larger numbers of people tovisit space, these low safety standardsare not acceptable. Space planes offergreater safety because they are aero-planes in engineering essentials.”

His Spacecab space plane wouldtake off like an aeroplane then userockets to reach speeds of Mach 4,when a smaller piggy back planewould launch to reach outer space.

Both planes would be able to landintact, and therefore fly again, re-

ducing the costs.“Two-stage-to-orbit spaceplanes

were widely considered feasible some40 years ago and the technology iscertainly available now,” he said.

Mr Ashford believes that, with theright funding, a prototype could beflying within four years and carryingpassengers 12 months later.

He says the need for rockets toreach Mach 4 would be costly as rock-ets can only be used a few times, butonce long-life rockets were developedcosts would fall dramatically.

Mr Ashford said: “Most peopleunder the age of 50 or 60 on middleincomes who are prepared to savecould go to space in their lifetime.”

Bristol Spaceplanes will be at Ven-ture Fest at UWE tomorrow lookingfor investors.

� Find out how your business canaccess finance on pages 8&9

� From left, MichaelHughes, managingdirector of TomHughes fashionstore, Ian Serjeant,accounts managerof Fox+Feather,Clare Serjeant,owner ofFox+Feather, ScottMcDougall, branddevelopmentmanager ofFox+Feather, EricMusgrave, editorialdirector of Drapers

Fa s h i o n Back to the future

Shop on course for rag-trade richesAN independent clothing store hasscooped a major prize at a fashion-in-dustry awards event.

Fox+Feather, in Gloucester Road,impressed judges at the Drapers In-dependent Awards with its range ofUK-designed fashion brands for menand women. The firm was namedbest new buasiness.

Owner Clare Serjeant said: “We arethrilled and honoured to have beengiven this award. We have workedvery hard to build our business andlove being a part of the fantasticGloucester Road community.

“We hope that this award will helpus to continue to expand our rangeand help promote the local and na-tional designers that we love.”

Micro brewery

Creative beer makerhas found his calling

FRESH from his “quarter life crisis”,master brewer Shane O’Beirne is lov-ing life as the creative force behind anew venture. “Beerd Brewery exists topush the boundaries of quality

beer as we know it,” said the30-year-old, who is now head brew-er at the Beerd micro brewery,an arm of Bath Ales whichhopes to appeal to the younger,funkier beer drinker.

“I love beer. I get a lot offreedom to make differentkinds of beer – different fla-vours and different styles.

“By combining internationalinfluences and flavours withthe traditional British brewingtechniques we’re offering drinkerssomething unique with each brew.”

But it wasn’t always so. Mr O’Beirne – pic -tured – was a project management engineeruntil deciding in his mid-20s that his talents layelsewhere. Even after training as a masterbrewer it wasn’t all straight forward.

“I was working for a large scale lager brewerproducing the same thing all the time and Ihated it,” he explained. But now he has found iscalling. The venture produces ale five barrels atime, that’s about 850 litres, and sells them topubs across Bristol, Bath and beyond, not justBath Ales establishments or the Beerd pub inSt Michael’s Hill. And as a micro-brewery therange is always changing.

“I produce a new beer about every couple ofwe e k s, ” said Mr O’Beirne. Which means cus-tomers always have something new to try.

Bath Ales managing director Robin Coullingsaid the new brand would allow the company toexperiment, without messing with its popularcore products, such as Gem and other aleswhich can be found not just in pubs but onsupermarket shelves.

“Demand for quality and craft beer in the UKis rising fast and our core range of beer

attracts new drinkers all the time,” hesaid. “In the last few years our

business has gone from strengthto strength. We’ve significantlyexpanded the brewery to keepup with demand for our qual-ity beer and we’re very am-bitious – always looking totake the next step and keeppushing ourselves.

“With Beerd Brewery we havecreated a way for us to exper-

iment with new styles of beerwithout taking focus away from our

core range. With a distinct identity con-sumers will know that a Beerd beer offerssomething interesting, yet still crafted to thevery highest standards.

“The Beerd ethos also reflects that we takequality beer very seriously, but we do not takeourselves too seriously.

“This new initiative allows us to reallyshow what we’re capable of and push bound-aries – we ’re challenging ourselves and theconsumer which should make 2014 a very in-teresting year.”

� See pictures from the Beerd Brewerylaunch on page 7

H ea l t h c a re

Private health firm’s £13m cancer centre

Bringing businessesand charities together� BUSINESSES looking for goodcauses to support and the charitieswho need their help will be broughttogether at a new networking event.

The event is the result of apartnership between the Novotelhotel in Victoria Street andhealthcare provider Simply Health,based next door.

Simplyhealth spokesman JamieWilson said: “We want to give localcharities and businesses anopportunity to come together anddiscuss the ways in which they canwork together. This is a fantasticchance for local businesses that arekeen to support their community tofind out exactly how they can help.”

Hotel manager Tim Howes said:“Many companies wish to work witha local charity but finding the rightone can be time consuming.

“This makes it easier.”Charities will be given the

opportunity to present to anaudience of local businesses.

Nibbles and drinks will then beprovided and charity and businessrepresentatives will be given time tonetwork after the presentations.

A number of charities includingBrandon Trust, Bristol Samaritans,Changing Tunes and St Peter’sHospice have already signed up.

Companies interested in attendingshould email amanda.willis@simplyhealth.co.uk.

The free event will take place onThursday, November 21, from5.45pm-7.45pm at the Novotel.

Be kind and you couldwin a £10k website!� A DIGITAL marketing agency isgiving away a tailor-made websiteafter its owner was inspired byhelping an old woman.

Nudge Digital chief executiveLuke Aikman helped the womanwho was having trouble walking upsome stairs with her shopping bags.

She thanked him and expressedher frustration for there not beingenough kindness in the world.

Luke has now launched NudgeKindness, to provoke random actsof kindness across the country. Heis starting by offering a free websiteworth £10,000 to a worthy cause.

Entrants should upload a picture,along with a short description oftheir act of kindness, to either theNudge Facebook page or tow w w. N u d g e d i g i t a l . c o . u k / K i n d n e s s

N etwo r k i n g

M a r ket i n g

Top innovation awardfor accountancy firm� A FAMILY-run firm of charteredaccountants has won overall firm ofthe year at the national 2020Innovation Awards for Accountants.

Evans & Partners CharteredAccountants was established inBristol since 1943.

The award recognises good clientservice, innovation approach andsuccess winning new clients.

Managing partner Olly Evans, thethird generation of the Evans familyto run the firm, said: “We haveworked hard to stand out from otheraccountants where poor service andhigh prices are often the norm.

“We have focussed on deliveringgreat service for a great price.

“We have driven innovationthrough the business using cloudtechnology that allows us to bemuch closer to our clients, givingday to day support.”

He picked online accounting toolwww.xero.com as an example ofthat innovation.

“We see more and more clientsthriving as the recession recedesand needing input and support fromus, often acting as finance directorfor a day,” he said.

The firm has two partners andemploys 25 people from itsKingswood office, is attracting newclients, has grown 10 per cent andis hiring new staff.

It works with 1,200 clients acrossBristol and the South West.

Mr Evans added: “My grandfatherwould have been proud to see hisfirm win this prestigious award,against 500 other firms from all overthe country.”

F i n a n ce

‘Planes actually have bestpotential for space travel’

THE private healthcare industry in Bristolcontinues to grow as Spire Healthcare startswork on a £13 million cancer care centre.

It is predicted that by 2020 almost half ofBritons will get the disease.

Due to open in spring 2014, the developmentis further investment by Spire The Glen Hos-pital, Bristol – part of a total £30 million outlayin the past five years. This new centre, based inAztec West, is being built to offer greaterprovision of cancer care in the region.

Rob Anderson, hospital director, said: “Inthe UK the current capacity for cancer care isnot enough to keep up with demand. If we don’tact now then we will be facing a significantshortfall. We’re fitting this facility with some

of the most advanced technology on the mar-ket, including a state-of-the-art linear accel-erator. This equipment enables clinicians toprovide highly-targeted radiotherapy, whichmeans much greater precision for patients ashealthy tissue around tumours is preserved.

“The site is easily accessible from the SouthWest and Wales and it’s located close to themotorway network. We already provide sup-port to people with cancer, but this facility willenable us to offer integrated end to end care forpatients from diagnosis through to recovery.”

The facility will largely treat breast, pro-state, rectal and lung cancers.

The existing hospital at Durdham Down inClifton, Bristol has 286 staff.

Sign uphere forbusinessnews directto yourinboxevery day

Best deals - How the numbers stack upBusiness currentaccounts

National averagepetrol prices

1.01%£10,000 deposit

0.25%£1 deposit

Allied IrishBank

0.05%£500 deposit

Bank ofIndia

0.1%£25,000 deposit

0.05%£1 deposit

Corporation tax

Employer NI rates

23 %20 %

Main rate

Small profitsrate – below

£300,000

13 . 8%Standard rate on

earnings above£148 per week

10 .4%Employees ins a l a r y - re l a t e d

pension schemeearning up £770 p/w

130 .29pUnleaded

137 .7 3 pDiesel

138 .76 pSuper

unleaded

70 .81pLPG

Source: PetrolPrices.com

Business savingsaccounts

1.75%£1,000 deposit

1.49%£10,000 deposit

1.55%£500 deposit

Bank ofIndia

1.45%£10,000 deposit

Bank ofCyprus

NationalCounties BS

1.36%£1,000 deposit

Inflation

2.2 %Weekly earnings

0.5 %Base interest rate

0.5 %Ave mortgage rate

3.99 %Source: Business Moneyfacts - moneyfacts.co.uk

CPI

Unity TrustBank

United TrustBank

1.5%£500 deposit

United TrustBank

0.12%£1 deposit

CooperativeBank

Earl ShiltonB. Society

Assistant Editor (Business)Gavin Thompson

Call 0117 934 3336Email gavin.thompson

@b-nm.co.ukTwitter @gavin_thompson1

Get in touch

Writer Rupert JanischEmail business@b-nm.co.uk

Advertising RobertRodgerson

Call 07828 941469Email ro b . ro d g e r s o n

@b-nm.co.uk

Advertising JaneChapmanCall 01179 343025Email jane.chapman@b-nm.co.uk

AdvertisingSimon Coy

Call 07736 900 705.Email simon.coy

@b-nm.co.uk

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

� VENTUREFEST is achance for 40 techfirms to showcase theirwares – f ro mnanotechnology tospaceflights – and lookfor investors.

It is also a chance forother business tonetwork, hone theirpitching skills and takeinspiration fromkeynote speakersincluding mayorGeorge Ferguson, TimPrestige from Renishawand Tim Harper fromthe EmergingTechnologies GlobalAdvisory Council.

Business will be therereporting live tomorrowfrom 10am througha rolling blog onour websites,w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t . c o . u kand southwestbusiness.co.uk.

Chance ats h owc a se

Clare came to Bristol as a student,before going to work for numerousfashion brands and then returning tothe city to start her own business inMarch 2012.

The awards were held at the Wal-dorf Hilton, London.

Eric Musgrave, editorial directorof Drapers, said: “The shape of thehigh street is changing. Althoughthere are strong signs of growth, nowmore than ever we need to supportexisting independent retailers andencourage more to open.”

Research from The Local DataCompany shows that in 2013 acrossthe UK’s top 500 town centres therewas a net growth of 424 independents h o p s.

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4

2 We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 3We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

� Bristol Spaceplane’s Spacecab

ABRISTOL company believesgoing back to the future isthe key to winning the spacerace. Bristol Spaceplanesaims to use 1960s concepts to

help the space tourism industry fi-nally take off.

Managing director David Ashford’sfirst job was in Bristol firm HawkerSiddeley Aviation’s space planedesign team back in 1961 and he be-lieves the industry has lost sight ofwhat it could achieve.

“The best ideas from the 1960s areway ahead of anything that’s beenbuilt 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 saidthis was more dangerous and moreexpensive because rockets were lostin the process. “Throwaway launch-ers used for human space flight have afatal accident rate about ten thousandtimes worse than airliners,” he said.

“Expendable vehicles cannot bemade much safer because so manycomponents have to work right firsttime. For larger numbers of people tovisit space, these low safety standardsare not acceptable. Space planes offergreater safety because they are aero-planes in engineering essentials.”

His Spacecab space plane wouldtake off like an aeroplane then userockets to reach speeds of Mach 4,when a smaller piggy back planewould launch to reach outer space.

Both planes would be able to landintact, and therefore fly again, re-

ducing the costs.“Two-stage-to-orbit spaceplanes

were widely considered feasible some40 years ago and the technology iscertainly available now,” he said.

Mr Ashford believes that, with theright funding, a prototype could beflying within four years and carryingpassengers 12 months later.

He says the need for rockets toreach Mach 4 would be costly as rock-ets can only be used a few times, butonce long-life rockets were developedcosts would fall dramatically.

Mr Ashford said: “Most peopleunder the age of 50 or 60 on middleincomes who are prepared to savecould go to space in their lifetime.”

Bristol Spaceplanes will be at Ven-ture Fest at UWE tomorrow lookingfor investors.

� Find out how your business canaccess finance on pages 8&9

� From left, MichaelHughes, managingdirector of TomHughes fashionstore, Ian Serjeant,accounts managerof Fox+Feather,Clare Serjeant,owner ofFox+Feather, ScottMcDougall, branddevelopmentmanager ofFox+Feather, EricMusgrave, editorialdirector of Drapers

Fa s h i o n Back to the future

Shop on course for rag-trade richesAN independent clothing store hasscooped a major prize at a fashion-in-dustry awards event.

Fox+Feather, in Gloucester Road,impressed judges at the Drapers In-dependent Awards with its range ofUK-designed fashion brands for menand women. The firm was namedbest new buasiness.

Owner Clare Serjeant said: “We arethrilled and honoured to have beengiven this award. We have workedvery hard to build our business andlove being a part of the fantasticGloucester Road community.

“We hope that this award will helpus to continue to expand our rangeand help promote the local and na-tional designers that we love.”

Micro brewery

Creative beer makerhas found his calling

FRESH from his “quarter life crisis”,master brewer Shane O’Beirne is lov-ing life as the creative force behind anew venture. “Beerd Brewery exists topush the boundaries of quality

beer as we know it,” said the30-year-old, who is now head brew-er at the Beerd micro brewery,an arm of Bath Ales whichhopes to appeal to the younger,funkier beer drinker.

“I love beer. I get a lot offreedom to make differentkinds of beer – different fla-vours and different styles.

“By combining internationalinfluences and flavours withthe traditional British brewingtechniques we’re offering drinkerssomething unique with each brew.”

But it wasn’t always so. Mr O’Beirne – pic -tured – was a project management engineeruntil deciding in his mid-20s that his talents layelsewhere. Even after training as a masterbrewer it wasn’t all straight forward.

“I was working for a large scale lager brewerproducing the same thing all the time and Ihated it,” he explained. But now he has found iscalling. The venture produces ale five barrels atime, that’s about 850 litres, and sells them topubs across Bristol, Bath and beyond, not justBath Ales establishments or the Beerd pub inSt Michael’s Hill. And as a micro-brewery therange is always changing.

“I produce a new beer about every couple ofwe e k s, ” said Mr O’Beirne. Which means cus-tomers always have something new to try.

Bath Ales managing director Robin Coullingsaid the new brand would allow the company toexperiment, without messing with its popularcore products, such as Gem and other aleswhich can be found not just in pubs but onsupermarket shelves.

“Demand for quality and craft beer in the UKis rising fast and our core range of beer

attracts new drinkers all the time,” hesaid. “In the last few years our

business has gone from strengthto strength. We’ve significantlyexpanded the brewery to keepup with demand for our qual-ity beer and we’re very am-bitious – always looking totake the next step and keeppushing ourselves.

“With Beerd Brewery we havecreated a way for us to exper-

iment with new styles of beerwithout taking focus away from our

core range. With a distinct identity con-sumers will know that a Beerd beer offerssomething interesting, yet still crafted to thevery highest standards.

“The Beerd ethos also reflects that we takequality beer very seriously, but we do not takeourselves too seriously.

“This new initiative allows us to reallyshow what we’re capable of and push bound-aries – we ’re challenging ourselves and theconsumer which should make 2014 a very in-teresting year.”

� See pictures from the Beerd Brewerylaunch on page 7

H ea l t h c a re

Private health firm’s £13m cancer centre

Bringing businessesand charities together� BUSINESSES looking for goodcauses to support and the charitieswho need their help will be broughttogether at a new networking event.

The event is the result of apartnership between the Novotelhotel in Victoria Street andhealthcare provider Simply Health,based next door.

Simplyhealth spokesman JamieWilson said: “We want to give localcharities and businesses anopportunity to come together anddiscuss the ways in which they canwork together. This is a fantasticchance for local businesses that arekeen to support their community tofind out exactly how they can help.”

Hotel manager Tim Howes said:“Many companies wish to work witha local charity but finding the rightone can be time consuming.

“This makes it easier.”Charities will be given the

opportunity to present to anaudience of local businesses.

Nibbles and drinks will then beprovided and charity and businessrepresentatives will be given time tonetwork after the presentations.

A number of charities includingBrandon Trust, Bristol Samaritans,Changing Tunes and St Peter’sHospice have already signed up.

Companies interested in attendingshould email amanda.willis@simplyhealth.co.uk.

The free event will take place onThursday, November 21, from5.45pm-7.45pm at the Novotel.

Be kind and you couldwin a £10k website!� A DIGITAL marketing agency isgiving away a tailor-made websiteafter its owner was inspired byhelping an old woman.

Nudge Digital chief executiveLuke Aikman helped the womanwho was having trouble walking upsome stairs with her shopping bags.

She thanked him and expressedher frustration for there not beingenough kindness in the world.

Luke has now launched NudgeKindness, to provoke random actsof kindness across the country. Heis starting by offering a free websiteworth £10,000 to a worthy cause.

Entrants should upload a picture,along with a short description oftheir act of kindness, to either theNudge Facebook page or tow w w. N u d g e d i g i t a l . c o . u k / K i n d n e s s

N etwo r k i n g

M a r ket i n g

Top innovation awardfor accountancy firm� A FAMILY-run firm of charteredaccountants has won overall firm ofthe year at the national 2020Innovation Awards for Accountants.

Evans & Partners CharteredAccountants was established inBristol since 1943.

The award recognises good clientservice, innovation approach andsuccess winning new clients.

Managing partner Olly Evans, thethird generation of the Evans familyto run the firm, said: “We haveworked hard to stand out from otheraccountants where poor service andhigh prices are often the norm.

“We have focussed on deliveringgreat service for a great price.

“We have driven innovationthrough the business using cloudtechnology that allows us to bemuch closer to our clients, givingday to day support.”

He picked online accounting toolwww.xero.com as an example ofthat innovation.

“We see more and more clientsthriving as the recession recedesand needing input and support fromus, often acting as finance directorfor a day,” he said.

The firm has two partners andemploys 25 people from itsKingswood office, is attracting newclients, has grown 10 per cent andis hiring new staff.

It works with 1,200 clients acrossBristol and the South West.

Mr Evans added: “My grandfatherwould have been proud to see hisfirm win this prestigious award,against 500 other firms from all overthe country.”

F i n a n ce

‘Planes actually have bestpotential for space travel’

THE private healthcare industry in Bristolcontinues to grow as Spire Healthcare startswork on a £13 million cancer care centre.

It is predicted that by 2020 almost half ofBritons will get the disease.

Due to open in spring 2014, the developmentis further investment by Spire The Glen Hos-pital, Bristol – part of a total £30 million outlayin the past five years. This new centre, based inAztec West, is being built to offer greaterprovision of cancer care in the region.

Rob Anderson, hospital director, said: “Inthe UK the current capacity for cancer care isnot enough to keep up with demand. If we don’tact now then we will be facing a significantshortfall. We’re fitting this facility with some

of the most advanced technology on the mar-ket, including a state-of-the-art linear accel-erator. This equipment enables clinicians toprovide highly-targeted radiotherapy, whichmeans much greater precision for patients ashealthy tissue around tumours is preserved.

“The site is easily accessible from the SouthWest and Wales and it’s located close to themotorway network. We already provide sup-port to people with cancer, but this facility willenable us to offer integrated end to end care forpatients from diagnosis through to recovery.”

The facility will largely treat breast, pro-state, rectal and lung cancers.

The existing hospital at Durdham Down inClifton, Bristol has 286 staff.

Sign uphere forbusinessnews directto yourinboxevery day

Best deals - How the numbers stack upBusiness currentaccounts

National averagepetrol prices

1.01%£10,000 deposit

0.25%£1 deposit

Allied IrishBank

0.05%£500 deposit

Bank ofIndia

0.1%£25,000 deposit

0.05%£1 deposit

Corporation tax

Employer NI rates

23 %20 %

Main rate

Small profitsrate – below

£300,000

13 . 8%Standard rate on

earnings above£148 per week

10 .4%Employees ins a l a r y - re l a t e d

pension schemeearning up £770 p/w

130 .29pUnleaded

137 .7 3 pDiesel

138 .76 pSuper

unleaded

70 .81pLPG

Source: PetrolPrices.com

Business savingsaccounts

1.75%£1,000 deposit

1.49%£10,000 deposit

1.55%£500 deposit

Bank ofIndia

1.45%£10,000 deposit

Bank ofCyprus

NationalCounties BS

1.36%£1,000 deposit

Inflation

2.2 %Weekly earnings

0.5 %Base interest rate

0.5 %Ave mortgage rate

3.99 %Source: Business Moneyfacts - moneyfacts.co.uk

CPI

Unity TrustBank

United TrustBank

1.5%£500 deposit

United TrustBank

0.12%£1 deposit

CooperativeBank

Earl ShiltonB. Society

Assistant Editor (Business)Gavin Thompson

Call 0117 934 3336Email gavin.thompson

@b-nm.co.ukTwitter @gavin_thompson1

Get in touch

Writer Rupert JanischEmail business@b-nm.co.uk

Advertising RobertRodgerson

Call 07828 941469Email ro b . ro d g e r s o n

@b-nm.co.uk

Advertising JaneChapmanCall 01179 343025Email jane.chapman@b-nm.co.uk

AdvertisingSimon Coy

Call 07736 900 705.Email simon.coy

@b-nm.co.uk

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

� VENTUREFEST is achance for 40 techfirms to showcase theirwares – f ro mnanotechnology tospaceflights – and lookfor investors.

It is also a chance forother business tonetwork, hone theirpitching skills and takeinspiration fromkeynote speakersincluding mayorGeorge Ferguson, TimPrestige from Renishawand Tim Harper fromthe EmergingTechnologies GlobalAdvisory Council.

Business will be therereporting live tomorrowfrom 10am througha rolling blog onour websites,w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t . c o . u kand southwestbusiness.co.uk.

Chance ats h owc a se

Clare came to Bristol as a student,before going to work for numerousfashion brands and then returning tothe city to start her own business inMarch 2012.

The awards were held at the Wal-dorf Hilton, London.

Eric Musgrave, editorial directorof Drapers, said: “The shape of thehigh street is changing. Althoughthere are strong signs of growth, nowmore than ever we need to supportexisting independent retailers andencourage more to open.”

Research from The Local DataCompany shows that in 2013 acrossthe UK’s top 500 town centres therewas a net growth of 424 independents h o p s.

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4

4 We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 5We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

Business support

THE Government has an-nounced its latest plan to helpsmall and medium-sizedbusinesses. Business Secret-ary Vince Cable launched the

Great campaign last week, and localcompanies will be wondering how ithelps them.

A new business support website –www.g reatbusiness.gov.uk – aims tomake it easy to access services andproducts, including ManufacturingAdvice Service, National Apprentice-ship Service and Growth Accelerator,that can help businesses to grow.

The announcement included a£1 million sector mentoring chal-lenge fund to enable firms to benefit

from advice from experienced busi-ness people in their own field.

And there will be a £10 millionsynthetic biology start-up fund fromthe Biotechnology and Biological Sci-ence Research Council (BBSRC) tohelp entrepreneurial scientists work-ing in synthetic biology get theirbusiness off the ground.

Mr Cable announced that the first£45 million of funding from the Brit-ish Business Bank – a Governmentbank set up to lend to businesses thatcan attract additional private invest-ment – will be distributed throughPraesidian Capital Europe (£30 mil-lion) and BMS Finance (£15 million)for them to lend from 2014.

Mr Cable described it as a “a com-prehensive package of measures” .

“The first investments from theBritish Business Bank’s investmentprogramme will provide choice tosmaller businesses looking to secure

vital finance to help invest,” he said.He pointed to the worth of the GrowthAccelerator programme, a Govern-ment backed partnership thatprovides advisers to helps firms growfaster. In Bristol the growth accel-erator has helped 280 firms so far.

Commenting on the package, PhilSmith, managing director BusinessWest, said the individual initiativeswould be welcomed by businesses, inparticular new funding opportunit-ies, but said it was hard for com-panies to keep up to date.

“Even Business West, as a delivererof business support, is struggling tokeep abreast of the various an-nouncements about new businesssupport offers, so goodness knowshow your average SME, for whomthey are created, is keeping up,” hesaid, adding that chambers of com-merce such as Business West couldhelp guide firms through the maze.

Cable launches a ‘G rea t ’campaign to back firms

Renewable energy

Spanish turbine firmwinds up in Bristol

� Pictured left, the nED100; above, a shot of the turbineslined up in a facility that the Bristol centre will resemble

Supply not matchingoffice space demand� BRISTOL office investmentvolumes for 2013 will be slightlyahead of 2012 levels, according toresearch by property adviser BNPParibas Real Estate.

Patrick Pryce, BNP ParibasReal Estate’s head of Bristol, said:“So far this year, Bristol officeinvestment totalled £77.3 million tothe end of the thirdquarter, behindQ1-Q3 2012when £89.5milliontransacted.

“This falldoesn’treflect a lackof investorappetite, butthe restrictedflow of assets intothe market place.

“In fact this year the market hasseen renewed activity, largelyattributable to the attractive yieldson offer.”

Q1-Q3 2013, city centre (CC)take-up reached 427,673 sq ft, up42 per cent on the equivalent perioda year earlier. Take-up this year hasbeen skewed by Bristol CityCouncil’s 130,000 sq ft purchase of100 Temple Quay and ImperialTo b a c c o ’s 85,000 sq ft purchase onits new HQ in Winterstoke Road.

Removing these two large deals,2013 take-up is currently down10 per cent on last year’s level.

The out-of-town market remainsparticularly challenging with Q1-Q32013 take-up reaching 178,695 sqft,down 10 per cent on a year earlier.

After a stronger Q1, out of towntake-up for Q2 and Q3 averagedjust under 50,000 sq ft per quarter,similar in level to Q2 and Q3 2012.

Jo Warren of BNP Paribas RealEstate’s research department, said:“The supply level continues to fall inboth the city centre and out of townmarkets. Q3 2013 city centreavailability was 2 million sq ft, downnine per cent on Q3 2012.”

But she said the recent pick up inspeculative development willimprove supply and should ensureBristol remains an attractive marketfor new and existing occupiers.

Out-of-town availability at the endof Q3 2013 was 1.26 million sq ft,down five per cent on Q3 2012.

She said supply of grade A spaceout of town was “severely lacking”,with no readily availableaccommodation for bigger firms.

Commercial propertyNew business clublaunched for womenA NEW business club for womenentrepreneurs has launched in thecity after finding that may business-woman want to share their ideas.

Research for the Women Outsidethe Box festival found that 34 per centof men were driven by a desire tomake it big, while 19 per cent ofwomen wanted to share their ideas.

Now Women Outside the Box haslaunched a business club in Bristol,following the success of the festival atthe Arnolfini earlier this year. Itmeets on the first Tuesday of themonth at Smith & Williamson.

WOTB director Joni Farthing said:“Women thrive when they are able toshare ideas and collaborate.

“With this in mind we’ve decided tolaunch a monthly WOTB BusinessClub. Our aim is to capture the ex-citement, buzz and supportive atmo-sphere of the festival in anotherformat which gives on-going supportto women.”

Ideas forum

Choice increased forhungry rail passengers� TRAIN operator First GreatWestern has pledged to banish theimage of the old railway sandwichby adding 50 products sourced fromwithin 15 miles of its lines.

That’s potentially good news forlocal companies as the firm holdsthe franchise for the main line fromLondon to Bristol and on to Walesand the South West.

One firm set to benefit is JohnSheppard Family Butchers, basedon the Ashley Trading Estate inBristol.

Managing director RichardSheppard said: “The South Westhas some of the finest produce inthe world and Bristol is home toBrunel’s great railway line so we areproud to supply today’s trains withthe finest Wiltshire bacon, Devonchicken and Somerset beef andlamb.”

First Great Western’s customerexperience manager Jo Elliotadded: “We are proud to servetravellers heading west and want toshow it in the food we serve. Andthis is not the end of the line for ourlocal sourcing initiative, so I urgelocal producers to get in touch.”

Fo o d

Businesses urged tocompete for awards� BRISTOL businesses can takepart in an awards scheme launchedthis week to find Britain’s best andmost innovative small business.

The Federation of Small Businessesand WorldPay have teamed up tolaunch the national Small BusinessAwards with more than £20,000worth of prizes on offer.

The awards are divided into fourcategories; Business Innovation,Young Entrepreneur, Micro Businessand Online Business, where oneentrant within each group will benamed as overall category winner.

Each of the four category winnerswill receive a prize fund of £4,500,plus a half-day marketing workshop.

Small business

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

BRISTOL CHOSEN AS HQ

BUSINESS NEWS ON THE MOVE Our reporters fileon the move, and you can keep up to date out andabout via the mobile versions of our website

bristolpost.co.uk/business

Andrew Fisher FCAExecutive DirectorFor and on behalf of Alanbrookes Ltd Tales of the unexpected ...Know how

ENVISAGE the following scenario.You are the general manager and 20per cent shareholder of a successfulbu s i n e s s.

The director and 80 per centshareholder dies unexpectedly. He’sthe only signatory on the bankaccount, which is duly frozen.

With neither a contingency planor liquid funds, the company col-lapses and you are unemployed,together with the rest of the work-force. As the company is no longer agoing concern, the director’s familyare left with precious few assets anda whole raft of financial and nonfinancial headaches.

It doesn’t have to be like this.Business succession planning is

either forced, as above, or foreseenand structured accordingly.

The death of a business owner orco-owner has the following con-

sequences dependent on the type ofbu s i n e s s :� A sole trader business automat-ically comes to an end, and it islikely all the family will have left isthe “break up value” of whateverphysical assets are in the business.� Unless there is specific provisionin the partnership agreement – andmost partnerships have no formalagreements – a partnership willtechnically cease on the death of apartner and the deceased partner’sestate will become entitled to theirshare of the business, either as alump sum or as a profit share in anew partnership.� A limited company will continuein a legal sense, but often – as in theabove scenario – not in any realsense. Even if it survives, the de-ceased shareholder’s beneficiarieswill continue to share in the de-

cision making and the profits of thebusiness. For many companies whoare owned by two 50 per cent share-holders this often means that thesurviving shareholder splits theprofits with his co-shareholder’sspouse, who may have no interest inthe business, and as a result will beworking twice as hard for the samem o n e y.

All in all, a gloomy prognosis. Sowhat can be done?� A sole trader can set up a lifeinsurance policy and either assignsit to the person he wants to takeover the business – a family mem-ber or an employee for example – orsets up a trust to pay that personafter his death, in either case so thatthe business assets can be acquired.It is worth pointing out that al-though most trading businesses

qualify for business property relieffor inheritance tax, if the rest of theestate attracts inheritance tax, thebeneficiaries could have to sell thebusiness to meet the tax bill.� A partnership can set up a doubleoption agreement (also known as across option). With this, the sur-viving partner has the option to buythe deceased partner’s share. Theestate of the deceased partner alsohas the option to buy out the sur-viving partner. The business will bevalued on an agreed basis, and eachpartner takes out a life insurancepolicy on their own life, to benefitthe other partner.� The partnership arrangementscan also be used for the share-holders and their beneficiaries in alimited company.

It is vital you use an experienced

professional who can avoid pitfalls,for example HMRC interpreting theagreement as a binding contract forsale, which would deny BusinessProperty Relief for Inheritance Tax.

It’s not just death that stops abusiness in its tracks – there arealso policies that provide criticalillness cover. It is particularly im-portant with this type of policy toconsider the circumstances inwhich lump sums are paid outand/or the business is transferred.

In every case, you should get anaccountant experienced in businessvaluations to value the enterprise –under valuing or over valuing thefruits of your labours can cause realproblems later down the line.

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Ivo Arnùs

“ Bristol is wellconnected withSpain with directflights, it is close toWales, an interestingand relativelyunexplored market,and it is at thecrossroads of theM5 connecting tothe North and M4 toLondon.

ASPANISH wind turbine manufac-turer has chosen Bristol as its HQ asit endeavours to get a foothold in theUK market. Norvento is a 30-year-oldfamily business that makes 100kw

turbines for the “medium wind” m a rke t .The company has signed a lease on

premises in Avonmouth from where it willbase its technical and servicing team andsome sales staff. The centre will also be usedfor transit and storage of turbines.

Ivo Arnùs, director of business devel-opment, said Bristol was the perfect locationfor the firm.

“Bristol is an area with good universities,”he said. “It is well connected with Spain withdirect flights, it is close to Wales which wethink is an interesting and relatively un-explored market and it is a the crossroads ofthe M5 connecting to the North and M4 toLondon. It makes sense logistically and interms of human resources as we can recruitengineers here.”

The company is leasing a 4,000 square footsite and will initially have four people basedin Bristol but hopes to quickly expand into

double figures. “We want to sell 50 to 60turbines a year so that will mean a biggero p e r at i o n , ” said Mr Arnùs.

The turbines will still be made in Spain,for now at least, as Mr Arnùs said thebusiness would have to reach “certain eco-nomies of scale” before considering in-vesting in manufacturing facilities.

“We are providing high-quality jobs andwant to work with the universities as we area very research and development focussedc o m p a ny, ” said Mr Arnùs.

The company has a 24/7 monitoringstation in Spain, which will also oversee itsUK turbines and, it says, allows it to offer“big wind” levels of service on medium scaled eve l o p m e n t s.

It believes its nED 100 turbine is ahead ofthe competition in terms of low noise levelsand ease of connecting it to the NationalGrid.

Norvento has signed agreements withseveral renewable companies and is lookingat sites across the UK.

� Members of the Women Outside the Box Bristol Business Club outside the Arnolifini

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4 We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 5We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

Business support

THE Government has an-nounced its latest plan to helpsmall and medium-sizedbusinesses. Business Secret-ary Vince Cable launched the

Great campaign last week, and localcompanies will be wondering how ithelps them.

A new business support website –www.g reatbusiness.gov.uk – aims tomake it easy to access services andproducts, including ManufacturingAdvice Service, National Apprentice-ship Service and Growth Accelerator,that can help businesses to grow.

The announcement included a£1 million sector mentoring chal-lenge fund to enable firms to benefit

from advice from experienced busi-ness people in their own field.

And there will be a £10 millionsynthetic biology start-up fund fromthe Biotechnology and Biological Sci-ence Research Council (BBSRC) tohelp entrepreneurial scientists work-ing in synthetic biology get theirbusiness off the ground.

Mr Cable announced that the first£45 million of funding from the Brit-ish Business Bank – a Governmentbank set up to lend to businesses thatcan attract additional private invest-ment – will be distributed throughPraesidian Capital Europe (£30 mil-lion) and BMS Finance (£15 million)for them to lend from 2014.

Mr Cable described it as a “a com-prehensive package of measures” .

“The first investments from theBritish Business Bank’s investmentprogramme will provide choice tosmaller businesses looking to secure

vital finance to help invest,” he said.He pointed to the worth of the GrowthAccelerator programme, a Govern-ment backed partnership thatprovides advisers to helps firms growfaster. In Bristol the growth accel-erator has helped 280 firms so far.

Commenting on the package, PhilSmith, managing director BusinessWest, said the individual initiativeswould be welcomed by businesses, inparticular new funding opportunit-ies, but said it was hard for com-panies to keep up to date.

“Even Business West, as a delivererof business support, is struggling tokeep abreast of the various an-nouncements about new businesssupport offers, so goodness knowshow your average SME, for whomthey are created, is keeping up,” hesaid, adding that chambers of com-merce such as Business West couldhelp guide firms through the maze.

Cable launches a ‘G rea t ’campaign to back firms

Renewable energy

Spanish turbine firmwinds up in Bristol

� Pictured left, the nED100; above, a shot of the turbineslined up in a facility that the Bristol centre will resemble

Supply not matchingoffice space demand� BRISTOL office investmentvolumes for 2013 will be slightlyahead of 2012 levels, according toresearch by property adviser BNPParibas Real Estate.

Patrick Pryce, BNP ParibasReal Estate’s head of Bristol, said:“So far this year, Bristol officeinvestment totalled £77.3 million tothe end of the thirdquarter, behindQ1-Q3 2012when £89.5milliontransacted.

“This falldoesn’treflect a lackof investorappetite, butthe restrictedflow of assets intothe market place.

“In fact this year the market hasseen renewed activity, largelyattributable to the attractive yieldson offer.”

Q1-Q3 2013, city centre (CC)take-up reached 427,673 sq ft, up42 per cent on the equivalent perioda year earlier. Take-up this year hasbeen skewed by Bristol CityCouncil’s 130,000 sq ft purchase of100 Temple Quay and ImperialTo b a c c o ’s 85,000 sq ft purchase onits new HQ in Winterstoke Road.

Removing these two large deals,2013 take-up is currently down10 per cent on last year’s level.

The out-of-town market remainsparticularly challenging with Q1-Q32013 take-up reaching 178,695 sqft,down 10 per cent on a year earlier.

After a stronger Q1, out of towntake-up for Q2 and Q3 averagedjust under 50,000 sq ft per quarter,similar in level to Q2 and Q3 2012.

Jo Warren of BNP Paribas RealEstate’s research department, said:“The supply level continues to fall inboth the city centre and out of townmarkets. Q3 2013 city centreavailability was 2 million sq ft, downnine per cent on Q3 2012.”

But she said the recent pick up inspeculative development willimprove supply and should ensureBristol remains an attractive marketfor new and existing occupiers.

Out-of-town availability at the endof Q3 2013 was 1.26 million sq ft,down five per cent on Q3 2012.

She said supply of grade A spaceout of town was “severely lacking”,with no readily availableaccommodation for bigger firms.

Commercial propertyNew business clublaunched for womenA NEW business club for womenentrepreneurs has launched in thecity after finding that may business-woman want to share their ideas.

Research for the Women Outsidethe Box festival found that 34 per centof men were driven by a desire tomake it big, while 19 per cent ofwomen wanted to share their ideas.

Now Women Outside the Box haslaunched a business club in Bristol,following the success of the festival atthe Arnolfini earlier this year. Itmeets on the first Tuesday of themonth at Smith & Williamson.

WOTB director Joni Farthing said:“Women thrive when they are able toshare ideas and collaborate.

“With this in mind we’ve decided tolaunch a monthly WOTB BusinessClub. Our aim is to capture the ex-citement, buzz and supportive atmo-sphere of the festival in anotherformat which gives on-going supportto women.”

Ideas forum

Choice increased forhungry rail passengers� TRAIN operator First GreatWestern has pledged to banish theimage of the old railway sandwichby adding 50 products sourced fromwithin 15 miles of its lines.

That’s potentially good news forlocal companies as the firm holdsthe franchise for the main line fromLondon to Bristol and on to Walesand the South West.

One firm set to benefit is JohnSheppard Family Butchers, basedon the Ashley Trading Estate inBristol.

Managing director RichardSheppard said: “The South Westhas some of the finest produce inthe world and Bristol is home toBrunel’s great railway line so we areproud to supply today’s trains withthe finest Wiltshire bacon, Devonchicken and Somerset beef andlamb.”

First Great Western’s customerexperience manager Jo Elliotadded: “We are proud to servetravellers heading west and want toshow it in the food we serve. Andthis is not the end of the line for ourlocal sourcing initiative, so I urgelocal producers to get in touch.”

Fo o d

Businesses urged tocompete for awards� BRISTOL businesses can takepart in an awards scheme launchedthis week to find Britain’s best andmost innovative small business.

The Federation of Small Businessesand WorldPay have teamed up tolaunch the national Small BusinessAwards with more than £20,000worth of prizes on offer.

The awards are divided into fourcategories; Business Innovation,Young Entrepreneur, Micro Businessand Online Business, where oneentrant within each group will benamed as overall category winner.

Each of the four category winnerswill receive a prize fund of £4,500,plus a half-day marketing workshop.

Small business

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

BRISTOL CHOSEN AS HQ

BUSINESS NEWS ON THE MOVE Our reporters fileon the move, and you can keep up to date out andabout via the mobile versions of our website

bristolpost.co.uk/business

Andrew Fisher FCAExecutive DirectorFor and on behalf of Alanbrookes Ltd Tales of the unexpected ...Know how

ENVISAGE the following scenario.You are the general manager and 20per cent shareholder of a successfulbu s i n e s s.

The director and 80 per centshareholder dies unexpectedly. He’sthe only signatory on the bankaccount, which is duly frozen.

With neither a contingency planor liquid funds, the company col-lapses and you are unemployed,together with the rest of the work-force. As the company is no longer agoing concern, the director’s familyare left with precious few assets anda whole raft of financial and nonfinancial headaches.

It doesn’t have to be like this.Business succession planning is

either forced, as above, or foreseenand structured accordingly.

The death of a business owner orco-owner has the following con-

sequences dependent on the type ofbu s i n e s s :� A sole trader business automat-ically comes to an end, and it islikely all the family will have left isthe “break up value” of whateverphysical assets are in the business.� Unless there is specific provisionin the partnership agreement – andmost partnerships have no formalagreements – a partnership willtechnically cease on the death of apartner and the deceased partner’sestate will become entitled to theirshare of the business, either as alump sum or as a profit share in anew partnership.� A limited company will continuein a legal sense, but often – as in theabove scenario – not in any realsense. Even if it survives, the de-ceased shareholder’s beneficiarieswill continue to share in the de-

cision making and the profits of thebusiness. For many companies whoare owned by two 50 per cent share-holders this often means that thesurviving shareholder splits theprofits with his co-shareholder’sspouse, who may have no interest inthe business, and as a result will beworking twice as hard for the samem o n e y.

All in all, a gloomy prognosis. Sowhat can be done?� A sole trader can set up a lifeinsurance policy and either assignsit to the person he wants to takeover the business – a family mem-ber or an employee for example – orsets up a trust to pay that personafter his death, in either case so thatthe business assets can be acquired.It is worth pointing out that al-though most trading businesses

qualify for business property relieffor inheritance tax, if the rest of theestate attracts inheritance tax, thebeneficiaries could have to sell thebusiness to meet the tax bill.� A partnership can set up a doubleoption agreement (also known as across option). With this, the sur-viving partner has the option to buythe deceased partner’s share. Theestate of the deceased partner alsohas the option to buy out the sur-viving partner. The business will bevalued on an agreed basis, and eachpartner takes out a life insurancepolicy on their own life, to benefitthe other partner.� The partnership arrangementscan also be used for the share-holders and their beneficiaries in alimited company.

It is vital you use an experienced

professional who can avoid pitfalls,for example HMRC interpreting theagreement as a binding contract forsale, which would deny BusinessProperty Relief for Inheritance Tax.

It’s not just death that stops abusiness in its tracks – there arealso policies that provide criticalillness cover. It is particularly im-portant with this type of policy toconsider the circumstances inwhich lump sums are paid outand/or the business is transferred.

In every case, you should get anaccountant experienced in businessvaluations to value the enterprise –under valuing or over valuing thefruits of your labours can cause realproblems later down the line.

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)gavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

Ivo Arnùs

“ Bristol is wellconnected withSpain with directflights, it is close toWales, an interestingand relativelyunexplored market,and it is at thecrossroads of theM5 connecting tothe North and M4 toLondon.

ASPANISH wind turbine manufac-turer has chosen Bristol as its HQ asit endeavours to get a foothold in theUK market. Norvento is a 30-year-oldfamily business that makes 100kw

turbines for the “medium wind” m a rke t .The company has signed a lease on

premises in Avonmouth from where it willbase its technical and servicing team andsome sales staff. The centre will also be usedfor transit and storage of turbines.

Ivo Arnùs, director of business devel-opment, said Bristol was the perfect locationfor the firm.

“Bristol is an area with good universities,”he said. “It is well connected with Spain withdirect flights, it is close to Wales which wethink is an interesting and relatively un-explored market and it is a the crossroads ofthe M5 connecting to the North and M4 toLondon. It makes sense logistically and interms of human resources as we can recruitengineers here.”

The company is leasing a 4,000 square footsite and will initially have four people basedin Bristol but hopes to quickly expand into

double figures. “We want to sell 50 to 60turbines a year so that will mean a biggero p e r at i o n , ” said Mr Arnùs.

The turbines will still be made in Spain,for now at least, as Mr Arnùs said thebusiness would have to reach “certain eco-nomies of scale” before considering in-vesting in manufacturing facilities.

“We are providing high-quality jobs andwant to work with the universities as we area very research and development focussedc o m p a ny, ” said Mr Arnùs.

The company has a 24/7 monitoringstation in Spain, which will also oversee itsUK turbines and, it says, allows it to offer“big wind” levels of service on medium scaled eve l o p m e n t s.

It believes its nED 100 turbine is ahead ofthe competition in terms of low noise levelsand ease of connecting it to the NationalGrid.

Norvento has signed agreements withseveral renewable companies and is lookingat sites across the UK.

� Members of the Women Outside the Box Bristol Business Club outside the Arnolifini

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6 We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 7We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

In pictures: Business people out and aboutUK Trade and Investment Explore Export event, at Tortworth Court Four Pillars Hotel, Wotton-under-Edge, South Glos

Launch of the Beerd Microbewery, held at Beerd pub in St Michael's Hill, Kingsd ow n

GALLERIESGALORE

FOR MORE PICTURESCheck out our

website at

bristolpost.co.uk/business

� From left, Janine Hall, 26, from Bath Ales; Georgina Woodman, 22, fromBath Ales; and Rhian Abraham, 23, from Bath Ales; at the launch of theBeerd 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

� Above, PeteAilton, 45, chiefbrewer at theShip Inn,Alveston, andMairead Costin,31, a UWEphysiotherapystudent

� Robert Pile, 21; Anna Longhorn, 20; and Oli Sillick, 19, from The Porter barin Bath at the launch of the Beerd Microbewery

� From left, Bob Cary, 34, a home brewer; Sam Sidgwick, 29; KellySidgwick, 32, of The Festival Elderflower Company in GloucesterRoad; and Tony Sidgwick, 60, from New Zealand, at the launch

� Left, musicbusinessstudent FionaRiches, 18,behind the barat the launch

� Above from left, Becci Calver,24, from Hatch Mansfield winesand spirit supplier; Kate Calver,51, a PE teacher at WinterbourneInternational Academy, and MarkCalver, 51, from Hatch Mansfield,at the launch

Business diary

� Bristol DistinguishedExecutive Address Series:Peter Ayliffe, chairman ofMonetise Plc, discusses theLeaderership Challenge ofGrowing Business in the DigitalAge at City Hall from 5.45pm,t o d a y.

� Your Dental Practice, YourF u t u re : A free seminar fordentists hosted by charteredaccountants Milsted Langdon inconjunction with Meade KingSolicitors and NatWest Bank, atThe Clifton Pavilion at Bristol ZooGardens, from 6pm.

� Be Your Own Boss: A chancefor people to find out more aboutstarting or strengthening theirsmall business. Speakers areinventor Lorna Perks fromLornaLou and Alex Poulter fromEast Bristol Bakery, plus lots ofsupport organisations will be onhand. 10am-2pm, City Hall,t o d a y.� Growth Clinic: Business Westis encouraging managingdirectors of ambitious companiesto step away from theirday-to-day activities for an houror so to focus on future businessgrowth in one to one clinics.Leigh Court, today andNovember 21. To book emailinfo@growthsouthwest.co.uk orcall 01275 376 233.

� World Usability Day: Webdesigners and markingprofessionals talk about howbetter websites can tap intogreater revenues. M shed,9am-5pm, tomorrow.� Ve n t u re F e s t : Innovationshowcase for technology firmsincluding speakers andworkshops. UWE Exhibition andConference Centre, 10am-4pm,t o m o r ro w.� Regional Growth FundRoadshow: Help for businessesthinking of applying for round fiveof the RGF, open to private firmsseeking £1 million or more forhigh quality projects thatleverage private sectorinvestment and createsustainable jobs. 2 Rivergate,Temple Quay, Tuesday,November 19.

Send your business events togavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

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6 We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 7We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

In pictures: Business people out and aboutUK Trade and Investment Explore Export event, at Tortworth Court Four Pillars Hotel, Wotton-under-Edge, South Glos

Launch of the Beerd Microbewery, held at Beerd pub in St Michael's Hill, Kingsd ow n

GALLERIESGALORE

FOR MORE PICTURESCheck out our

website at

bristolpost.co.uk/business

� From left, Janine Hall, 26, from Bath Ales; Georgina Woodman, 22, fromBath Ales; and Rhian Abraham, 23, from Bath Ales; at the launch of theBeerd 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

� Above, PeteAilton, 45, chiefbrewer at theShip Inn,Alveston, andMairead Costin,31, a UWEphysiotherapystudent

� Robert Pile, 21; Anna Longhorn, 20; and Oli Sillick, 19, from The Porter barin Bath at the launch of the Beerd Microbewery

� From left, Bob Cary, 34, a home brewer; Sam Sidgwick, 29; KellySidgwick, 32, of The Festival Elderflower Company in GloucesterRoad; and Tony Sidgwick, 60, from New Zealand, at the launch

� Left, musicbusinessstudent FionaRiches, 18,behind the barat the launch

� Above from left, Becci Calver,24, from Hatch Mansfield winesand spirit supplier; Kate Calver,51, a PE teacher at WinterbourneInternational Academy, and MarkCalver, 51, from Hatch Mansfield,at the launch

Business diary

� Bristol DistinguishedExecutive Address Series:Peter Ayliffe, chairman ofMonetise Plc, discusses theLeaderership Challenge ofGrowing Business in the DigitalAge at City Hall from 5.45pm,t o d a y.

� Your Dental Practice, YourF u t u re : A free seminar fordentists hosted by charteredaccountants Milsted Langdon inconjunction with Meade KingSolicitors and NatWest Bank, atThe Clifton Pavilion at Bristol ZooGardens, from 6pm.

� Be Your Own Boss: A chancefor people to find out more aboutstarting or strengthening theirsmall business. Speakers areinventor Lorna Perks fromLornaLou and Alex Poulter fromEast Bristol Bakery, plus lots ofsupport organisations will be onhand. 10am-2pm, City Hall,t o d a y.� Growth Clinic: Business Westis encouraging managingdirectors of ambitious companiesto step away from theirday-to-day activities for an houror so to focus on future businessgrowth in one to one clinics.Leigh Court, today andNovember 21. To book emailinfo@growthsouthwest.co.uk orcall 01275 376 233.

� World Usability Day: Webdesigners and markingprofessionals talk about howbetter websites can tap intogreater revenues. M shed,9am-5pm, tomorrow.� Ve n t u re F e s t : Innovationshowcase for technology firmsincluding speakers andworkshops. UWE Exhibition andConference Centre, 10am-4pm,t o m o r ro w.� Regional Growth FundRoadshow: Help for businessesthinking of applying for round fiveof the RGF, open to private firmsseeking £1 million or more forhigh quality projects thatleverage private sectorinvestment and createsustainable jobs. 2 Rivergate,Temple Quay, Tuesday,November 19.

Send your business events togavin.thompson@b-nm.co.uk

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8 We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 9We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

YOU’VE got a great idea for abusiness, you’ve worked itall out but you just needsome capital to get going, tocover that first six months.

Yo u ’re finance director of a smallcompany. You think that new piece ofkit, that bigger workshop, that extraperson will take the business to a newlevel but you just need an injection ofcash to make it happen.

These are familiar scenes to smalland medium-sized business owners,particularly in the last five years.

Everyone is desperate to build onthe growth we’ve seen in the eco-nomy, but it’s still hard to get hold ofthe funding. It’s not surprising giventhat loose credit was seen as thecause of the recession we are stillrecovering from.

OVER a third of busi-ness owners in theSouth West plan to ex-pand their businessduring the next 12

months, according to the latestClose Brothers Business Baro-m e t e r.

The survey further revealedthat 36 per cent of firms in theregion are now benefitting fromcurrent trading conditions com-pared to only 18 per cent in theprevious quarter.

With recovery beginning togather pace, it is vital that SMEsensure that they have sufficientworking capital in place to allowthem to seize any opportunitiesfor growth as they arise.

However, obtaining creditthrough traditional methodscontinues to be difficult which iswhy business owners must fullyexplore the alternatives.

Our study also showed thatmany SMEs are still unsure oftheir financial options. In fact,as many as 30 per cent of busi-ness owners in the South Westadmitted they do not under-stand ABL, while 23 per cent ofthose that are familiar with theproduct do not feel they knowenough about it to consider it asa means of financing their busi-n e s s.

Many companies have a con-siderable amount of capital tiedup in physical assets, such asinventory, property, plant andmachinery. Asset based lendingis a strategic product that allowsyou to leverage the value of theseassets, giving you access to sub-stantial sums of working capitalquickly and easily. It can be usedin a balanced way to comple-ment invoice finance and thesize of the funding package canincrease in line with your busi-ness growth.

Whether the need is for in-creased working capital to fundgrowth or help deliver strategicobjectives, such as cash for amanagement buy-out or buy-in,an acquisition, merger orsimply to refinance, companiesshould consider ABL as a meansof funding.

For more information, pleasevisit www.closein voice.co.uk.

A sset- ba se dlending canboost capital

Know how

While the economy isundoubtedly growing again,small businesses are stillfinding it hard to get financeto help them expand. GavinThompson investigatesfunding options for SMEs

But that’s little comfort to busi-nesspeople caught at the bottom of aneconomic cycle. The National AuditOffice believes that nationally therewill be a potential £22 billion fundinggap by 2017 between the amount offinance available to SMEs and theamount they need.

Amyas Morse, head of the NationalAudit Office, said this month: “Accessto finance is a significant and en-during problem for may small andmedium-sized businesses.”

There are a range of Governmentschemes to help but “there is work tobe done in terms of managing theschemes as a unified portfolio andarticulating what they are intendedto achieve as a whole”.

What support is available can beconfusing. There’s the RegionalGrowth Fund, Start-up loans, innov-

� FOR Tristan Fowler, securinginvestment means he will be ableto expand his firm sellingprotective covers for handhelddevices to businesses.

Tristan has received backingfrom the Jenson Seed EnterpriseInvestment Scheme Fund to growhis Tuffscreen business based inKingswood.

Tuffscreen is a one-man outfitthat outsources manufacturing –but Tristan hopes to take on staffin sales and production in the nexty e a r.

His idea is about savingorganisations money.

The former Bristol Grammarpupil, 31, said: “If you are adelivery driver and you break thescreen on your handheld device inthe morning, you have a van full ofpackages you cannot deliverbecause they cannot be signedfor. Or if an airline steward breakstheir device on a flight to NewYork you not only have to buy a

new screen but you lose moneybecause you cannot sell duty-freegoods.”

Lothian and Borders Police wasone of the first big customers.

When looking for money, Tristanturned to the Growth Acceleratorprogramme. That helped himapproach the Jenson Seed EISFund. The fund was set up byprofessional-services companyJenson Solutions using a taxbreak created by the Governmentto encourage firms to invest inbusinesses with potential to grow.

Backing will helpone-man outfittake on staff

Case study

Pensions help tool firm power through its first yearCase study

� MartinNiblet atMerlin Toolsand Fixingsin BrislingtonPhotograph:BarbaraEvripidouBRBE20131112C-001_C

Access to funding special

RECENT economic datahighlights that we arein the nascent stages ofan economic recovery,with three consistent

quarters of economic growthand the economy growing at0.8 per cent from July 2013 toSeptember 2013.

This is positive news; an im-proving economy presents newopportunities for SMEs andshould assist in their growth.

However, managing a growingbusiness is challenging and theprincipal issue in many cases isfunding. Banks have increas-ingly been blamed for under-mining growth throughrestrictive lending practices.SMEs say banks are not sup-portive and funding the con-sequent funding constraints areundermining the potential oftheir businesses.

The banking crisis has meantthat banks have reverted totheir historic, more conservat-ive lending criteria. Hence, theyare no longer prepared to fundriskier propositions which areoften more suited to potentiallyexpensive forms of financing iemezzanine or equity finance.

The government has recog-nised the funding issues facingSMEs, resulting in various cent-ral initiatives, notably pre-scribed lending targets to banks(Project Merlin), the EnterpriseFinance Guarantee scheme andvarious regional grant schemes.In addition, Asset Based Lend-ing, Trade or Purchase Finance,Community Development Fin-ance Initiatives, Peer to Peerlending and support from Busi-ness Angels are among a pleth-ora of funding options availableto SMEs in the absence of main-stream bank support.

Despite these various initiat-ives many SMEs still struggle toaccess finance.

Prior to submitting a borrow-ing proposal a SME should seekadvice from well-connected pro-fessional advisors to ensurethey are approaching the rightfunders with a coherently ar-ticulated proposition.

Funding options are availablefor SMEs. But businesses needto be realistic about require-ments, represent arguments ina clear and persuasive way andtailor their applications to theappropriate funders.

Damian WebbRestructuring andRecovery directorBaker Tilly Restructuringand Recovery LLPdamian.webb@b a k e r t i l l y. c o . u k

Get fundingfor growth

Expert eye

YOU’VE GOT THE POTENTIAL, SO WHERE’S THE SUPPORT?Robin GoddardRegional directorClose brothersrobin.goddard@closebrothers.com07809 877198

ation vouchers, Growth Accelerator,Passport to Export and more, eachoffering grants, match funding orin-kind support and mentoring.

One of the most successful locallyhas been the Regional Growth Fund,backed by the Bristol Post, and dis-tributed by the West of England LocalEnterprise Partnership. It had a£25 million pot for firms, hoping tokickstart private investment too.

Antony Corfield, programme man-ager at the LEP, said: “The pot is there

to support businesses with a range ofprojects and activities, such as in-vestment in capital assets, researchand development, and training. Morethan 300 companies applied forgrants from the fund (the deadlinehas now passed) and we’ve so faragreed around 80 businesses grantsworth approximately £8 million.

“We ’re anticipating making anoth-er 70 to 100 awards early in the NewYear and we estimate the fund willgenerate an injection of £100 million

of private sector investment into thelocal economy that wouldn’t other-wise have happened.”

The LEP is “looking at ways we cancontinue the fund into the future” bu tfor the moment, the door is closed tonew applicants.

So what about the banks? Are theylending again? Sam Holliday, devel-opment manager for the Federationof Small Businesses for the West ofEngland, says his members don’tthink so: “Access to finance remains

the number one concern for many ofour members and our most recentsurvey on the issue revealed that40 per cent of SMEs who had ap-proached the banks for investmenthad been turned down.

“In addition some who had beenoffered support had to refuse it be-cause the high interest rates offeredwere simply unaffordable.”

He urged the Government to keepthe pressure up on the banks – p re s -sure seen earlier this month when

new RBS chief executive RossMcEwan admitted the bank was notdoing enough to support SMEs andpledge to address the matter.

“However, it is not just about theb a n k s, ” says Mr Holliday.

“The FSB has also called on theGovernment to champion non-bankfinance and work more closely withalternative finance providers such aspeer-to-peer lending groups.

“In many other countries, there isnot such an over-reliance on the tra-

ditional high street banks to providesmall business finance and we wouldwelcome initiatives to encourage awider variety of routes to financeincluding locally-based ones.”

More business are turning to suchalternative sources. For start-upswhere sums are often smaller theycan be an appealing option. And someare utilising them for bigger sumstoo. Somerset-based Hab Housing,Grand Designs presenter KevinMcCloud’s sustainable housing com-

pany recently raised a record£1.9 million on Crowdcube.

There are two forms of crowdfund-ing, investment based, eg. Seedrs,which businesses offer equity (astake in the business) to backers, andpeer-to-peer lending, such as FundingCircle, where people invest in loansfor businesses. The numbers usingthese methods are still comparativelysmall, but growing.

And where the banks are not meet-ing a need, creative asset manage-ment firms are seeing a potentialm a rke t .

Tom McCarthy, chairman of theBristol Institute of Directors anddirector of Odyssey Corporate Fin-ance, says: “The banks are thawing,but there is still a disconnect betweenthe local bankers on the ground try-ing to support their clients and re-mote credit committees who have thefinal say.

“As a result, there has been growthin the number of small private equityplayers and alternative finance pro-viders who have filled the gap.

“Because of their size and swiftdecision making processes, thesetypes of organisations can take amuch more pragmatic view on op-portunities and risks.”

These organisations are looking atideas including: Asset-based lending,where a loan is secured against anasset; pension-led funding where dir-ectors invest their own pension pot intheir companies’ assets (including in-tellectual ones); and trade finance,where firms get credit or guaranteeson specific orders which they repaywhen they get paid.

Asset-based lending to businessrose 10 per cent to £17.4 billion inthe year to June, and commercialbrokers arranged £10.5 billion ofcredit to SMEs, up 17 per cent, ac-cording to the National Associationof Commercial Finance Brokers.

So there is hope. Phil Smith, man-aging director of Business West, says:“The array of new entrants into thedebt market over the past two years isvery welcome but as these are onlymarginal to overall lending the highstreet banks need to do even more.The British Business Bank (being setup by the Government in January)has a huge role to play here, andshould be enhanced with additionalcapital to help plug the gap.

“Over recent months through oursurveys, our customers and membershave told us that they are increas-ingly confident about their prospectsand want to expand. Availability offinance is always one of the top threebarriers to growth in our quarterlyeconomic survey.

“Improving access to financefor businesses should be a majorpriority for the government whosefull attention must be focused onjump-starting business investment.”

� MARTIN Niblet needed a cashinjection to see hisBrislington-based power-toolaccessories business over thedifficult first year.

Without any security for a loan, heturned to the idea of pension-ledfunding, which allowed him to investhis pension pot in his own company,raising £23,000.

The 51-year-old said: “I had a fewsmall pensions that are not going tomake a significant contribution tomy retirement but have made a verysignificant contribution to mybusiness.”

His firm Upstream Procurement

Solutions, which trades as MerlinTools and Fixings in Broomhill Road,has used the money on branding,for cashflow and to develop aninsulation product.

Clifton Asset Management, basedin Pill, helped Martin secure thefunding. Assuming Martin’sbusiness is a success, he will keephis pensions for old age.

Any SME that hopes to securelending from a bank or financialinstitution needs a solid businessplan. Here’s what to include:

� An executive summary,highlighting the main points anddesigned to grab the attention oflenders

� Details of key people as well astheir responsibilities, skills andrelevant experience

� Market research, withdetails of competitors andhow the product or service fitsinto the marketplace

� Financial information for thelast three years of trading andforecasts for the next three tofive years

� How much of the owner’smoney is committed to thebusiness. If a lender or investor

thinks the owner is not puttingtheir own money on the line, whyshould they do the same?

� How any potential lenderswill get their money back orinvestors will see the value of thebusiness and therefore theirshareholding grow.

Source: Department for BusinessInnovation & Skills / ICAEW

Backing Bristol BusinessesIf you wish to discuss any restructuring or re-financing matters please contact:

Damian Webb or James Hester T: +44 (0)117 945 2000

Backing Bristol BusinessesIf you wish to discuss any restructuring or re-financing matters please contact:

Damian Webb or James Hester T: +44 (0)117 945 2000

Sam Holliday, Federationof Small Businesses for

the West of England

Access to financeremains the number oneconcern for many of ourmembers ... 40 per cent ofSMEs who approached thebanks for investment hadbeen turned down.

“

� Tristan Fowler, above - securinginvestment means he will be able toexpand his firm selling protective covers forhandheld devices - like the one picturedright - to businesses

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4

8 We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 9We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

YOU’VE got a great idea for abusiness, you’ve worked itall out but you just needsome capital to get going, tocover that first six months.

Yo u ’re finance director of a smallcompany. You think that new piece ofkit, that bigger workshop, that extraperson will take the business to a newlevel but you just need an injection ofcash to make it happen.

These are familiar scenes to smalland medium-sized business owners,particularly in the last five years.

Everyone is desperate to build onthe growth we’ve seen in the eco-nomy, but it’s still hard to get hold ofthe funding. It’s not surprising giventhat loose credit was seen as thecause of the recession we are stillrecovering from.

OVER a third of busi-ness owners in theSouth West plan to ex-pand their businessduring the next 12

months, according to the latestClose Brothers Business Baro-m e t e r.

The survey further revealedthat 36 per cent of firms in theregion are now benefitting fromcurrent trading conditions com-pared to only 18 per cent in theprevious quarter.

With recovery beginning togather pace, it is vital that SMEsensure that they have sufficientworking capital in place to allowthem to seize any opportunitiesfor growth as they arise.

However, obtaining creditthrough traditional methodscontinues to be difficult which iswhy business owners must fullyexplore the alternatives.

Our study also showed thatmany SMEs are still unsure oftheir financial options. In fact,as many as 30 per cent of busi-ness owners in the South Westadmitted they do not under-stand ABL, while 23 per cent ofthose that are familiar with theproduct do not feel they knowenough about it to consider it asa means of financing their busi-n e s s.

Many companies have a con-siderable amount of capital tiedup in physical assets, such asinventory, property, plant andmachinery. Asset based lendingis a strategic product that allowsyou to leverage the value of theseassets, giving you access to sub-stantial sums of working capitalquickly and easily. It can be usedin a balanced way to comple-ment invoice finance and thesize of the funding package canincrease in line with your busi-ness growth.

Whether the need is for in-creased working capital to fundgrowth or help deliver strategicobjectives, such as cash for amanagement buy-out or buy-in,an acquisition, merger orsimply to refinance, companiesshould consider ABL as a meansof funding.

For more information, pleasevisit www.closein voice.co.uk.

A sset- ba se dlending canboost capital

Know how

While the economy isundoubtedly growing again,small businesses are stillfinding it hard to get financeto help them expand. GavinThompson investigatesfunding options for SMEs

But that’s little comfort to busi-nesspeople caught at the bottom of aneconomic cycle. The National AuditOffice believes that nationally therewill be a potential £22 billion fundinggap by 2017 between the amount offinance available to SMEs and theamount they need.

Amyas Morse, head of the NationalAudit Office, said this month: “Accessto finance is a significant and en-during problem for may small andmedium-sized businesses.”

There are a range of Governmentschemes to help but “there is work tobe done in terms of managing theschemes as a unified portfolio andarticulating what they are intendedto achieve as a whole”.

What support is available can beconfusing. There’s the RegionalGrowth Fund, Start-up loans, innov-

� FOR Tristan Fowler, securinginvestment means he will be ableto expand his firm sellingprotective covers for handhelddevices to businesses.

Tristan has received backingfrom the Jenson Seed EnterpriseInvestment Scheme Fund to growhis Tuffscreen business based inKingswood.

Tuffscreen is a one-man outfitthat outsources manufacturing –but Tristan hopes to take on staffin sales and production in the nexty e a r.

His idea is about savingorganisations money.

The former Bristol Grammarpupil, 31, said: “If you are adelivery driver and you break thescreen on your handheld device inthe morning, you have a van full ofpackages you cannot deliverbecause they cannot be signedfor. Or if an airline steward breakstheir device on a flight to NewYork you not only have to buy a

new screen but you lose moneybecause you cannot sell duty-freegoods.”

Lothian and Borders Police wasone of the first big customers.

When looking for money, Tristanturned to the Growth Acceleratorprogramme. That helped himapproach the Jenson Seed EISFund. The fund was set up byprofessional-services companyJenson Solutions using a taxbreak created by the Governmentto encourage firms to invest inbusinesses with potential to grow.

Backing will helpone-man outfittake on staff

Case study

Pensions help tool firm power through its first yearCase study

� MartinNiblet atMerlin Toolsand Fixingsin BrislingtonPhotograph:BarbaraEvripidouBRBE20131112C-001_C

Access to funding special

RECENT economic datahighlights that we arein the nascent stages ofan economic recovery,with three consistent

quarters of economic growthand the economy growing at0.8 per cent from July 2013 toSeptember 2013.

This is positive news; an im-proving economy presents newopportunities for SMEs andshould assist in their growth.

However, managing a growingbusiness is challenging and theprincipal issue in many cases isfunding. Banks have increas-ingly been blamed for under-mining growth throughrestrictive lending practices.SMEs say banks are not sup-portive and funding the con-sequent funding constraints areundermining the potential oftheir businesses.

The banking crisis has meantthat banks have reverted totheir historic, more conservat-ive lending criteria. Hence, theyare no longer prepared to fundriskier propositions which areoften more suited to potentiallyexpensive forms of financing iemezzanine or equity finance.

The government has recog-nised the funding issues facingSMEs, resulting in various cent-ral initiatives, notably pre-scribed lending targets to banks(Project Merlin), the EnterpriseFinance Guarantee scheme andvarious regional grant schemes.In addition, Asset Based Lend-ing, Trade or Purchase Finance,Community Development Fin-ance Initiatives, Peer to Peerlending and support from Busi-ness Angels are among a pleth-ora of funding options availableto SMEs in the absence of main-stream bank support.

Despite these various initiat-ives many SMEs still struggle toaccess finance.

Prior to submitting a borrow-ing proposal a SME should seekadvice from well-connected pro-fessional advisors to ensurethey are approaching the rightfunders with a coherently ar-ticulated proposition.

Funding options are availablefor SMEs. But businesses needto be realistic about require-ments, represent arguments ina clear and persuasive way andtailor their applications to theappropriate funders.

Damian WebbRestructuring andRecovery directorBaker Tilly Restructuringand Recovery LLPdamian.webb@b a k e r t i l l y. c o . u k

Get fundingfor growth

Expert eye

YOU’VE GOT THE POTENTIAL, SO WHERE’S THE SUPPORT?Robin GoddardRegional directorClose brothersrobin.goddard@closebrothers.com07809 877198

ation vouchers, Growth Accelerator,Passport to Export and more, eachoffering grants, match funding orin-kind support and mentoring.

One of the most successful locallyhas been the Regional Growth Fund,backed by the Bristol Post, and dis-tributed by the West of England LocalEnterprise Partnership. It had a£25 million pot for firms, hoping tokickstart private investment too.

Antony Corfield, programme man-ager at the LEP, said: “The pot is there

to support businesses with a range ofprojects and activities, such as in-vestment in capital assets, researchand development, and training. Morethan 300 companies applied forgrants from the fund (the deadlinehas now passed) and we’ve so faragreed around 80 businesses grantsworth approximately £8 million.

“We ’re anticipating making anoth-er 70 to 100 awards early in the NewYear and we estimate the fund willgenerate an injection of £100 million

of private sector investment into thelocal economy that wouldn’t other-wise have happened.”

The LEP is “looking at ways we cancontinue the fund into the future” bu tfor the moment, the door is closed tonew applicants.

So what about the banks? Are theylending again? Sam Holliday, devel-opment manager for the Federationof Small Businesses for the West ofEngland, says his members don’tthink so: “Access to finance remains

the number one concern for many ofour members and our most recentsurvey on the issue revealed that40 per cent of SMEs who had ap-proached the banks for investmenthad been turned down.

“In addition some who had beenoffered support had to refuse it be-cause the high interest rates offeredwere simply unaffordable.”

He urged the Government to keepthe pressure up on the banks – p re s -sure seen earlier this month when

new RBS chief executive RossMcEwan admitted the bank was notdoing enough to support SMEs andpledge to address the matter.

“However, it is not just about theb a n k s, ” says Mr Holliday.

“The FSB has also called on theGovernment to champion non-bankfinance and work more closely withalternative finance providers such aspeer-to-peer lending groups.

“In many other countries, there isnot such an over-reliance on the tra-

ditional high street banks to providesmall business finance and we wouldwelcome initiatives to encourage awider variety of routes to financeincluding locally-based ones.”

More business are turning to suchalternative sources. For start-upswhere sums are often smaller theycan be an appealing option. And someare utilising them for bigger sumstoo. Somerset-based Hab Housing,Grand Designs presenter KevinMcCloud’s sustainable housing com-

pany recently raised a record£1.9 million on Crowdcube.

There are two forms of crowdfund-ing, investment based, eg. Seedrs,which businesses offer equity (astake in the business) to backers, andpeer-to-peer lending, such as FundingCircle, where people invest in loansfor businesses. The numbers usingthese methods are still comparativelysmall, but growing.

And where the banks are not meet-ing a need, creative asset manage-ment firms are seeing a potentialm a rke t .

Tom McCarthy, chairman of theBristol Institute of Directors anddirector of Odyssey Corporate Fin-ance, says: “The banks are thawing,but there is still a disconnect betweenthe local bankers on the ground try-ing to support their clients and re-mote credit committees who have thefinal say.

“As a result, there has been growthin the number of small private equityplayers and alternative finance pro-viders who have filled the gap.

“Because of their size and swiftdecision making processes, thesetypes of organisations can take amuch more pragmatic view on op-portunities and risks.”

These organisations are looking atideas including: Asset-based lending,where a loan is secured against anasset; pension-led funding where dir-ectors invest their own pension pot intheir companies’ assets (including in-tellectual ones); and trade finance,where firms get credit or guaranteeson specific orders which they repaywhen they get paid.

Asset-based lending to businessrose 10 per cent to £17.4 billion inthe year to June, and commercialbrokers arranged £10.5 billion ofcredit to SMEs, up 17 per cent, ac-cording to the National Associationof Commercial Finance Brokers.

So there is hope. Phil Smith, man-aging director of Business West, says:“The array of new entrants into thedebt market over the past two years isvery welcome but as these are onlymarginal to overall lending the highstreet banks need to do even more.The British Business Bank (being setup by the Government in January)has a huge role to play here, andshould be enhanced with additionalcapital to help plug the gap.

“Over recent months through oursurveys, our customers and membershave told us that they are increas-ingly confident about their prospectsand want to expand. Availability offinance is always one of the top threebarriers to growth in our quarterlyeconomic survey.

“Improving access to financefor businesses should be a majorpriority for the government whosefull attention must be focused onjump-starting business investment.”

� MARTIN Niblet needed a cashinjection to see hisBrislington-based power-toolaccessories business over thedifficult first year.

Without any security for a loan, heturned to the idea of pension-ledfunding, which allowed him to investhis pension pot in his own company,raising £23,000.

The 51-year-old said: “I had a fewsmall pensions that are not going tomake a significant contribution tomy retirement but have made a verysignificant contribution to mybusiness.”

His firm Upstream Procurement

Solutions, which trades as MerlinTools and Fixings in Broomhill Road,has used the money on branding,for cashflow and to develop aninsulation product.

Clifton Asset Management, basedin Pill, helped Martin secure thefunding. Assuming Martin’sbusiness is a success, he will keephis pensions for old age.

Any SME that hopes to securelending from a bank or financialinstitution needs a solid businessplan. Here’s what to include:

� An executive summary,highlighting the main points anddesigned to grab the attention oflenders

� Details of key people as well astheir responsibilities, skills andrelevant experience

� Market research, withdetails of competitors andhow the product or service fitsinto the marketplace

� Financial information for thelast three years of trading andforecasts for the next three tofive years

� How much of the owner’smoney is committed to thebusiness. If a lender or investor

thinks the owner is not puttingtheir own money on the line, whyshould they do the same?

� How any potential lenderswill get their money back orinvestors will see the value of thebusiness and therefore theirshareholding grow.

Source: Department for BusinessInnovation & Skills / ICAEW

Backing Bristol BusinessesIf you wish to discuss any restructuring or re-financing matters please contact:

Damian Webb or James Hester T: +44 (0)117 945 2000

Backing Bristol BusinessesIf you wish to discuss any restructuring or re-financing matters please contact:

Damian Webb or James Hester T: +44 (0)117 945 2000

Sam Holliday, Federationof Small Businesses for

the West of England

Access to financeremains the number oneconcern for many of ourmembers ... 40 per cent ofSMEs who approached thebanks for investment hadbeen turned down.

“

� Tristan Fowler, above - securinginvestment means he will be able toexpand his firm selling protective covers forhandheld devices - like the one picturedright - to businesses

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4

10 We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 11We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The Big Interview

YOU would be forgiven for sus-pecting that a concept whichwas born in America to for-mulate companies’ plans forword-of-mouth referral mar-

keting would be in some way un-Brit-ish.

But for Sarah Owen, master fran-chise holder for the Referral Institutein the UK, planning how to use yournetwork effectively is somethingwhich taps into our basic humann at u re.

She said: “We refer from a youngage. The first one is ‘My friend reallyfancies you’ and then it goes on whenwe are adults and we recommend res-taurants or films.

“All human beings are natural re-ferrers. It is just that the Americans

WELCOME TO A VERY BRITISH WAYHer childhood involvedmoving around to fit inwith her father’s cricketcareer, giving SarahOwen grounding inbuilding social networks.Rupert Janisch lear nedhow she has made acareer of helpingbusinesses do the same

My working dayWake up at? 0600 (in term time asmy son has to be in school early!)What do you have for breakfast?Healthy: grapefruit (tinned – I love it),Naughty: hot chocolate and croissantfrom Boston Tea Party in CliftonVi l l a g e !What time do you start work? 8.30What happens in your typicalworking day? A great deal, typically!Mainly delivery of training andconsulting; operational/administrativemanagement of the business; phonecalls and visits from our franchiseesfrom around the country andmanaging local client relationships; anice lunch at The Engineers’ House isalways included!What time do you go home? 6pm (interm time as this is the usual pick uptime on the school run!)Do you take work home/attendevening functions? I don’t typicallytake work home but I do attend someevening events. If I am away speakingat conferences or events or in USAthen I do work every evening becauseit is a great use of my time. PJs, roomservice and a lot of work and I enjoythat time.

Name: Sarah OwenAge: 45Place of birth: Dulwich, LondonSchool: Various! Hardy Manor,Kenya through to Weald of KentSchool for Girls, TonbridgeFirst job: Mappin & Webb – LongService Awards Department (myfirst responsibility was checkingthe engraving on gold watchesand carriage clocks for peoplewho had worked 25 or sometimes40 years for the same company!)

Vital statistics

My downtimeWhat’s your perfect weekend? Aweekend in the school holidays so Idon’t have to get up at 0600 on aSaturday! A lazy time with my son,a good book and in the summer agame of tennis or a seat at a cricketground. If I feel energetic – a fewhours of gardening.What’s your favourite book orfilm or TV show? I read a lot but arecent good read is Give and Takeby Adam Grant. My favourite film isAs Good as it Gets and myfavourite TV show is Judge Judy.What are your hobbies? Reading;sport; writing; gardening; cooking

money and free up their time they are reallygoing to do extraordinary things outsidework. I have chosen my expertise carefully towork with a referral-based business com-munity because, typically, people who dobusiness by referral are good people to bea ro u n d .

“My real desire is to educate people inbusiness to understand that referral-basedmarketing is an easy way to do business. Inan already-complicated world at least let usmake the acquisition of clients a simple pro-cess and do business with people we enjoyworking with.”

Sarah is well connected in Bristol. Apartfrom her main role at Referral Institute,which puts her in touch with hundreds ofbusinesses in the city each year, she is also onthe committee of the Institute of Directorsand is involved heavily with several net-working organisations in the area.

But despite these roles and regular en-

started educating people formally in thestrate gies.”

And in a new age for business – one based oncollaboration and trust – Sarah believes thatmaking the most of your human capital makesmore sense than ever.

She said: “I think it is really important totake responsibility and create the world wewant. It is not unrealistic to aspire to a busi-ness community where people trust eachother, where they care and help each other tosucceed.

“And I really believe that the big companiesare recognising that as well, that the day ofdog-eat-dog is gone and that people collab-orating and working together is the way for-w a rd .

“And it serves people to do business byreferral because you have never got to shoutabout yourself – you just get your friends to doit for you. It is a very British thing.”

Sarah was born in Dulwich in south-eastLondon. Her father, Bill Higginson, was aprofessional cricketer who played the countygame and coached the England women’s team.Her mother is a retired international banker.

Family life was spent watching cricket andincluded a spell living in Kenya. And withfrequent changes of school, determined by herf ather’s career moves, Sarah found she had tomake new friends and connections wherevershe went.

After working in London for silversmithsMappin and Webb for nine years and in theinsurance industry for a decade, she settled inthe West Country after initially agreeing tolook after the chickens of a lifelong friend wholived near Stroud. Having a diverse career,always with a responsibility to acquire cli-ents, Sarah benefits from possessing real-lifeexperience of growing businesses. So it was anatural step for her to specialise in the topic ofreferral marketing.

Now 45, she is considered one of Europe’sleading experts on referral marketing. Busi-nesses large and small from all over the coun-try have benefited from her knowledge.

In Bristol, she has been hired on retainer towork in many companies. At Engineers’House in Clifton, where her company ReferralInstitute is based, hundreds of people eachyear attend courses on how to make the mostout of their network of contacts.

She said: “I worked for big companies which

OF GROWING YOUR BUSINESS

Sarah Owen

“ I really believe that the bigcompanies are recognising ...the day of dog-eat-dog isgone and that peoplecollaborating and workingtogether is the way forward.

had multi-million-pound advertising and mar-keting budgets. But the reason I like this kindof marketing is because it is easier and nicer todo business with people who are introduced toyou personally.

“Being able to pick and choose your clientsis something that is considered out of reach tolots of small- and medium-sized enterprises.But that is what we teach people to do withinan affordable marketing budget.

“At the same time you are going to meet goodpeople in the classroom. Many long-lastingrelationships have been built while the learn-ing takes place.

“I believe if you give good people moreyour business, and generating business foreach other accordingly using proven mod-e l s.

Sarah said: “There is a statistic that 93 percent of business owners know that referralsare an important way of getting new busi-ness, but only 3 per cent of them have a planfor putting it into action.

“So after you finish with us you get a plan,and the implementation of the plan, and youget the local experts to support you.

“We put at least 30 businesses through ourprogrammes every month. The majority areowners of small businesses, usually withbetween £100,000 and £1 million turnover.

“In addition we work with retained biggercompanies designing and implementing aplan to help them grow by referral and to getreal results from their employees’ bu s i n e s sn e t wo rk i n g .

“One of the biggest challenges the busi-nesses we deal with, whether big or small,come across is that they confuse businessnetworking with developing a network thatwill grow their business.

“They do not have a distinction betweenthe two. So they run about, meeting lots ofnew people, instead of using a strategy to addand gain value from an existing network. Weteach them to do the right things, with theright people.

“We work tactically on it, advising thatthere are eight sources of referral and sevendifferent types of network, and working out areferral-marketing plan in advance to matchthe needs of a business instead of doingface-to-face cold calling at networkingeve n t s. ”

Referral Institute started in America morethan a decade ago under Ivan Misner, the‘father of modern networking’ who also set

� Clockwisefrom above,Favouritefilm As GoodAs It Gets;recent goodread GiveAnd Take;and hobby,cooking

up the BNI networking organisation which has 11groups in Bristol and is the largest networkingorganisation of its type in the world.

Sarah is his co-author of the book The World’sBest Known Marketing Secret.

Referral Institute’s headquarters – opened in2007 – are in Bristol, the organisation’s showcaseregion in the UK.

The business has been franchising since 2010and has nine other branches in the UK. Thesebranches include Manchester, Oxford,

Birmingham, Cardiff, Northamptonshire andN o r w i ch .

Referral Institute is a business that grows byreferral. As word spreads, franchise regions areopening around the UK with the support of theUK base in Engineers’ House in the heart ofBristol. It is taking off, and Sarah believes it isonly a matter of time before far more owners ofsmall businesses around the UK see the benefitsof accessing the knowledge needed to grow theircompany in this very British way.

gagements as a keynote speaker, Sarah saidshe is not naturally comfortable in the spot-light.

She said: “I am a strategist. And while Iknow it serves me and others to be in thoseforums, I tend to surround myself withpeople who like to be in the limelight. I am asituational extrovert.”

Helping Sarah run Referral Institute is VicVaughan, a 51-year-old former Royal Marinewho specialised in weapons and tactics withthe Commandos. With a passion for motor-cycles, Vic worked for Bridge Motorcycles inExeter, setting up branches in Andover andSouthampton before starting up his own in-dustrial-cleaning business in Devon, whichis still running and was established purelyoff the back of referrals.

Sarah said: “Vic is a model franchisee.Ex-Forces people can be perfect to build alarge training and consulting business be-cause they are great instructors. Sometimesthey think they are not business people but,typically, they are looking after massivebudgets and leading big teams and they aregreat communicators.

“I think it is important that we look afterpeople who have served our country whenthey come out of service.”

So how does the concept of referral mar-keting work? It is the antithesis of what manyowners of small businesses do – the scat-tergun approach of spending lots of timemeeting new people and visiting networkingmeetings on the off-chance that some newcontact might generate some business.

The work of Sarah and Vic involves for-mulating a plan for referral marketing –specifying a target market, identifying whoyour key contacts are going to be, sharingyour vision and emotional connection for

0117 317 1000www.alderking.com

FOR SALEREDLAND - CHANDOS ROAD

Retail unit andseparately accessed4 bed StudentMaisonette

Fully let withpassing rent£23,676pa

Offers in region of£300,000 reflecting aNIY of 7.5%

EPC Rating: D/E

FREEHOLD INVESTMENTOPPORTUNITY

Contact:Gemma-Jane Ogden0117 317 1108gogden@alderking.com *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 usuallycost 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 ofAllied 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. AIB3 BO

As a family owned business, we prefer to deal witha bank that focuses on owner managed businesses.We’re long-standing clients of our bank and they’vebeen very supportive as our business has grown. Like us,they’re specialists who know what they’re doing.

Mick Crossan, Chairman, Powerday

Visit our website or call 0845 045 0900*

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

“The High Streetis OK for shopping,but businessbanking callsfor a specialist.”

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4

10 We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 11We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013 w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/businessw w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

The Big Interview

YOU would be forgiven for sus-pecting that a concept whichwas born in America to for-mulate companies’ plans forword-of-mouth referral mar-

keting would be in some way un-Brit-ish.

But for Sarah Owen, master fran-chise holder for the Referral Institutein the UK, planning how to use yournetwork effectively is somethingwhich taps into our basic humann at u re.

She said: “We refer from a youngage. The first one is ‘My friend reallyfancies you’ and then it goes on whenwe are adults and we recommend res-taurants or films.

“All human beings are natural re-ferrers. It is just that the Americans

WELCOME TO A VERY BRITISH WAYHer childhood involvedmoving around to fit inwith her father’s cricketcareer, giving SarahOwen grounding inbuilding social networks.Rupert Janisch lear nedhow she has made acareer of helpingbusinesses do the same

My working dayWake up at? 0600 (in term time asmy son has to be in school early!)What do you have for breakfast?Healthy: grapefruit (tinned – I love it),Naughty: hot chocolate and croissantfrom Boston Tea Party in CliftonVi l l a g e !What time do you start work? 8.30What happens in your typicalworking day? A great deal, typically!Mainly delivery of training andconsulting; operational/administrativemanagement of the business; phonecalls and visits from our franchiseesfrom around the country andmanaging local client relationships; anice lunch at The Engineers’ House isalways included!What time do you go home? 6pm (interm time as this is the usual pick uptime on the school run!)Do you take work home/attendevening functions? I don’t typicallytake work home but I do attend someevening events. If I am away speakingat conferences or events or in USAthen I do work every evening becauseit is a great use of my time. PJs, roomservice and a lot of work and I enjoythat time.

Name: Sarah OwenAge: 45Place of birth: Dulwich, LondonSchool: Various! Hardy Manor,Kenya through to Weald of KentSchool for Girls, TonbridgeFirst job: Mappin & Webb – LongService Awards Department (myfirst responsibility was checkingthe engraving on gold watchesand carriage clocks for peoplewho had worked 25 or sometimes40 years for the same company!)

Vital statistics

My downtimeWhat’s your perfect weekend? Aweekend in the school holidays so Idon’t have to get up at 0600 on aSaturday! A lazy time with my son,a good book and in the summer agame of tennis or a seat at a cricketground. If I feel energetic – a fewhours of gardening.What’s your favourite book orfilm or TV show? I read a lot but arecent good read is Give and Takeby Adam Grant. My favourite film isAs Good as it Gets and myfavourite TV show is Judge Judy.What are your hobbies? Reading;sport; writing; gardening; cooking

money and free up their time they are reallygoing to do extraordinary things outsidework. I have chosen my expertise carefully towork with a referral-based business com-munity because, typically, people who dobusiness by referral are good people to bea ro u n d .

“My real desire is to educate people inbusiness to understand that referral-basedmarketing is an easy way to do business. Inan already-complicated world at least let usmake the acquisition of clients a simple pro-cess and do business with people we enjoyworking with.”

Sarah is well connected in Bristol. Apartfrom her main role at Referral Institute,which puts her in touch with hundreds ofbusinesses in the city each year, she is also onthe committee of the Institute of Directorsand is involved heavily with several net-working organisations in the area.

But despite these roles and regular en-

started educating people formally in thestrate gies.”

And in a new age for business – one based oncollaboration and trust – Sarah believes thatmaking the most of your human capital makesmore sense than ever.

She said: “I think it is really important totake responsibility and create the world wewant. It is not unrealistic to aspire to a busi-ness community where people trust eachother, where they care and help each other tosucceed.

“And I really believe that the big companiesare recognising that as well, that the day ofdog-eat-dog is gone and that people collab-orating and working together is the way for-w a rd .

“And it serves people to do business byreferral because you have never got to shoutabout yourself – you just get your friends to doit for you. It is a very British thing.”

Sarah was born in Dulwich in south-eastLondon. Her father, Bill Higginson, was aprofessional cricketer who played the countygame and coached the England women’s team.Her mother is a retired international banker.

Family life was spent watching cricket andincluded a spell living in Kenya. And withfrequent changes of school, determined by herf ather’s career moves, Sarah found she had tomake new friends and connections wherevershe went.

After working in London for silversmithsMappin and Webb for nine years and in theinsurance industry for a decade, she settled inthe West Country after initially agreeing tolook after the chickens of a lifelong friend wholived near Stroud. Having a diverse career,always with a responsibility to acquire cli-ents, Sarah benefits from possessing real-lifeexperience of growing businesses. So it was anatural step for her to specialise in the topic ofreferral marketing.

Now 45, she is considered one of Europe’sleading experts on referral marketing. Busi-nesses large and small from all over the coun-try have benefited from her knowledge.

In Bristol, she has been hired on retainer towork in many companies. At Engineers’House in Clifton, where her company ReferralInstitute is based, hundreds of people eachyear attend courses on how to make the mostout of their network of contacts.

She said: “I worked for big companies which

OF GROWING YOUR BUSINESS

Sarah Owen

“ I really believe that the bigcompanies are recognising ...the day of dog-eat-dog isgone and that peoplecollaborating and workingtogether is the way forward.

had multi-million-pound advertising and mar-keting budgets. But the reason I like this kindof marketing is because it is easier and nicer todo business with people who are introduced toyou personally.

“Being able to pick and choose your clientsis something that is considered out of reach tolots of small- and medium-sized enterprises.But that is what we teach people to do withinan affordable marketing budget.

“At the same time you are going to meet goodpeople in the classroom. Many long-lastingrelationships have been built while the learn-ing takes place.

“I believe if you give good people moreyour business, and generating business foreach other accordingly using proven mod-e l s.

Sarah said: “There is a statistic that 93 percent of business owners know that referralsare an important way of getting new busi-ness, but only 3 per cent of them have a planfor putting it into action.

“So after you finish with us you get a plan,and the implementation of the plan, and youget the local experts to support you.

“We put at least 30 businesses through ourprogrammes every month. The majority areowners of small businesses, usually withbetween £100,000 and £1 million turnover.

“In addition we work with retained biggercompanies designing and implementing aplan to help them grow by referral and to getreal results from their employees’ bu s i n e s sn e t wo rk i n g .

“One of the biggest challenges the busi-nesses we deal with, whether big or small,come across is that they confuse businessnetworking with developing a network thatwill grow their business.

“They do not have a distinction betweenthe two. So they run about, meeting lots ofnew people, instead of using a strategy to addand gain value from an existing network. Weteach them to do the right things, with theright people.

“We work tactically on it, advising thatthere are eight sources of referral and sevendifferent types of network, and working out areferral-marketing plan in advance to matchthe needs of a business instead of doingface-to-face cold calling at networkingeve n t s. ”

Referral Institute started in America morethan a decade ago under Ivan Misner, the‘father of modern networking’ who also set

� Clockwisefrom above,Favouritefilm As GoodAs It Gets;recent goodread GiveAnd Take;and hobby,cooking

up the BNI networking organisation which has 11groups in Bristol and is the largest networkingorganisation of its type in the world.

Sarah is his co-author of the book The World’sBest Known Marketing Secret.

Referral Institute’s headquarters – opened in2007 – are in Bristol, the organisation’s showcaseregion in the UK.

The business has been franchising since 2010and has nine other branches in the UK. Thesebranches include Manchester, Oxford,

Birmingham, Cardiff, Northamptonshire andN o r w i ch .

Referral Institute is a business that grows byreferral. As word spreads, franchise regions areopening around the UK with the support of theUK base in Engineers’ House in the heart ofBristol. It is taking off, and Sarah believes it isonly a matter of time before far more owners ofsmall businesses around the UK see the benefitsof accessing the knowledge needed to grow theircompany in this very British way.

gagements as a keynote speaker, Sarah saidshe is not naturally comfortable in the spot-light.

She said: “I am a strategist. And while Iknow it serves me and others to be in thoseforums, I tend to surround myself withpeople who like to be in the limelight. I am asituational extrovert.”

Helping Sarah run Referral Institute is VicVaughan, a 51-year-old former Royal Marinewho specialised in weapons and tactics withthe Commandos. With a passion for motor-cycles, Vic worked for Bridge Motorcycles inExeter, setting up branches in Andover andSouthampton before starting up his own in-dustrial-cleaning business in Devon, whichis still running and was established purelyoff the back of referrals.

Sarah said: “Vic is a model franchisee.Ex-Forces people can be perfect to build alarge training and consulting business be-cause they are great instructors. Sometimesthey think they are not business people but,typically, they are looking after massivebudgets and leading big teams and they aregreat communicators.

“I think it is important that we look afterpeople who have served our country whenthey come out of service.”

So how does the concept of referral mar-keting work? It is the antithesis of what manyowners of small businesses do – the scat-tergun approach of spending lots of timemeeting new people and visiting networkingmeetings on the off-chance that some newcontact might generate some business.

The work of Sarah and Vic involves for-mulating a plan for referral marketing –specifying a target market, identifying whoyour key contacts are going to be, sharingyour vision and emotional connection for

0117 317 1000www.alderking.com

FOR SALEREDLAND - CHANDOS ROAD

Retail unit andseparately accessed4 bed StudentMaisonette

Fully let withpassing rent£23,676pa

Offers in region of£300,000 reflecting aNIY of 7.5%

EPC Rating: D/E

FREEHOLD INVESTMENTOPPORTUNITY

Contact:Gemma-Jane Ogden0117 317 1108gogden@alderking.com *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 usuallycost 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 ofAllied 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. AIB3 BO

As a family owned business, we prefer to deal witha bank that focuses on owner managed businesses.We’re long-standing clients of our bank and they’vebeen very supportive as our business has grown. Like us,they’re specialists who know what they’re doing.

Mick Crossan, Chairman, Powerday

Visit our website or call 0845 045 0900*

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

“The High Streetis OK for shopping,but businessbanking callsfor a specialist.”

EPB-

E01-

S4

12 We d n e s d a y, November 13, 2013w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t .co.uk/business

� BUSINESS coach Paul Neckhas been chosen again to headup the South Gloucestershirebranch of the Federation ofSmall Business (FSB).

Mr Neck, who is one of theBusiness Doctors team, wasre-elected to the post of FSBbranch chairman at the group’sannual meeting held at theAztec West Hotel, Bristol.

The branch is one of thebiggest in the region with justunder 1,000 members. Mr Neckpledged to continue tospearhead the branch’s flagshipfree monthly seminars also heldat the Aztec West.

Movers & shake-upsUp and comingThe future of businessThe latest appointments news. Sendyour news to business@b-nm.co.uk

� LAW firm Foot Anstey hasrecruited two new partners atits rapidly growing Bristol office.

Deborah Carrivick joins fromBurges Salmon where she hasspent 15 years specialising inhigh value tax and trust work.

Construction law expert FranButton returns to the firm fromindustry. She has extensiveexperience drafting andnegotiating complex buildingcontracts as well as inrenewables projects.

Managing partner JohnWestwell said: “These arrivalswill add further depth to ourBristol office and increase ournational reputation for specialisthigh value advice.”

� Colliers International hasstrengthened its Bristoloperation in response to asignificant increase in activity inthe commercial property sector.

The Broad Quay-baseddevelopment consulting teamhas appointed Ben Meynell tohelp deal with a range of localauthority, institutional andprivate company clients, andAndrew Frost, who iscompleting a propertydevelopment and planningcourse at UWE.

Jessica Jones is also joiningthe Bristol team as seniorsurveyor in the investmentporoperty management team.

Head of office Tim Daviesadded: “I am pleased towelcome Ben, Jessica andAndrew, all of who have made apositive impact already.”

Opening Doors Business Awards 2013

AGRADUATE from Airbus inFilton has won a prestigiousaward after overcomingchildhood hardship to makea success of his young life.

Adam Taylor won the James CaanAward for an Inspirational YoungPerson in the Deputy Prime Min-ister’s Opening Doors BusinessAwards 2013.

Adam was presented with hisaward by Secretary of State for Busi-ness, Innovation and Skills VinceCable at a glittering ceremony inLancaster House in London.

He also met Deputy Prime Min-ister Nick Clegg and a host of otherhigh-profile VIP guests from theworlds of politics and business.

Adam, 24, was nominated for theaward by colleagues at Airbus whorecognised his exceptional talent andhis determination to overcome chal-lenges in his life and career.

Born in Woolwich, one of SouthEast London’s most disadvantagedboroughs, Adam is the eldest of threesons whose father was a lorry driverand whose mother left school at 14.

He was singled out as an un-derachiever, designated specialneeds as a child and was brought upin a one-bedroomed caravan after hisf ather’s business folded.

As a 10-year-old wanting to go togrammar school, he became determ-ined to prove wrong a teacher whotold him his only job would beserving burgers and chips in afast-food restaurant.

But after succeeding at school he

Prize for graduate determined toprove ‘burger jibe’ teacher wrong

Top chefs table advice at college

in Bristol with fiancee ChristineVayssade. He said: “It was really goodto work with the next generation oftalented student chefs.”

Graham Smith, the college’s train-ing manager for hospitality and eventmanagement, said: “This was a fant-astic opportunity for the college. Theinvolvement of the area’s top chefsenriches our students’ experience be-cause they learn with the best.”

STUDENT chefs at Weston Collegehad the chance to work alongsideMichelin-star restaurateurs as partof a chefs’ for um.

The forum met at the college’s HansPrice Conference Centre and linkedup with catering students to providea day of events and industry net-wo rk i n g .

The collective of industry profes-sionals shares skills with youngpeople in education. It included tele-vision chef Arthur Potts-Dawson,who helped Jamie Oliver launch hisFifteen chain of restaurants. He wasjoined by Bristol’s newest Mich-elin-starred chef, James Wilkins, andAmy Hunt, a former Weston Collegestudent who has opened her ownfine-dining restaurant, Oak andGlass, in Uphill.

More than 80 chefs and industryrepresentatives from across theSouth West were at the event, mark-ing the college’s new partnershipwith the forum.

James won his first Michelin starlast month and runs Wilks restaurant

New surveyor is ‘welcome addition’

Garry Hicks, managing director ofCBRE Bristol, said: “At CBRE wehave always believed in workingclosely with universities, collegesand schools to recruit the brightestand best talent into the property sec-tor. Rebecca is a welcome addition toour team.”

Following Rebecca’s appointment,CBRE, which recently celebrated its10th year in the city, now has 40people based at its Bristol office work-ing across a wide range of commer-cial-property services.

THE Bristol office of property ad-visers CBRE has appointed RebeccaMaddison as a graduate surveyor.

Rebecca recently graduated fromNorthumbria University with afirst-class honours degree in estatemana g ement.

During her placement year shegained valuable experience workingin commercial-property agency andportfolio management for a smallfirm in Newcastle.

Rebecca said: “Working for CBREwill provide me with a solid platformto develop my career under the cor-rect guidance and structure.

“The graduate programme will en-able me to further my qualificationswith the Royal Institution ofChartered Surveyors, while alsointroducing new service lines andrelevant experiences that will even-tually enable me to specialise in thefuture. I am thrilled to have joined.”

Rebecca is one of 30 graduates whoCBRE has recruited nationally aspart of its in-house, two year trainingprog ramme.

� Adam receives his award from Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable (right), withDeputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

Ed u c a t i o n Proper ty

� Chef Arthur Potts-Dawson,students Chris Davies and BethFieldhouse, and chefs Amy Huntand James Wilkins

Rupert JanischBusiness@b-nm.co.uk

achieved a first class honours degreein air transport management fromLoughborough University and beat100 applicants for a graduate place-ment scheme with Airbus.

He said: “I’m not one of thosepeople who finds academic workeasy, but I know that if you work hardenough, nothing is impossible.

“I’ve always thought that you can

turn a bad experience into a positiveone by learning from it to make sureit doesn’t happen again.

“My mum and dad didn’t want meor my brothers to struggle and reallypushed us to do as well as wecould.

“They have made me who I amtoday, so this award is theirs as muchas it is mine.”

� CBREhasappointedRebeccaMaddisonas agraduatesurveyor

Adam Taylor

“ I’m not one of thosewho finds academicwork easy, but I know ifyou work hard enough,nothing is impossible.