If you ask founders in the UK where they see opportunity in terms of growth, it’s likely that a significant number will say that entering the US market is a key milestone. Making this move provides a game-changing opportunity for growth – but it isn’t always easy. Expanding to the US comes with a lot
The most unpredictable and vulnerable component of any security system is the human factor. Forrester reports that “90% of data breaches will include a human element”[1]. Despite this, security teams and investors have been focused on standalone technological defences – firewalls, antivirus software and intrusion detection systems. There is continuing evidence that these reactive tools
The UK is widely recognised for its entrepreneurial spirit and this, aligned to a rich investor base, deep pools of talent and respected legal and regulatory frameworks, has long made it regarded as one of the best places to start a business, globally. However, it is also acknowledged that barriers remain – notably for businesses
According to the recent Xero survey ‘business issues causing stress in small business owners’ personal lives seems to affect overall life satisfaction to an extent. Cheerful, calm, and active mindsets tend to contribute significantly to small business owners’ wellbeing.’ It’s the sentiment about being cheerful, calm and active which struck me. As a coach,
Introduction: The UK is widely recognised for its entrepreneurial spirit and this, aligned to a rich investor base, deep pools of talent and respected legal and regulatory frameworks, has long made it regarded as one of the best places to start a business, globally. However, it is also acknowledged that barriers remain – notably for
Amy Newton is Founder, Consultant CFO and NED of Newton’s Theory, supporting a wide variety of directors and founders to navigate profit or cashflow challenges, rapid growth periods, bank and PE investment raises and company sales. We sat down with Amy to learn more about her experience in driving growth amongst SMEs. Without doubt, Amy
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) caught many by surprise and for those that banked with the UK entity, widespread stress, panic and fear amongst those that did. Why? Was it because we had all forgotten (or were too young) to remember what happened to Northern Rock in 2008, when borrowing short and lending
The success of a start-up or scale-up often depends on the quality of financial decisions made at crucial points in a company’s development. As a founder or CEO, you might find yourself in the challenging position of determining when to bring on a full-time or plural financial director (FD) to help manage those decisions. The
Earlier this month, new rules were introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), our regulator, which affect investments in private companies, including EIS. VCTs are excluded from these regulations as they are more liquid. The FCA wants to introduce friction in the process of buying these types of investment in order to ensure investors have
Matthew Batchelor works with Mercia as a growth partner to help our portfolio businesses resolve challenges and accelerate growth. Drawing upon on his expertise as a CTO for businesses such as Thomson Reuters and FindMyPast, Matthew has worked with Mercia backed businesses; Pimberly as an adviser and Rockar Tech as interim CTO and then as