~BUSINESS BULLETIN~ What they said...
‘The amount of lending by the banking system to non-financial companies is falling. It’s been falling for some while, and it’s still falling. This is a natural consequence of the de-leveraging of the banking system’ Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England
‘As well as the immediate bills caused by damage and theft, there will be longer-term costs. Inevitably some businesses will never
open their doors again’ British Retail Consortium director general Stephen Robertson comments on the impact of the London riots in August
‘Companies need to innovate every 18 months. Create an environment that continually challenges processes’ Matt Isaacs, CEO of digital agency Essence, on why the company focuses on R&D
My best business decision
Going into business with a partner Brian [Ferrie, co-founder] and I had already worked together, so from a business point of view we were like-minded in what we wanted to achieve. We met at an IT consultancy – we were both in the testing services area of the business. We were given more senior roles but the focus was moving away from testing. In both our cases, software testing is our passion. That was the point at which we set up Edge Testing. There are huge benefits to working with somebody rather than being a lone founder. You have to
make some serious decisions, and as the business grows it becomes quite challenging. I think it makes a huge difference if there’s someone to discuss those decisions with. Susan Chadwick, co-founder, Edge Testing Solutions
Going places... 1
Negus goes Upstream
Mobile marketing technology company Upstream has hired Simon Negus as chief operating officer. Negus joins the business from Microsoft, where he was partner and
UK board member. In his role at Microsoft, he led the turnaround of the UK Enterprise and Partner Group operation. Upstream CEO Alex Vratskides says, ‘Welcoming such an impressive industry figure as Simon is indicative of the pace at which the business is growing and the ambitions that we have for the company.’ Negus believes that Upstream will ‘play an important part in shaping the digital marketing landscape’, as consumers deal with ‘the proliferation of digital devices’ and ‘the explosion of data, content and information’.
10 BUSINESS XL Headline numbers 0.4%
The decline in UK manufacturing output in June from the previous month, confounding analysts’ forecasts of a 0.2 per cent rise Source: Office for National Statistics
89%
Proportion of 100 retailers surveyed who believe that mobile commerce will soon be as popular as e-commerce Source: Vanson Bourne
€766m
The amount raised by UK-based VC-backed firms through 119 deals in the first half of 2011, a 29 per cent decline in deal flow on the same period in 2010 Source: Dow Jones VentureSource
£100bn
Gross new lending to UK businesses by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS and Santander in the first half of the year
Source:
SmallBusiness.co.uk
2
Harrisons hires Murphy
Tony Murphy has joined Harrisons, a business recovery and insolvency specialist, as director of the London office. Murphy has worked as a licensed insolvency practitioner and
chartered accountant since 1986. During his career, he has handled a range of formal insolvency procedures, in particular in the asset-based lending market. He also has experience heading major turnaround and restructuring projects. Prior to his appointment to the role at Harrisons, Murphy was a partner at insolvency specialist Bridge Business Recovery, which provides restructuring solutions to businesses during times of financial difficulty and under- performance. Murphy says the role is the start of a ‘new phase’ in his career.
3
Eklund is lucky 15 at Wellington
Venture capital investor Wellington Partners has appointed Niklas Eklund as a venture partner as the firm looks to expand its footprint across Europe. In his new role, Eklund will
advise portfolio companies on strategic planning and executive hires, and provide a network for business development. The Swedish entrepreneur has built businesses specialising in reservation systems, revenue management, online marketing and web publishing. He was co-founder and CEO of Wellington portfolio company Livebookings, an online reservation service for restaurants. Eklund is the 15th venture partner at the VC firm and will focus on the digital media sector, alongside LinkedIn co-founder Eric Ly and former
Last.fm COO Spencer Hyman.
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