The Business Magazine Thames Valley February 2014

news 9 Shareleague Thames Valley Presented by in association with Business T H E M A G A Z I N E

One of Oxford Technology’s Venture Capital Trusts topped the sub £50 million company section in the December table of share price rises for Thames Valley-based companies.

For more than 25 years the group has specialised in investing in start-up and early-stage technology companies based near Oxford – a segment that it admits is “notoriously among the highest risk forms of investment”.

OT2 owns 19.5% of OCRobotics, which is arguably the world's leading manufacturer of Snake Arm Robots, a market which it says has improved significantly over the past year.

OT recently issued an Information Memorandum seeking to raise between £3m and £15m to be invested over a three-year period in SEIS technology start-ups.

Another company which did its shareholders proud during December was Egdon Resources, the Odiham-based oil and gas exploration and production business which boasts 30 licences in oil and gas producing basins in the UK and France. The group has just signed an Exploration Option and Farm-in Agreement with Scottish Power Generation in respect of UK onshore production licences in Lincolnshire.

One of the biggest success stories was Futura Medical, the Guildford company which applies advanced science to develop products with commercial potential using its proprietary transdermal technology. It has just signed an exclusive licensing agreement for the marketing and distribution of its novel condom in China, plus another to serve Scandinavia.

Large (over £1 billion) Closing price

CABLE & WIRELESS COMMS. OXFORD INSTRUMENTS SERCO GROUP

INTL.CONS.AIRL.GP.(CDI) ASHTEAD GROUP GLAXOSMITHKLINE

RECKITT BENCKISER GROUP ELECTROCOMP. DIXONS RETAIL

MICRO FOCUS INTL.

29/11/13 47.6

1506.0 455.5 366.3 695.5

1618.5 4909.0 292.1 51.4

817.5

Closing price 31/12/13 56.2

1767.0 499.2 401.4 760.0

1611.5 4793.0 279.1 48.5

768.0

Medium (£250 million to £1 billion) Closing price

SDL

RWS HOLDINGS ANITE

29/11/13 272.7 770.5 88.7

MORGAN ADVANCED MATERIAL 293.0 XP POWER (DI) TT ELECTRONICS BIG YELLOW GROUP NANOCO GROUP DE LA RUE

INTERSERVE

1465.0 197.0 478.8 147.7 903.0 653.0

TISSUE REGENIX GROUP FUTURA MEDICAL

MICHELMERSH BRICK HDG. KBC ADVANCED TECHS. ECKOH VISLINK

SINCLAIR PHARMA MCBRIDE

COSTAIN GROUP ACAL

29/11/13 15.3 51.5 58.0 98.2 28.2 45.5 29.6

105.7 293.7 357.0

Sub £50 million Closing price

OXFORD TECHNOLOGY 2 VCT EGDON RESOURCES

ENV.RCYC.TECHNOLOGIES PIPEHAWK

IS SOLUTIONS MILESTONE GROUP

OXFORD TECHNOLOGY VCT TRIAD GROUP STARVEST

RESOURCE HOLDING MAN.

29/11/13 22.5 7.8 0.5 4.7

53.0 0.7

95.0 10.0 4.8

20.5 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – FEBRUARY 2014

Closing price 31/12/13 359.7 937.5 99.0

318.1

1589.0 197.0 478.0 143.2 871.0 623.0

Small (£50 million to £250 million) Closing price

Closing price 31/12/13 23.7 76.5 70.5

117.5 33.5 45.0 28.5 99.7

277.0 329.2

Closing price 31/12/13 27.5 9.2 0.6 5.5

60.0 0.6

80.0 8.0 3.8

15.0

Change in share price 18% 17% 10% 10% 9% 0%

-2% -4% -6% -6%

Change in share price 32% 22% 12% 9% 8% 0% 0%

-3% -4% -5%

Change in share price 55% 49% 22% 20% 19% -1% -4% -6% -6% -8%

Change in share price 22% 18% 17% 16% 13%

-14% -16% -20% -20% -27%

advice for business

Prof Gloria Moss

Retailers should aim at women to boost 2014 sales, says Bucks academic

A leading academic at Buckinghamshire New University says retailers should heed the views of women if they are to prosper in 2014.

Prof Gloria Moss, professor in management and marketing at Bucks New University, says women could hold the key to pushing up sales for many retailers in the year ahead.

The academic points out that women are responsible for 83% of all shopping purchases, and high street shops have to factor this into their decision-making.

Prof Moss, expert in men and women’s design preferences, says that her work shows that what appeals to men and women can be very different indeed, and that many products as well as retail interiors and exteriors of shops are designed by men who don't give enough thought to women’s preferences and ignore the fact that they hold the lion's share of buying power. According to her research, women buy 93% of all groceries, 92% of holidays and 96% of beauty products and even buy 60% of new cars and 55% of home computers.

Prof Moss said: "I see that sales figures on the high street have once again appeared to be down at the start of this year and I think part of the reason could be down to the fact shops continue to aim at the wrong gender.

“The vast majority of consumers are women yet most of the designers of products and retail spaces are men so there is a mismatch in terms of preferences.

"If you go out on the high street who will you see? Mostly women. Yet men continue to hold sway when it comes to attempting to shape choices. That won’t necessarily produce the best solutions."

Prof Moss has conducted numerous experiments testing men and women’s preferences for products, web design, graphics and retail interiors and exteriors.

She added: “In all cases there is a massive tendency for women to prefer designs created by women over those created by men.

“Since the majority of people in senior positions in design and marketing tend to be men, I believe the failure to factor women’s real tastes into the retail experience will have a bearing on this year’s shopping habits."

Prof Moss has written several books including Gender, Design and Marketing and Lessons on Profiting from Diversity exploring these issues. A new book, published by O-Books, will be appearing in the spring.

Details: Bucks New University 0800-056-5660 www.bucks.ac.uk

www.businessmag.co.uk

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