news 7 Shareleague Thames Valley Presented by in association with Business T H E M A G A Z I N E
Spectris, the Egham-based productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls company, was the prize share at the end of 2014 after topping the region’s price rise table for large quoted companies.
Its shares rose 11% in a month when the group completed the acquisition of the privately-held Canadian group Engineering Seismology Group for some £36 million. ESG is a leading provider of microseismic monitoring equipment and analysis solutions, primarily to the oil and gas and mining sectors, as well as other industries. It has grown rapidly and has significant opportunities to accelerate because its technology enables mining companies to enhance productivity and improve return on investment.
Oxford Instruments matched that 11% increase among medium-sized companies. The group announced
that a trio of its 'off-the-shelf' Andor scientific cameras reached the milestone of one billion measurements of the most luminous objects in the universe to help Liverpool John Moores University stay at the forefront of time domain astrophysics.
The group’s two-day technical seminars in India attracted enormous interest and were honoured by the attendance of the host government’s principal scientific adviser. The seminars focused on cutting-edge nanotechnology tools and their use in multiple fields.
Star performance of the month was by IS Solutions in the section for sub-£50m turnover. The Sunbury- on-Thames company announced the proposed acquisition of Speed- Trap Holdings, parent company to Celebrus Technologies, for £7.5m.
Large (over £1 billion) Closing price
SPECTRIS
ASHTEAD GROUP GALLIFORD TRY
INTL.CONS.AIRL.GP. (CDI) ULTRA ELECTRONICS HDG.
ICTL.HTLS.GP.
VODAFONE GROUP MICRO FOCUS INTL. SEGRO
GLAXOSMITHKLINE
28/11/14 1,887 1,054 1,207 458
1,749 2,710 234
1,141 392
1,485
Closing price 31/12/14 2,102 1,152 1,288 486
1,800 2,595 223
1,080 370
1,376
Medium (£250 million to £1 billion) Closing price
NANOCO GROUP OXFORD INSTRUMENTS
MORGAN ADVANCED MATERIAL SHANKS GROUP KOFAX
VITEC GROUP GENUS
INTERSERVE SERCO GROUP RPS GROUP
28/11/14 128
1,153 292 94
434 610
1,291 581 175 236
MICHELMERSH BRICK HDG. ACAL
LATHAM(JAMES)
OXFORD BIOMEDICA LOK'N STORE GROUP MICROGEN
SINCLAIR PHARMA TISSUE REGENIX GROUP
28/11/14 60
205 530 5
236 123
ACCESSO TECHNOLOGY GROUP 619 RM
162 38 23
Sub £50 million Closing price
IS SOLUTIONS OMG
JOHN LEWIS OF HUNGERFORD DEWHURST
TRIAD GROUP
IMMEDIA GROUP CORAC GROUP GUSCIO
STARVEST SOPHEON
28/11/14 45 27 1
398 15 19 6
12 6
50 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – FEBRUARY 2015
Closing price 31/12/14 146
1,275 317 100 451 594
1,251 558 161 209
Small (£50 million to £250 million) Closing price
Closing price 31/12/14 71
240 565 5
249 119 598 152 35 20
Closing price 31/12/14 54 33 1
470 18 16 5
10 4
40
Change in share price 11% 9% 7% 6% 3%
-4% -5% -5% -6% -7%
Change in share price 14% 11% 9% 6% 4%
-3% -3% -4% -8%
-11%
Change in share price 18% 17% 7% 6% 6%
-3% -3% -6% -9%
-11%
Change in share price 22% 20% 19% 18% 17%
-15% -16% -19% -20% -21%
www.businessmag.co.uk Go for it in 2015
As SMEs strive to reach their goals in 2015, the Haines Watts Young Entrepreneur of the Year team talk to last year's finalists about the challenges of being a young business owner and advice they’d offer start-ups
The HWYE 2014 finalists. From left, Antony Holeksa, Sian Brennan-Todd, David Adams and Andrew Baker
David Adams, director of Pennyhill Timber and overall winner of the 2014 competition, says: "Hard work, perseverance and drive is required to be successful in business and you will have to work that little bit harder in order to gain people's respect when you’re young. You'll need the support of bank managers, suppliers and customers to get your business off the ground, and convincing these people that I was worth the risk when I started my business was one of the biggest challenges I faced.
“You will also have to be prepared to make sacrifices, as a new company will require a large part of your time and energy. In 2015, our main goal is to improve customer service, introduce new product ranges and work on the company branding/marketing. We are looking forward to a great year.”
Sian Brennan-Todd, director of Dance and Cheer 49, says: "When you're starting out you just have to go for it. Be bold, do your research and have confidence in your ability. Our main challenge right now is staffing and retaining the best people but we’ll get there.”
Andrew Baker of Play2Give adds: “As a fundraising business, our focus is to donate 100% of all the
funds we raise to the charities we help. We come up against costs for many of our projects and events, which requires financial sponsorship from companies and is a tough challenge but nothing’s impossible. Drive and determination will pay dividends. I never dreamt that when I first set up Play2Give solely as one single event at a football tournament, it would become the great success it is today, raising over £32,000.”
Antony Holeksa of Learn to Dance agrees that you’ve got to follow your heart and live the dream; he was an accountant who loved dancing until Strictly Come Dancing prompted friends to encourage him to run classes. Now he’s training more teachers because of the popularity of his business and is it expecting to grow this year.
The Haines Watts Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition launches soon – if you’re interested visit the website.
Good luck for 2015.
For further details of the HW Young Entrepreneur competition – Details:
www.hwye.co.uk
For further information about Haines Watts –
Details:
www.hwca.com
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