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Join us at our breakfast seminar


Are you doing business with China, or intending to develop opportunities in this exciting market? Or are you a Chinese company that has established itself in the Thames Valley?


If so, you will want to attend a special seminar, Doing Business with China, in September at Reading’s Madejski Stadium. Organised by The Business Magazine, and sponsored by Barclays, the seminar is supported by UKTI, Prospect Chinese Services and Global Business Culture.


The breakfast seminar on September 18 is free and


the programme will include presentations from:


• Renowned business culture specialist Keith Warburton


• Chris Lowsley, UKTI business adviser, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan


• Lily Yuan Li, director, Prospect Chinese Services


Further sponsors and supports will be added to the programme.


Subjects covered will include: selecting suitable markets in China; working with Chinese companies and agents; identifying local


The region’s SMEs show strong employment growth


Private equity investment in SMEs can be linked to a marked increase in employment, according to a survey conducted by NVM Private Equity. The survey of NVM’s portfolio of 36 unquoted private-equity- backed SMEs looks at the trends in recruitment following investment.


SMEs account for over 59% of private sector employment and the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) recently reported that 80% of 257 SMEs surveyed have seen an increase in employment since receiving private equity investment in the period from 1997 to 2013.


Key findings taken from NVM’s six South East-based portfolio companies working in the business services, industrials and technology/ IT sectors, include:


• Businesses collectively experienced 51% growth in staff numbers since NVM first invested.


• South East-based businesses have a 12% share of employment growth across NVM’s UK portfolio.


• The main reasons for recruiting more staff were to support organic growth, new products and services, skills gap and investment in central operations.


• The majority of employees were recruited for sales


and marketing, support, management and technical roles.


• Most companies still source staff via recruitment firms, advert placements, job centre or recommendation. No firms surveyed use social media.


• All businesses surveyed will recruit more staff in 2015 as a result of organic growth and expansion.


Youth employment


• 23% of staff recruited were aged 18-24, with some entering the business via graduate and apprentice schemes.


Pay and job security


• The average pay increase across businesses was 3.2% - well above the rate of inflation (0.5% as at December 2014).


• The majority of businesses expect pay levels to increase over the next 12 months.


• 91% of staff recruited work in full- time positions. No employees are in temporary or contract positions.


NVM tends to invest at a later stage of a company’s development, with SMEs receiving between £2 million and £10m of private equity funding mostly for management buyouts or development capital.


Details: www.nvm.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JULY/AUGUST 2015


HELP US FUND THE FIGHT. Sponsor days of research at ground-breaking Centres of Excellence.


importers and partners; cultural differences when working in China; trading online with China; and sourcing from China.


Publisher David Murray explained: “This is one of a series of seminars we at The Business Magazine plan to stage to help enhance the Thames Valley’s knowledge of overseas markets. China offers huge opportunities, but it also presents distinct challenges, and we hope we will be able to shed light on some solutions in this seminar.


“It will be a great networking opportunity and a companion piece to the articles we are carrying in this


issue, with more features planned for our September issue.”


• To attend this seminar, contact events manager Linda Morse at linda@elcot.co.uk


• To participate in the seminar, and contribute to the China features, email Peter Laurie at peter@elcot.co.uk


'Doing Business with China' feature starts on page 25.


In the September issue of The Business Magazine


• Southern Entrepreneurs • Mergers & Acquisitions • Motoring: new car, new plate


• Christmas Hospitality • Technology • Doing Business with China


Details: 0118-9766410 sales@elcot.co.uk


BRAIN TUMOURS KILL MORE CHILDREN AND ADULTS UNDER THE AGE OF 40 THAN ANY OTHER CANCER


Each day of research costs


£2,740 Just 1%


national spend on cancer research is allocated to this devastating disease


www.braintumourresearch.org Tel: 01296 733011 | info@braintumourresearch.org


Please mention this Registered charity number 1153487 (England and Wales) publication when responding www.businessmag.co.uk of the


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