news Shareleague Thames Valley presented by in association with


Milestone Group, whose subsidiaries include Oxford Broadcasting, saw its share price on the AIM stock exchange shoot up an extraordinary 88% in November.


The group, a provider of digital media and technology, issued a statement saying it noted the increase but “confirms that it is not aware of any reason for the movement”.


It said the board was continuing to work on the comprehensive reorganisation of the business and the move away from the previous social impact business model to one focusing on fintech and media.


During the month the only other quoted company in the region to show a substantial


share price rise was Angle, the Guildford liquid biopsy specialist that provides translational researchers with the ability to capture and harvest circulating tumour cells and other rare cells.


Shares were up 31% after the recently completed acquisition of certain assets of Axela, a Toronto company whose system provides researchers with a simple approach to rapidly understand protein interactions.


Lok’n Store, the Surrey- based group with self- storage premises around the Thames Valley, saw its shares rise a healthy 12% after the acquisition of a new landmark three-acre site in Bournemouth.


Large (over £1 billion) Closing price


HALMA


BIG YELLOW GROUP ICTL.HTLS.GP.


VODAFONE GROUP FERGUSON


GLAXOSMITHKLINE MICRO FOCUS INTL. ELECTROCOMP. CENTRICA


SERCO GROUP


31/10/2017 1,182.0 777.5


4,172.0 215.6


5,265.0 1,357.5 2,645.0 694.5 169.8 116.6


Haines Watts’ survey focuses on strategy


and shared vision A recent study carried out as part of the Haines Watts ‘For Love or Money’ survey has indicated that business owners who are able to step back and focus predominantly on strategic planning are twice as likely to run fast-growth businesses


HWYE 2017 winners Lauren Prentice and Bruce Casalis


Developing a fully-formed, strategic plan ultimately frees up more time to drive towards a common purpose and innovate along the way.


Closing price 30/11/2017 1,280.0 833.5


4,349.0 224.3


5,330.0 1,279.5 2,489.0 631.0 144.6 95.1


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


FIDESSA GROUP TT ELECTRONICS MCBRIDE


MICROGEN


MORGAN ADVANCED MATERIAL RPS GROUP


DAIRY CREST GP. DE LA RUE SDL


ULTRA ELECTRONICS HDG.


31/10/2017 2,276.0 223.0 215.0 447.5 314.0 294.3 607.5 700.0 538.0


1,824.0 ANGLE


LOK’N STORE GROUP MCKAY SECURITIES VERNALIS


MICHELMERSH BRICK HDG. ECKOH


INTERSERVE


SINCLAIR PHARMA D4T4 SOLUTIONS


TISSUE REGENIX GROUP


31/10/2017 38.6


375.0 220.0 12.8 89.5 51.0 73.0 29.3


151.0 8.6


Sub £50 million Closing price


MILESTONE GROUP STARVEST DEWHURST


CARDIFF PROPERTY IMMEDIA GROUP TP GROUP MBL GROUP


OXFORD TECHNOLOGY 2 VCT BEZANT RESOURCES PEBBLE BEACH SYS.GP.


31/10/2017 0.2 3.5


672.5


1,637.5 20.5 6.6


12.5 30.0 1.3 2.4


Closing price 30/11/2017 2,457.0 236.5 225.0 453.5 316.8 271.8 558.5 635.5 480.0


1,278.0


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


Closing price 30/11/2017 50.5


419.0 235.0 13.4 93.8 48.5 69.0 27.4


134.5 7.3


Closing price 30/11/2017 0.5 3.9


695.0


1,675.0 20.5 5.6


10.5 22.5 0.9 1.6


Change in share price 8% 7% 4% 4% 1%


-6% -6% -9%


-15% -18%


Change in share price 8% 6% 5% 1% 1%


-8% -8% -9%


-11% -30%


Change in share price 31% 12% 7% 5% 5%


-5% -5% -6%


-11% -16%


Change in share price 88% 11% 3% 2% 0%


-15% -16% -25% -31% -32%


Jane Gregory, head of client services at Haines Watts, said: “It’s crucial that business owners make time to identify the aspirations they hold for the business they’ve built. Once identified they can strategically look towards the future and place their management team at the centre of that vision.”


Successful business owners manage to achieve this and our 2017 HWYE young entrepreneur award winners are shining examples. Lauren Prentice of Sense Theatre made changes to her business after careful market analysis. She said: “I’m not afraid to step away from something which I don’t see working in the long term and involve my team. I think as an entrepreneur it’s important to be honest.”


Bruce Casalis, director of Bruce’s Doggy Day Care, another HWYE winner, added: “To grow responsibly, we need to remain personal and friendly to each customer, but have the back office administration, logistics and operations behind the scenes


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018


to minimise operational risk while functioning at scale. “To help drive this, we recently created a new operations director role and recruited an experienced board-level team member for it. We’re serious about achieving our goals.”


This doesn’t always happen though. In fact, our Haines Watts survey of business owners found that many didn’t share information with their managers and did not plan strategically, which prevented cohesive leadership across the business.


Owners need to take the initiative, involve senior managers in the planning process, share their fears and future vision and then hold their team to account for taking the business forward.


sensetheatre.co.uk/parties brucesdoggydaycare.co.uk


For further information about Haines Watts:


hwca.com


businessmag.co.uk


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