Preston-based Harrison Leisure UK
has acquired the 43-acre Rawcliffe Hall Country Club and Caravan Park near Great Eccleston.
Darwen-based print specialist Empine has recorded a 50 per cent increase in sales, cementing five consecutive years of growth. The company has worked with more than 600 businesses across the UK including household brands such as Missguided, KPMG and Fareshare.
Morecambe-based Althams Fine
Foods has launched a doorstep delivery service for its frozen meals. The fifth-generation family firm supplies fresh and frozen ready meals for retailers such as Booths and Costco, as well as some UK airlines.
Lea Hough Chartered Surveyors has helped schools across Lancashire and the wider North West to secure millions of pounds in funding for a variety of building projects from the latest round of the Department for Education’s Condition Improvement Fund.
Lancashire-based Alcedo Care Group has recorded another year of growth. For the last three consecutive years, the home care provider has grown its turnover by an average of 98 per cent and has successfully grown its turnover again by 94 per cent to £15m for the year ending March 2022.
Preston-based fire safety specialist
Walker Fire has acquired Leicestershire- based Detector Alarms and Hampshire- based Southern Fire Protection.
Mark Gibbons
Senior access to finance specialist
@a2flancashire access-to-finance-lancashire
HOW IS THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN IMPACTING EARLY-STAGE INVESTMENT?
As an Access to Finance specialist, I’ve seen the concerns affecting businesses.
Many founders are unsettled by how inflationary pressures, an understanding that the post- pandemic economic recovery will be slower than hoped, and the current ‘bear’ stock market will directly impact their fundraising and the early- stage investment market.
My response is both reassuring and cautionary.
The reassurance • The early-stage equity investment market is very liquid, and the supply of capital is not a constraint. Some commentators believe Q1 2022 investment levels are up by 50 per cent on 2021 levels.
• When global stock markets fall, the flow of capital to early-stage entities increases.
• Business angel networks are still very active, and the capital is still attracted to HMRC incentives (SEIS / EIS) and syndication to reduce risk is buoyant.
• Access to Finance is seeing increasing interest in pre-seed and seed-stage ventures as venture capital reaches deeper into the eco-system.
The cautionary
• Investors are increasingly focused on time to profitability over growth.
An anniversary ball hosted to mark 10
Mazuma Mobile has been named best secondary market provider at this year’s national Mobile News Awards. The Morecambe company saw off competition in its category from Music Magpie and joined the likes of Samsung and Virgin as a winner on the night.
years of Blackburn Youth Zone raised £30,000 towards its running costs. The event was organised by long-time patron Pets Choice. It was was hosted at Mytton Fold in Langho and featured presentations by chairman Jack Straw and founder Andrew Graham.
• Founders should expect an increased focus on due diligence processes.
• Expectations on cash ‘runways’ are extending, and we now see 18m+ as opposed to 12m.
• Valuation inflation is over, and valuations are being reduced to pre-pandemic levels.
• Investors expect a reduction in the frequency of funding rounds, impacting the cash runway.
• Future capital raising in the venture capital space may prove difficult as markets improve.
DOWN More than 200 employees of the
Budweiser Brewing Group’s Samlesbury site planned a series of strikes over the summer after being offered two consecutive years of three per cent pay rises, which they say represents a real-terms pay cut when compared with inflation of 11 per cent.
Corporate insolvencies in the North
West of England jumped by 34 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, as a series of compounding crises – from inflation and supply chain disruption to the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and the Covid pandemic – continued to place pressure on businesses, according to company turnaround specialist Interpath Advisory.
Lancashire County Council was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £10,366,78 costs after several of its highways department employees developed Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome as a result of using vibrating tools. The Health and Safety Executive served an improvement notice in 2019 after the first diagnoses were reported, but further injuries later occurred.
The repair bill for a cottage roof at
Astley Hall in Chorley has grown from £131,000 to £340,000 after contractors discovered significant damage while removing slates. The Grade II-listed building re-opened in May following a two- year, £1.1m refurbishment project.
LANCASHIREBUSINESSVIEW.CO.UK
The message to founders is clear: planning, preparation and identifying appropriate support are critical in developing and positioning fundraising strategies.
Lancashire-based founders are fortunate to be able to access support through the Access to Finance service, Boost and University of Central Lancashire Equity Investment Readiness Programme.
For more information please visit
a2flancashire.growthco.uk
or call 0808 196 5099
15
BAROMETER
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