2010 Newsletters
GREAT START TO 2010Welcome to our Second Newsletter of 2010.
In the first quarter of this year we were delighted to have successfully helped over 30 clients in the West Midlands region as part of the 'Business Recovery Service' initiative. Some of you may recall this was a very positive scheme to provide "at risk" businesses with consultancy/advisory services. This support package was offered at NO COST to the recipient SME as it was fully paid for from funds provided by the European Regional Development Fund and Advantage West Midlands.
This has also helped us to leverage the skills of our team and we are looking to develop our consultancy offering further in this area, particularly if similar schemes are rolled out across the country although RDA budgets have already taken a pounding this week!
NOW FOR THE REALLY GOOD NEWS £750,000 EQUITY INVESTMENT COMPLETION
This is another great example of the current vibrancy of our market.
Our client was referred to us following an Independent Business Review (IBR) by Moorfields Corporate Recovery that was undertaken upon the instructions of the company's bankers. The business had been struggling as their market place had been badly affected by a number of recessionary factors and critically the bank had no further appetite to increase their exposure.
However, there were a number of very positive factors that enabled us to generate significant investor interest, with 5 meetings being held within the first two weeks following engagement. Within 3 weeks our client was in advanced discussion with one of our investors and we are delighted to report that completion took place a short time thereafter.
This was an excellent result all round with all the stakeholders benefitting significantly and formal re-structuring procedures were avoided.
Nick
Nicholas Young, Managing Director
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH MARKET LEADING INDEPENDENT BROKERAGE - HILTON BAIRD
We are very pleased to announce that we have established a new strategic alliance with Hilton Baird (www.hiltonbaird.co.uk), which will provide our clients with a wider range of financial solutions. Hilton-Baird is the largest independent broker in the UK and has a unique approach to arranging financial options for a range of businesses, from start-ups to corporate entities.
There are very good synergies between us and this creates opportunities for significant reciprocity. For us this will be particularly relevant when a business simply cannot access new/alternative finance and equity investment is the most appropriate solution for the situation.
This is tangible evidence of two market leading businesses aligning their respective capabilities for the benefit of SME clients. Please contact us if you recognise benefits to your clients via similar strategic partnerships/alliances.
HMRC GETTING TOUGHER
This is something we highlighted in our last newsletter in February and the 'sting in the tail' seems to have arrived with HMRC starting to take a tougher stance on arrears.
However, we would stress, that HMRC are still very receptive to the proposals that we put to them. They certainly see our involvement as a very positive step and please bear us in mind for any situations where we can leverage our relationships.
THE GLASS REALLY IS HALF FULL
Welcome to our First Newsletter of 2010.
'The glass really is half full' rather than 'half empty' has been very much part of our philosophy during the recession and since Beer & Young started in 1998. No matter how dire things might seem there will always be some positives. We really don't like seeing failure and business owners throwing in the towel when they have not fully reviewed all the options. Our clients need help, support, and positivity, as well as the money! This brings me nicely onto
SOME VERY GOOD NEWS THE BUSINESS RECOVERY SERVICE (BRS)
We are delighted to have been awarded a contract, via Business Link West Midlands, to provide "at risk" businesses with consultancy/advisory services. This support package has been offered at NO COST to the recipient SME as it is being fully paid for from funds provided by the European Regional Development Fund and Advantage West Midlands.
We are very pleased to have been recognized as a leading firm in our market place and we are actively delivering this service to a number of BRS clients in the West Midlands.
OUR FRIENDS AT HMRC
Although this might appear a little bit of a contradiction in terms for many of us, we are genuinely pleased to say that we have forged some very positive relationships with HMRC over the last 12 months.
The Debt Management Units have been very receptive to the 'Time to Pay' or CVA proposals we present to them on behalf of our clients.
The 'sting in the tail', however, looks as though it has arrived as HMRC are starting to take a tougher stance on arrears.
I would stress, however, that we are still in a good position to leverage our relationships with HMRC and would always encourage any business with arrears issues to contact us.
Nick
Nicholas Young, Managing Director
BUILDING OUR PRESENCE ACROSS THE COUNTRY
We are delighted to have established a greater presence across the country with new associates in the following locations:
Liverpool Area: Shon Laird (Mobile: 07836 272649 em: shon.laird@beerandyoung.com)
Manchester Area: Ian Ross (Mobile: 07905 624456 em: ian.ross@beerandyoung.com)
West Midlands: Chris Jones (Mobile: 07879 056456 em: chris.jones@beerandyoung.com)
West Midlands: Brian O'Reilly (Mobile:07765 247249 em: brian.oreilly@beerandyoung.com)
Bucks: Andrew Hall (Mobile: 07908 733203 em: andrew.hall@beerandyoung.com)
Herts/Beds: Robin Pike (Mobile: 07734 272113 em: robin.pike@beerandyoung.com
Please feel free to make contact with any of the above members of our team. Shon, Ian, Chris, Brian, Andrew, and Robin, are all keen to build local contacts on the ground in their respective areas.
We now have a team of 15 associates across the country and combined business experience that totals well over 200 years. We continue to increase our expertise in almost every sector of the economy.
Latest News - Summer 2010
This Summer has seen a flurry of investment driven turnarounds. Michael has been leading the way with a £750,000 fund raise for a business in distress. 140 jobs were saved in this manufacturing and supply business the full case study will appear in these pages very soon.
In addition we are delighted to have announced our partnership with Hilton Baird see recent newsletter. Already this relationship is bearing fruit and we are helping businesses we otherwise would not have seen. On the down side, it is disappointing that almost all funding has been cut from Business Links and related public sector bodies such as Advantage West Midlands.
We hope that once the pace of recovery is firmly bedded in, then new grants and funds will appear in some of the needed regions around the UK.
Spring 2010
Last Autumn we set about expanding our team of Associates, with a particular emphasis on the Midlands and the North West. We are very pleased to welcome several new faces a short profile and location can be found in the People page.
We are also delighted to announce that Beer & Young has been awarded a government funded contract to help businesses in the West Midlands region. We are able to offer fully funded advice and guidance in all our specialist fields to SME's. Put another way, the service is FREE to our customers. There is a limited budget of £1.5 million on this contract, and overall we anticipate that in excess of 200 businesses will benefit from the contract.
Here's a news release site about this initiative.
Here's the fuller article about the initiative
Please do not hesitate to call us if you would like a 'no obligation' discussion about any of the services we offer.