Experts in Conversation
Venturefest Oxford’s Experts in Conversation articles, interviews and videos are dedicated to giving businesses a voice to converse about an area of their expertise to further our objective of supporting the innovation ecosystem in Oxfordshire.
Experts in conversation
Latest articles
5 ways an accountant can help a start-up other than with their tax return
1. When it comes to your business plan This is probably the very first step after your eureka moment. You’ve spotted a gap and found a solution, but before diving in head first, a business plan can show you what you need to be able to achieve to ensure it will be viable. How much will you need to invest? How much can you afford to invest? How much will it make and is this enough for it to be considered worthwhile? An accountant can explain all these numbers so you know exactly what’s at stake and what can be gained. Not only that, but accurate and realistic figures will go a long way should you need a loan from the bank. 2. When you need to find a mentor How do you reach out to suppliers? How do you find customers or clients? How do you get your start-up out there? Sometimes the number of questions you may have can seem overwhelming. A mentor who has built up their own business with first-hand experiences can provide guidance and clarity. Your accountant may not necessarily be the right mentor you need, but a good accountant will be someone who builds meaningful business relationships with each of their clients, be a key contact amongst local businesses in your area and be able to point you in the right direction to suitable networking opportunities. 3. When you need to find more funding You’ve made good headway with your start-up but you don’t want to lose your momentum and need that extra injection of cash funds. There are various Government schemes such as R&D tax credits, SEIS and Patent Box that are readily available, but you should ask the experts in order to maximise on these options and ask them to explain which would be best for your situation. 4. When your start-up is ready to scale-up When you reach the point where you’re ready for your start-up to go even further you may start to consider parting with equity in order to gain large amounts of investment. Ensuring your shares are correctly set up is crucial and an accountant can talk you through various options such as approved v unapproved schemes. 5. When it’s time to exit It’s all up to personal preference but for some people, once the goal is achieved you’re ready to move onto the next thing. Whether it’s a merger and acquisition, initial public offering, selling to an individual or liquidating and closing, an accountant can recommend the best strategy with your long term future plans in mind. Perhaps you’re looking to do it all again with a new idea, enjoy early retirement or set up a trust to provide for children, a good accountant is there for more than just your tax return. They should try to understand your overall financial situation and goals, and provide efficient solutions. READ MORE
Making the right decisions about your staff
Often, new business owners are given lots of information about the pitfalls of hiring new staff and told about onerous employee rights which are a burden for businesses. Balancing the need for additional support with the need to reduce the legal risk as far as possible, can be tricky. However, whether you’re considering taking on an intern, casual, part-time, fixed-term or permanent employee, there are certain key things all employers should bear in mind. Right to work checks All employers must check that all their staff have the legal right to work in the UK before employing them. If they don’t and an employee is working illegally, the employer can be fined up to £20,000 per worker and or, even, imprisoned. In completing the checks, all staff need to be treated the same (regardless of their nationality, place of birth or appearance) to avoid claims of discrimination. When a member of staff joins an employer, they must provide evidence of their right to work in the UK by showing the company an original document from List A or List B published by the Home Office. You should check it each time you employ someone as it is updated regularly. We can advise on the necessity of termination of employment if you become aware that someone is working illegally. In this scenario, you must act quickly to avoid further penalty. Also, don’t forget that if your staff work with vulnerable adults or children, You’ll need to carry out Disclosure and Barring checks. National Minimum Wage/National Living Wage You will need to check current rates and discounts to check you are paying your workers at least the national living wage. Special rules apply to apprenticeships. Tax, pensions and insurance HMRC recently updated its guidance on who is classed as self-employed or employed, as well as the need for employers to provide workplace pensions. There are additional regulatory considerations such as registering with HMRC as an employer and arranging employers’ liability insurance. Contracts If you employ anyone, you must provide them a “written statement of particulars” setting out information such as the company name, employee name, job title or a description of work, their start date and details of pay and hours of work. Generally, this must be provided within the first 2 months of employment and is often in the form of a contract. There are many other things to think about including what is contained in an offer letter, what probationary period might be suitable and appropriate and what references you should take up. All this can feel a little overwhelming but, fortunately, we are here to help. We can talk you though all your obligations and prepare a pack of all the start-up documents you need, with handy checklists to help you manage the load. READ MORE
Protecting your investment – five top tips for entrepreneur’s from a corporate lawyer
So you’ve got a great idea; one that revolutionises a market (or, maybe, even the world!); but what about protecting it. I advise businesses from when they first start to when time has come to sell, including when they get investment along the way. If you’re planning to raise funds or sell one day, thinking about what investors or buyers will ask you before they hand over their cash will save you time and money later and, at the same time, help you plan for the future. 1. Protect your financial (or time) investment Investors protect themselves. Buyers of businesses protect themselves. Founders of business, all too often, do not. Shareholders’ Agreement’s or bespoke articles of association for a business protect all the shareholders, avoiding expensive and time consuming disputes later. Not only that, but the conversations you’ll have when drafting them will help you plan the business and understand what each shareholder expects. 2. Protect your Intellectual Property Registering trademarks and patents (if you can) is an important step, but investors or buyers will expect you to protect at all intellectual property your business generates. Say you’re developing software, who is developing it? Do you know who owns the rights in it? Generally, you can only protect the expression of an idea; not the idea itself. Where an external contractor develops your idea, they may own the rights in the work! Working out who owns the rights and putting in place clearly drafted contracts to give your business the rights it needs will protect the value of your idea. Don’t forget confidentiality agreements (sometimes called non-disclosure agreements) either. Some of the most commercial successful ideas are not protected by intellectual property. The formula for Coca-Cola is a secret, it has never been protected in any other way. 3. Secure your key people For many businesses, their people are their key asset. Investors and buyers will look at the contracts you have with them to make sure the business is adequately protected. In particular, they will want to know that they cannot leave at short notice and, if they do leave, that they cannot take their expertise elsewhere and compete with your business. If your contracts are not up to scratch, it could affect the value of your business. 4. Limit your liability The first step is to form a company. However, that will only limit your liability, not the company’s to its customers and suppliers. If your business sells something (it is not much of business if it doesn’t!) it will have some liability for what it does. Properly drafted and implemented agreements can reduce the company’s liability, if things do not go to plan and will put investors and buyers minds at ease that there is not a big claim around the corner. 5. Get great professional advice Great professional advice really can take your business to the next level. The best advice comes from a team of trusted professionals working together. We work closely with accountants, tax advisers, financial planners and other advisers, to give them joined up advice for both their business and them. READ MORE
Angel Investment more important than ever
The UK continues to enjoy a vibrant start up business culture According to Companies House a record 650,000 new businesses were created in 20161. The data on the failure rate of start-up businesses varies but a recent report suggests that across Europe 60% of companies will not survive past 5 years2. A key factor that can determine the sustainability and eventual success of young and innovative companies is the availability of risk capital at an early stage. The early (or seed) stage of development is generally the most difficult time for companies to access external finance. Traditional banks, fund managers and even venture capital firms will typically not lend to or invest in early stage businesses as the risks are considered too great and the average transaction size too small to meet the criteria of these institutions. For many companies, investment provided by high net worth individuals (angels) and grant funding are the only sources of external finance open to them at this stage. Angel investors, who often have extensive business experience, constitute the most significant source of risk capital at the seed and early stage of company formation. In addition to cash, angel investors may also play a key role in providing strategic advice, credibility with funders and operational support for early stage businesses. In the UK the generous tax breaks for angel investors in the form of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the more recent Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) have underpinned the vitality of the provision of early stage risk capital. The EIS was launched in 1993 to “recognise that unquoted trading companies can often face considerable difficulties in realising relatively small amounts of share capital3.” Since that time 26,000 companies have raised £15.9 billion through EIS4. Oxford Innovation set up Oxford Investment Opportunity Investment Network (OION) in 1994 as one of the UK’s first angel networks to support this early stage investment activity. Since then our angel investors have invested in over 250 companies for a total amount of close to £40 million. In addition OION has established the OION SEIS/EIS fund in conjunction with investment managers Innvotec which invests alongside our angel investors. Venturefest, like OION, celebrates the critical role of the angel investor in supporting entrepreneurs and innovators thereby contributing to the success of Oxfordshire’s economy. OION are therefore delighted to support Venturefest Oxford, particularly in running the Pitching for success event. 1Centre for Entrepreneurs (CFE)’s analysis of the latest Companies House data. 2The UK 5-year survival rate for businesses born in 2010 and still active in 2015 was 41.4%. from ONS Statistical bulletin: Business demography, UK: 2015 3Michael Portillo, then Chief Secretary to the Treasury 4HMRC Key Statistics – April 2017: Enterprise Investment Scheme & Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme READ MORE
Brexit’s Impact on Intellectual Property Rights in the UK
Brexit will have a major effect on both existing and future intellectual property rights in the UK. The main impact will be on those rights that have “unitary effect” across all 28 EU member states, i.e. where a single right applies across the EU as if the EU were one country. These are the EU Trade Mark, the Registered Community Design (RCD), the Unregistered Community Design (UCD) and the forthcoming European Patent with Unitary Effect. Under current EU laws none of these rights can cover a territory that is not an EU member state, and so after Brexit they will all cease to apply in the UK. This means they will no longer be infringed by acts carried out in the UK. The UK Government is likely to introduce specific legislation to provide that existing unitary trade marks and designs continue to have effect in the UK as if they were UK national rights, but to date no proposals have been published. In the meantime businesses need to prepare. Those that intend to use their mark or design in the other 27 member states after Brexit should continue to apply for EU rights. Those that only intend to use them in the UK should apply for a UK national registration. Applicants for new marks or designs which are to be used in the UK and the rest of the EU should apply for a separate UK mark or design now as well as an EUTM or RCD, in order to avoid the need to rely on whatever procedure is introduced on Brexit and to avoid any attendant delays or problems. Owners of existing EU rights should also consider applying now for separate UK rights for the same reason. Following Brexit, the UK will remain a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) which handles international trade mark registrations. Filing an application through WIPO may be the most appropriate option for a business wishing to register trade marks in the UK, EU and countries such as Japan, China and the USA. The Unitary Patent is a new unitary right that is due to come into force at the end of 2017 or beginning of 2018, with its own special set of courts (the Unified Patent Court or UPC), one division of which will be based in London. The UP can currently only take effect in EU member states and the UPC cannot be based in a non-EU member state. Therefore, unless further agreement is reached, on withdrawal UPs will cease to have effect in the UK and the UK’s section of the UPC will have to move away from London. Continued UK participation in the UPC and UP would require a new international agreement between the UK and the participating EU member states, and would require the UK to submit to EU law and the jurisdiction of the European Court in proceedings before the UPC. It is therefore likely that many businesses will opt out of the UP regime until its future is more certain. READ MORE
Paying apprentices a fair wage crucial to attracting great talent
The new Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham recently spoke out about the importance of paying apprentices a fair wage. Speaking to the North West Business Insider magazine, Mr Burnham suggested that the apprentice minimum wage should be increased to equal the national minimum wage. He said: “No young apprentice in Greater Manchester should be paid less than the national minimum wage. Paying them £3.50 is simply not enough. "Public sector bodies in Greater Manchester are already leading by example and working towards paying apprentices the proper national minimum wage. It's time for every employer in Greater Manchester to follow suit." For many businesses here in Oxfordshire, Mr Burnham’s comments will already resonate strongly. In early-May, colleagues from Oxfordshire Apprenticeships reviewed 40 apprenticeship vacancies – all Oxfordshire-based and chosen at random. It revealed an average wage of £4.81 an hour, which is significantly higher than the national minimum wage of £3.50 per hour. Many ‘living wage’ employers already have effective apprentice salary structures, including the University of Oxford, who pay their apprentices a starting wage of £8.25 per hour. One of our key priorities at OxLEP is ‘people’. We believe that by paying apprentices above the national minimum wage, Oxfordshire businesses are better-placed to attract talented, young people and in-turn, gain an edge on competitors. By rewarding apprentices with good levels of pay, loyalty between a business and employee is built and acknowledges the long-term training investment being made. Competitive employment packages demonstrates a business’ commitment to apprenticeships, seeing apprentices as an essential part of their team and certainly not a cheap way to boost their productivity – but a positive way of developing a highly-trained workforce of the future. For around 400 Oxfordshire organisations – eligible to pay the apprenticeship levy – there has never been a better time to create an apprenticeship programme. When coupled with good, fair pay, positive outcomes can only be expected for both business and apprentice alike. To find out more on the benefits of apprenticeships, go to: www.oxfordshireapprenticeships.co.uk READ MORE
Don’t Do a Startup, Architect a Business!
Prepare for the Unexpected Qflicks, a movie delivery platform I founded in 2002, came out of the gate flying. We were adding more customers in 3 months than our business plan had forecasted in 15. The year or so of planning, coding and putting into practice what I'd learnt whilst helping to start and build divisions of three multinationals and two venture-backed startups was paying off. We had validated the idea, product market fit, business model, and assembled the core team. Now our focus was scaling the business—and we were on a roll. We had seen off Netflix's initial attempt to enter the UK and Blockbuster was in the denial death-spiral. Our team was delighting customers and winning awards: “Innovative Company of the Year”, Top Web Company” - it felt like nothing could stop us. Then lightning struck. Letters arrived from all movie studios informing us that, while they welcomed our success effective immediately price of movies (our big cost) will increase by up to 2000%. We lived to fight another day, eventually becoming part of what is now Amazon Video. However, this unexpected development radically altered the online movie service landscape, impacted our ability to scale and changed the direction of our nascent company. The ‘Pivot’ as we call it today. It was, however, a teachable moment - particularly how uncertainty, the unexpected and seemingly non-scaling related decisions, made very early on, can impact even a successful business during the scaling-stage. As a result, I make sure that the young ventures we work with are built to thrive in uncertainty and prepared for unexpected developments from day one. Here are a few takeaways…. The Corridor of Uncertainty Peter Thiel once said, "Every moment in the history of new true innovation business happens only once, no one has ever made that particular decision before". A business is made up of thousands of these decisions. As the leader, each one you make will be a unique combination of art and science and takes real insight and skill to get right. It's what I call operating in the Corridor of Uncertainty, and many non-obvious scaling risks may be associated with even the smallest misstep. We hear a lot about technical, financial and operations scaling decisions but many do not fit neatly into these categories and could prove fatal during your growth execution stage. Qflicks survived this unexpected development, because of what we got right. However, it also exposed a number of flaws in earlier decisions. Some investors we had chosen turned out to lack the courage and ability to perform in the pressurised environment of uncertainty and rapid change. They soon panicked, became obsessed with 'managing cost and their investment' over what Qflicks could achieve and become. Key advisors went missing in action, not able to dedicate enough quality time. The amount of money we had raised was not sufficient to weather the storm. Although we nailed customer validations, the partnership analysis was less insightful in identifying the conclusions implicit in what the studio CEOs were saying - we placed too much emphasis on qualitative over quantitive analysis. Signs were there, but we saw the studios as partners with mutual financial gain. They bought into the part of our plan that said, "kill Blockbuster" except they wanted the resulting landscape for themselves. Kill the Business Plan The prevailing wisdom, among investors and former corporate executives, is the idea that writing a startup business plan and then slavishly following it is key. While it may serve as a useful tool in boardrooms to measure success or failure, business plans are pretty useless in helping you go from idea to market-fit to company to business. Writing a business plan and sticking rigidly to it is often one of the impediments to scaling a business. Why? Well, it goes back to that Corridor of Uncertainty how can you predict the unpredictable it's impossible right, so stop trying, kick the business plan into the trash bin. Instead, we help startups build frameworks that last the duration and flex to accommodate the needs of the business. Don't Do a Startup, Architect a Business! Through Qflicks we learnt the fundamental mistake of ‘doing a startup' in which we focused on lots of tasks to be done, the usual stuff; business plan, proof of concept, market research, engage advisors, raise funding to name a few. We soon realised that we should instead have been architecting a business with each of these being connected, agile building blocks towards our success. The goal being, a ‘Learning Structure’ able to swiftly and seamlessly adapt to doing what's most impactful for the business instead of what was written down 18 months before. Many stages and decisions lies between idea and execution scaling and as markets go from 'speed of the web' to the fast-changing velocity of smart-mobility nothing is certain. Innovators have rarely been able to reliably predict where their business would ultimately go but in this new environment, it becomes impossible. Replacing industrial age thinking and structures such as the business plan with curiosity, agility, trust and a business architected for uncertainty, able to learn and adapt to the unexpected requires courage and insightful leadership. Having insight when analysing data and identifying the conclusions implicit in what your team, the market and competitors have to say is the key to leading a new business to success. READ MORE
Investing in value: Tips for selling your business
Wendy Hart, corporate finance partner at Grant Thornton Thames Valley, on how businesses can maximise their value before a sale. Despite uncertainties around Brexit the deals market in the Thames Valley is continuing to thrive at an encouraging rate. Buoyed by the healthy concentration of high-growth tech businesses, our region is particularly fertile ground for mergers and acquisitions. Selling your business is rarely an easy decision, nor something that’s decided overnight. It’s a journey that is embarked upon often many years earlier where a clear strategy is put in place to make the business as attractive as possible for sale. This is about value optimisation, not just a straight-forward transaction and it’s important to consider what factors an acquirer attaches value to. This could include the business’ scalability and resilience if the landscape changed quickly. As we saw very recently, when advising on the multimillion pound sale of Reading-based Magal Engineering Limited to Arlington Industries, the sale of a business almost always has its complexities. If you are considering selling your business, to ensure you get the best value it is important that you follow these six golden rules: 1. Plan ahead Rarely is a business sale ready without any prior planning. The earlier this is considered the better. I would suggest that you should start planning at least two years in advance, giving you the opportunity to address any issues a buyer may have and implement any tax planning measures that ultimately may improve your net proceeds. 2. Get advice Ensure you appoint professional advisers that are experienced in transactions with companies similar to yours in terms of size and sector. The earlier you do this the more value they will be able to add. 3. Put your house in order Preparation is everything, if you can’t answer questions or provide important information to potential buyers, it can create uncertainty in their eyes and, at best, results in a difficult sale process and, at worst, break the potential sale. 4. Be transparent There is little point trying to hide issues, the later these are disclosed the more damage they can do. Be open from the outset but only after you have worked with your advisers to address these issues or put a plan in place to mitigate their impact. 5. Plan for succession Having a strong management team capable of running the business in your absence will be highly attractive to prospective buyers and gives you alternative options in the event a sale is not concluded. In order to get the best value for your business, it is essential to understand you’re your value drivers are throughout your business journey, by working with an external provider who can help both support and challenge you in your decision making. At Grant Thornton, we use tools such as our CEO room – a dedicated space for a one-to-one discussion where business leaders can speak to us about their issues and ambitions – to provide in-depth, bespoke consultancy to the businesses that we work with, advising them on how they can add real value to their business. We’re lucky enough to work with some of the Thames Valley’s most dynamic, fast growth businesses. Sometimes, they’re dynamic and ambitious by their nature and that’s why they know we can help them. Other times, we challenge and help clients to become more dynamic in their approach, realising where the value can best be maximised and the path to get there. Preparing a business for sale is an incredibly rewarding job and I’ve been proud to help so many owners on their journey. READ MORE
Planning for your digital estate
Have you considered the amount of digital data that you have and if so, what would happen to that data on your death? There is no standard procedure for managing digital assets in the event of death or mental incapacity. It is therefore vital that any financial planning that you undertake includes arrangements for your digital estate. More internet service providers are allowing users to appoint a person who can be granted access to their account or for it to be memorialised. Facebook now permits users to appoint a “legacy contact”. Google has an Inactive Manager facility. However some assets cannot be legally passed on after death because the user only buys the rights to use the asset during their lifetime. Other accounts will contain money or assets that can be passed on only if the correct procedures are followed. Failing to follow those procedures could lead to data being destroyed before your next of kin can gain access to it. If assets held online have more than a merely sentimental value, you should consider including them in a separate legacy with separate executors to deal with them. This is particularly useful if you own anything online that contains intellectual property rights (such as a digital photography business) because the digital executor can maximise their value for your beneficiaries. If you have more specific, private wishes about how your digital estate should be administered, those could be included in a separate letter of wishes kept with your will so that they remain private between you and your digital executor / the beneficiary to whom you have left your digital estate. Simple, practical steps Make it as easy as possible for your next of kin to locate any PC, Mac, laptop, tablet, mobile phone, Kindle and MP3. Keep good records: Make sure that bank statements are well organised as these will show if there are any payments relating to digital assets, either regular or one-off expenditure. Tell select friends or relatives about the existence of your digital assets. Make a note of passwords and login details for your devices so executors can gain access to information and assets stored on them. None of this information should be contained within the will because this eventually becomes a public document. The list should be stored securely as a hard copy and kept up to date. Tell your executors that the list exists but do not give it to them. You may be breaching terms and conditions of individual internet service providers if you do. Print off hard copies, burn to CD or download onto a USB stick any photographs and documents that are only stored digitally and keep them in a safe place where executors can find them. Retain copies of key documents and data on a personally owned device (such as a laptop, tablet or personal computer), rather than storing them solely online. This will enable executors to access those assets more easily. READ MORE
Is Your Business Protected?
As a business owner, you do everything you can to make your business a success. You may have covered the tangible assets of your business, but have you protected yourself, or those key individuals who may contribute heavily to profits? Could your business continue if one of the owners or key individuals were to die or suffer a critical illness? Without business protection, the death or serious illness of a key member of staff could have a significant impact. Indeed, it could mean that the business has to cease trading altogether. In the case of a partnership, it could mean that a shareholder’s family is forced to take control of a business they don’t know anything about. Business Protection could help make sure that a company can: Pay its debts Replace key employees Protect its profits Let Partners/Shareholders keep control of the business Provide support to a Partner or shareholder’s family. Compensate your business for Key Person absence Key Person Protection – insurance against the loss of profits that could result from the critical illness or death of a key individual, by paying out a cash sum so that the business can continue trading. With many small and medium sized companies dependent on a few specialist individuals, Key Person Cover is designed to help protect the business in the event of death or severe illness of one or more key employees. The business would take out a policy on the life of the key person and in the event of a claim, the sum assured is paid to the company to cover such things as loss of profits and recruitment costs. Lessen the loss of a shareholder or partner Business Ownership Protection (also known as Shareholder Protection) – insurance which gives the owners of the business a cash sum to buy the shares of a co-owner who becomes critically ill or dies. This lump sum helps the remaining business owners minimise disruption to the business, by providing capital that enables them to buy that shareholder’s or partner’s shares and so keep control of their business. A Shareholder Protection Plan is usually taken out by the Partner in the business on an own life basis and then written under a trust for the benefit of the other partners. In the event of a claim, the sum assured is paid to the Trustees for the benefit of the other partners to secure the financial future of the business. Protect your company’s financial stability in times of uncertainty Loan Protection provides a lump sum to cover your business loans and other credit facilities if a business owner dies or becomes seriously ill. In the event you lose a business partner, you may want or need to repay outstanding business loans, some of which may have personal guarantees or have to be repaid when someone dies. Without the right Business Protection Solutions in place, you could end up risking everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve. To find out more, talk to FOCUS. READ MORE
Insects – a food innovation – and revolution?
Food glorious food What did you have for breakfast this morning? Your days of egg and bacon may be numbered! Muesli, fruit and yogurt may become a ‘treat’ reserved for special occasions. Even porridge may be off the menu in the next few years. The food we eat in the future is likely to be very different – and it’s all down to man-made climate change, living longer, and a lot of children! Our changing climate is going to make it much harder to ‘grow’ food in the future and there will be too many people to feed. Put simply we have a major food security problem. Eating insects could be the answer. This has the potential to be the next big innovation in helping to alleviate global food insecurity. How can food production be ‘insecure’? The United Nations warns that in order to feed the 9 billion global population of 2050, food production will have to double. This is unrealistic. Within existing food and agricultural policies and practices repeated and urgent warnings stress the nutrition needs of the world’s population will not be satisfied. Climate change increases pests and diseases. Temperamental weather systems trigger droughts and flooding. Current livestock production is already unsustainable: it uses excessive quantities of natural resources in its production, most notably 70% of fresh water usage. Consequently producing 1 kg of beef requires approximately 22,000 litres of water. It is also the second largest contributor to rising global temperatures and emits a lot of greenhouse gases. And, there will not be enough water in the future either – so food production really is going to be very challenging. Insects – a food innovation – and revolution? In response new innovations to produce food – sustainably – in the future are being sought. First proposed in the 1970’s, attention is increasing on the feasibility of insects for human consumption - namely entomophagy. Producing insects entails negligible use of natural resources like water and land and their ecological impact is virtually zero, particularly if they can be locally produced. Besides the eco-arguments, insects are highly nutritious, being rich in protein, omega 3 & 6, vitamins and minerals. Persuading consumers to buy insect-based foods and insects, however, might require a revolution! So why are we at Venturefest 2017? We comprise two academics and a Brookes Graduate Entrepreneur working on how acceptance of eating-insects might be increased. Our Entrepreneur has created some insect-based ‘treats’ for you to try and we also have actual edible insects too. Please do come and sample some of these ‘delights’ – you might be quite surprised. And of course we would love to share thoughts on how this innovation can be successfully progressed in the not too distant future. You never know, this idea might have legs, or wings , or… READ MORE
OxLEP Chief Executive offers SMEs advice following worldwide cyber attack
The recent worldwide cyber security attack though – in the main – targeting large national and international organisations, should act as a timely reminder to thousands of small businesses in Oxfordshire. Our county is home to around 31,000 VAT-registered businesses, many of whom will have the ability to put much-resource behind cyber threats – but for smaller business, where resources are often tight, it would be easy to overlook online security issues. Our message to Oxfordshire SMEs is the online attacks should act as a stark reminder that cyber security must remain a top priority and should not be ignored – and there is plenty of support available to businesses. The Oxford Cyber Cluster is an informal group of small companies who actively work in cyber security, promoting the need for increased resilience in this area, offering practical advice. In addition – businesses should review their current cyber security procedures against the up-to-date advice given by the National Cyber Security Centre. Advice includes; keeping security software patches current, using proper antivirus software services and backing up any data that matters to a business. Our vision is to see Oxfordshire as a vibrant, sustainable, inclusive, world-leading economy – driven by innovation, enterprise and research excellence. With that vision comes inevitable growth and the need to invest in new technologies which naturally, opens-up everyone – but particularly SMEs – to online risk. And with 85,600 new jobs set to be generated in Oxfordshire by 2031 – over half of which have already been created, many by SMEs – that risk is certainly not going to go away. Oxfordshire Business Support – a service of OxLEP – offers guidance and advice for businesses starting out, or growing. Find out more information. READ MORE
Experts in conversation
Business Development
With Covid-related lockdowns, travel restrictions, cancellation and postponement of conferences and events, business development activities have had to change over the last 15 months. Business relationships and partnership activities have to be developed and maintained on line and lead generation has also changed fundamentally.
In this series of conversations, we explore the shift that has taken place in business development, drawing on the experiences of three different Oxfordshire-based companies: The Electrospinning Company, Enara Bio and Saietta. Through these discussions, we explore how each company has changed its approach to business development and consider how Covid has changed the way we work, looking back over the last year, and looking forward beyond 2021.
Make connections that lead to new investments, new businesses and new ideas in the high-tech sector in Oxfordshire.