Angels - November '09

angels The leading magazine for Business Angel investment

November 2009

£3.00

JULIE MEYER ON BACKING WINNERS

LORD ARCHER’S INVESTMENT SECRET GIVING IT ALL AWAY

“We started making and selling wormeries for composting on our farm. Now, to reach a much wider audience, we advertise on Google using AdWords. Nearly a third of our sales come via the internet – from all over the UK. It’s a bit like a marketing worm farm!”

Visit www.google.co.uk/ads-freetest for more info about advertising on Google and a FREE £30 voucher to get you started. Terms and Conditions: The promotional code can only be used for AdWords accounts that are less than 14 days old. Voucher can be redeemed for AdWords advertising. Only one promotional code per customer. Customers must be from the UK or Ireland. A £5 account activation fee or equivalent credit deduction required depending on your preferred billing options. For full terms and conditions please visit http://www.google.co.uk/adwords-voucherterms

This month Managing Editor Richard Alvin - [email protected] Editor Simon Clarke - [email protected] Online Editor Paul Jones - [email protected] Contributors: - [email protected] Jim Moore, Felicity Cousins, Gavin Porritt, Andrew Lopata, Mark Prigg, Louise Shaw, Derek Bedlow, Andrew Price, Sophie Goodale Production Manager Tony Carty - [email protected]

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Designer James Conolly - [email protected] Head of Advertising Lawrence Carter - [email protected] Advertising Tracy Light - [email protected] Tel: 020 7148 3861 Email: [email protected] Subscriptions - [email protected]

www.angelsmagazine.co.uk Published by:Capital Business Media Ltd Ensign House, Canary Wharf, London E14 9XQ Copyright: (C) 2009 Investor Media Ltd / Capital Business Media Ltd. ISSN 1754-3096 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the publishers. The views expressed in Angels Magazine are not necessarily the views of the publishers or Investor Media Ltd. Whilst Capital Business Media Ltd. has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, neither they nor any contributing author can accept any legal responsibility for any consequences that may arise from errors or omissions contained in this publication or from acting on any opinions or advice given. In particular, this publication is general and not a substitute for professional advice and you should consult your own professional advisors where appropriate.

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in the news

Live Longer: on your bike With petrol prices hitting new heights, more and more people are turning to pedal power to get to work, and get fitter – research suggests cyclists could live two years longer. According to Europe’s leading office and workplace equipment supplier, Welco, orders for company cycle sheds and ramps have never been healthier- they have seen a 100% increase in sales the last two months. It has never been a better time to ditch the car and start cycling to work. In fact, under the 1999 Finance Act, if employers sign up to the cycle-towork scheme, it is a win –win situation – companies can provide bicycles and accessories as a tax free benefit, while gaining national insurance savings. Under the Government’s Green Transport Plan, which promotes healthier ways of getting to work while reducing environmental pollution, employees taking advantage of the scheme receive savings of up to 50% on the retail price of bikes and accessories. Birmingham-based Welco, has to date seen a significant increase in orders from local authorities, health departments, the police and companies large and small – all looking to provide new or increased cycle facilities for their staff. As Welco’s chief executive, Adrian Reeve maintains “Cycling to work benefits everyone. Its helps relieve traffic congestion; helps cut pollution; helps people save money they would have spent on petrol; helps reduce global warning; and often reduces their travel time. And with the Tax incentives, people should take up the challenge. “Cycling is no longer the reserve of lycra-man. It is now being regarded as a viable means of transport. With the prospect of the $200 barrel of oil, the bike should be viewed as a primary form or transformation – a free, calorie-burning, mobile gym.” 4 • www.angelsmagazine.co.uk

UK Women don’t let your US cousins take the lead Research recently undertaken in the USA found out that women are twice as likely to start a business in the US compared to women in the UK. With this figure in mind and the research that suggests that more women would start their own business if they didn’t fear failure, Women Unlimited has a mission to support women across all aspects of their lives and build inner confidence. It will support business women, who are starting up or wanting to increase their profit, by sharing success strategies and stories as well as the challenges and solutions. The content is created by other women that are already successfully managing their own businesses. They are supporting the community through their own experiences and engaging with the audience on topics that are meaningful and relevant. Julie Hall, Founder of Women Unlimited explained further, ‘I want to be a catalyst for helping women and turn their ideas into a profitable venture while managing to maintain their work / life balance. Women have a variety of motivations for starting their own business, but the ones I hear most often are family commitments and independence. It can be challenging starting and running your own business, but through sharing real stories as well as the facts, we can help women find solutions and ideas to support them in their journey. ’ The new online community will be available to all registered users. Content will include arti-

cles, videos, news, book reviews, a discussion forum on controversial themes inviting opinions and views as well as details of the launch event with future events in the pipeline. The website will feature real stories and interviews with women who running their own businesses. All content will be written by business women who have juggled with their personal and business life and have key experiences to impart. Women Unlimited is a new supportive platform for women starting in business or women who are keen to build their business to new levels. It acknowledges the issues of the everyday modern women and helps women bring about a balance in their lives. www.women-unlimited.co.uk.

Google your way to 192 192.com, the UK’s leading directory enquiries site, has launched a unique Google Gadget that allows users to search for people and busi-

access to key information and tools across the web. It’s estimated that 20% of Google users have adopted a personalised iGoogle home

nesses directly from their iGoogle homepage. The new gadget gives users fast and free access to the site’s 13 million residential listings and 4.5 million business listings. Users can also

page. Dominic Blackburn, New Technology Director, 192.com said of the launch, “Adding 192.com’s directory enquiry search tool next to

search 192.com’s award winning maps and aerial photography directly from the gadget. In addition, the new tool will search the site’s pre-

your news and weather updates ideally rounds out your iGoogle home page. We first developed this gadget to allow our existing users to

mium records including Electoral Rolls and Company and Director Reports. iGoogle home pages allow you to personalise your Google search page giving you fast

access search results faster but we now see it has great potential to attract new users as well”. To try the 192.com iGoogle Gadget for yourself, visit: www.192.com/gadget

in the news Skimpy skirts & open tops head fashion flops MEN who undo one button too many on their shirts or women who don see through blouses are guilty of the biggest office fashion crimes, according to a new survey. 61 per cent of 584 UK financial professionals surveyed in the office fashion report conducted by North West financial recruitment specialist, AFR Consulting, find revealing clothing the biggest office fashion faux pas. The survey also revealed that ‘dress down Fridays’ and similar casual initiatives could be ‘so yesterday’ with 58 per cent of respondents preferring more traditional office wear at work, such as suits, shirts, blouses and ties. This was despite a massive 81 per cent of organisations revealing they had now introduced a dress down day or similar policy at work, suggesting bosses are themselves following a social trend.

Adventurous wardrobe The report by AFR Consulting questioned company directors, financial directors, managers and other finance professionals in a range of

organisations from the accountancy, law, finance, manufacturing and retail sectors. AFR Consulting director Simon Speak said: “Some people have a slightly more adventurous dress sense than others but respondents to our survey delivered an overwhelming no to wearing revealing clothes at work. “In the professional office environment it seems directors and managers still like to dress smart, preferring business suits and ties, even over the slightly more casual look of trousers and unbuttoned shirts. Despite this 81 per cent of respondents said their company now had a dress down policy. “Judging from the results of the survey, office fashion continues to

be a hotly-debated topic in offices throughout the UK.” Cliff Bashforth, a Master of the Federation of Image Consultants (MFIC) and leading image consultant for Colour Me Beautiful, said: “Your image at work can have an amazing impact on your job prospects and it can make or break your career. “One of the deadly sins is showing too much flesh. Whether male or female, young or old; covering up, even in the summertime, is of prime importance. Your professionalism and the respect you’ve gained over a period of time can be damaged should you succumb to dressing down and baring all. If you’re female, the guys don’t know where to look. Well, actually, they do – but it’s not at their computer keyboard. For the guys, let’s keep any hairy bits out of sight – apart from those on your head and forearms of course.” As well as revealing clothes, other office fashion pet hates, according to the survey, included jeans, sportswear and tank tops.

Post firm bucks trend with 100% sales increase In the current economic downturn Bristol based ONEPOST has seen a boom in postal activity handling over 16m items over the past year. Born out of the postal deregulation, onepost, is the leading independent postal advice organisation providing cost-saving solutions to mailers, utilising an increasing number of operators as well as innovative collecting, sorting and distribution techniques for mail in the UK. Research from Bellwether shows that marketers are severely cutting back their budgets as the economic downturn deepens and the FT has launched its ad campaign last month urging companies to continue advertising. However a recent report from

marketing agency, Epsilon, found that “Direct Marketing is playing a key role during the economic downturn with spend significantly increasing.” Graham Cooper, ONEPOST Managing Director, comments “During this time it is even more important for companies to use channels that provide accountability and measurable results. In addition our aim is to provide postal strategies that will help businesses save costs, maximising the benefits of their budgets. He adds “Some companies are still unaware that there are choices in the postal market where significant savings can be made and improvements gained in the quality of service.”

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in the news

London offers opportunities for Korean businesses Think London has begun offering a new free & confidential service for Korean businesses looking to globalise. Think London, the foreign direct investment agency for London, is showcasing opportunities for Korean businesses looking to expand and grow in London as the UK capital prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. London’s economy is forecast to grow by $80 billion by 2012 and will offer huge opportunities for Korean companies looking to invest in the capital. Michael Charlton, Chief Executive, Think London is visiting Korea in early April to meet with Korean businesses and to co-host a session with KOTRA (the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency) to advise companies on how they can benefit from investing in London. Speaking ahead of the visit, Michael Charlton, Chief Executive, Think London commented, “We believe that many Korean businesses are well placed to benefit from the investment opportunities presented by London’s predicted economic growth of $80 billion by 2012 as well as those relating to the 2012 Games. We are ready to support Korean companies looking to take advantage of these opportunities and globalise their business by using London as a springboard into Europe. “London is the perfect springboard for businesses looking to go global, with fast access to a range of customers, markets, ideas and finance –all aimed at helping businesses operate on a global scale.” Outward foreign direct investment from South Korea increased from $4.3 billion to $7.1billion in 2006, with London attracting 25 percent of all Korean projects into Europe. Think London provides free, confidential and comprehensive advice to help international businesses set up and grow in London. The FDI

agency for London is able to assist companies who are interested in applying for any one of the 2,000 main contracts and the further estimated 50,000 supply chain contracts available in relation to 2012. Think London has a well established track record of helping businesses establish themselves in the capital and has helped more than 1,000 companies from 43 countries since 1994. Over the past seven years, Think London has assisted 30 Korean companies to set up or expand in the capital including Samsung Design Europe, Hyundai Logistics, Hanjin and Industrial Bank of Korea.

SMEs in London and South East failing to take up government funding An independent research poll conducted on behalf of Ixion has revealed that a staggering 85% of SMEs across London and the South East have lost-out on government funding available for their business to invest in training. The shocking results of the poll could partly be put down to a need for more positive action from the SME business base in response to contact from government funded brokerage services. The poll, conducted among businesses with fewer than 250 employees, found that 81% of respondents said that their business had carried out some form of staff training in the past, yet a worrying 71% had not taken any positive steps to capitalise on a minimum of £1,500 in government funding available to them for training. Graham Baker, CEO of Ixion, commented: 6 • www.angelsmagazine.co.uk

“In an increasingly challenging business environment, investment in training is critical. These are worrying statistics, with over half a million* SMEs in London and the South East of England, businesses must realise that they can benefit from government funding available and have access to appropriate training to enhance their business, and in turn increase their competitive advantage. “The Government has committed itself to the UK’s long term skills needs to achieve a world class skills profile by 2020. This research highlights that SMEs need to take some responsibility for making contact with organisations such as Ixion, which provides a gateway for businesses and individuals to access public funds, ensuring that they get signposted to, and benefit from, appropriate business support specialists and training that they are entitled to.”

Graham Baker concluded: “Businesses should understand that government-funded services such as the Business Link service, Train to Gain or Ixion run Advantage East are in existence to help and advise them on business growth and workforce development training. This support is particularly important given the current economic climate, where a trained workforce can give a competitive edge.” On contact, the Ixion research uncovered that an incredible 96% of respondents said they would like to learn more about regional government funded schemes such as Ixion’s Train to Gain and Business Link services. *According to Business Link, in 2006, there were 202,580 companies in the East of England and 304,090 companies in London with fewer than 250 employees. www.ixion.com

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The Kevin Green Column In his new column, developer & social entrepreneur Kevin gives us his unique take on social conscience in business

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like to tell it as it is; over these coming months I will unfold to you the details from the grass roots end of my businesses, and why as a social entrepreneur I want to pass on my skills so more people like many of you can take a similar option.

Since my experience on Secret Millionaire the whole environment around me has changed: I am loving it. I learnt that I should have even more of a social conscience in my daily business; and so my whole business ethos has changed, whereby I focus much more on customer needs. We are now working with The Wallich, a housing charity in Llanelli town who help homeless and dependant people get re-housed. The identifiable need is that there is a shortage of secondary residential rental housing to accommodate the less fortunate individuals; therefore we have refurbished two houses to licensed shared housing status and have been approved by the environmental health office to let as such. One of the buildings is dedicated for male occupancy and the other female. The Wallich supply a case officer for each tenant to help them back onto the housing

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ladder and we let on a room-by-room basis with living allowance paid by the rent office. There is a very big demand for this type of housing in the UK, and I urge landlords to look into this option. In most cases, rents are paid directly from the local council to my bank account. The upshot is that my social conscious is already, in a small way, satisfied and it’s financially lucrative to boot.

My businesses As you can probably tell, residential rentals form the main long term hub of my business; and are one of seven major businesses that I own. We have had to become innovative in the market; obtaining finance has become tighter and rents dropping by 18% on average across my portfolio. Margins however, i.e. cash flow remains strong as interest rates have dropped prorata. I make money when I buy property and every house has to cash flow from day one of rental. I welcome the tightening up of the law as a result of the housing act 2004 except for one: direct ‘living allowance‘ payments to tenants as opposed to paying rents directly to landlords. Government expected

this change to teach tenants how to handle money; it’s not working. The tenant has to be in 8 weeks of arrears before the council will start paying landlord directly; so what is actually happening is its encouraging tenants to turn more to alcohol and drugs as they spiral even more into debt and difficulty, therefore its making the situation much worse not better. Ultimately it will cost the government more money as private sector landlords are in some cases refusing to accept income supported tenants or have gone bust because of resulting rental shortfalls.

Top-down lessons The government needs to wake up!! Our business lost £23k in non payments last year alone. Teach us finance and how to run a home in school if you wish to be productive. Our house is probably the biggest asset we have in our lives; I find myself consistently sitting down with consumers teaching them how to draw up a simple asset and liabilities cash flow plan as they have never been taught what I believe is the most fundamental business planning. See www.propertytrain.biz

Why Marketing must be in the boardroom Business marketing expert Grant Leboff looks at why marketing plans need to be front and centre

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n many companies, marketing has traditionally been seen as merely a cost to the business.

While the sales department was responsible for bringing in the revenue, the marketing department, it seemed, was constantly asking for further investment in a variety of campaigns, whose impact was hard to ascertain. While the common view was that marketing was necessary, in many businesses marketing was tolerated, rather than embraced. This is especially true in a world where a product or service was created, and only after its conception, was it handed over to the marketing department. They would then decide how best to take it to the customer base. This approach worked for two reasons. Firstly; we lived in a world of limited choice. Consumers, for many purchases, were limited by geographical boundaries. Whole market sectors such as telecoms, utilities, air travel and financial services had not been deregulated in the way that they are today. In this market, simply shouting that you existed, would often lead to some business. The bigger the budget, the more you could shout; by way of advertising, direct mailing, cold calling etc., and the more business you would often acquire. Secondly; consumers were prepared to listen to the shouting. Before the World Wide Web and specifically Google, who made sense of all the information that it contained, it was quite difficult for consumers to find out about new products and services and be able to compare them. Traditionally, shouting about your product or service was often the only way consumers were made aware of new developments in the market. Therefore, while companies engaged in this activity to sell their wares, consumers got some value by learning about new products and services that were available. Today, this model simply does not work. Consumers now have an abundance of choice, which, in many cases, is no longer limited by geographical boundaries. They also have access to information regarding

that choice. Customers no longer want to listen to companies shouting, because there is no longer any value in it for them. They know that when they want to find out what’s available, they will have access to all the in-

‘Marketing is no longer something that should be thought about after the product or service is conceptualised’ formation they require on the internet. In today’s world, where the choice of products and services is abundant, consumers no longer take the same notice of companies who make fantastic claims about what they can provide. Today, consumers make sense of all the choice available by listening to each other. Through social networks, blogs, messaging, emails and forums, consumers disseminate information and experiences about companies. It is this information that has such a large influence on other purchasers. Therefore, no longer is marketing just about clever strap lines and imagery. No longer is marketing about bombarding the customer with messages, in the hope that it will lead to some action further on down

the line. With information regarding a product or service readily available and easily disseminated by consumers, they too are now involved in shaping brands. Marketing is now about ‘being part of that conversation’. Marketing is about helping to shape that process. It is more about facilitation, than it is about directing. If you want consumers to talk about your product or service then the marketing must be built into that product or service. For example; anyone can post a video on YouTube for free, but every time you do, by directing people to your video, you are also marketing YouTube. Marketing is no longer something that should be thought about after the product or service is conceptualised. It must be built into the very essence of the product or service. It is integral. In other words; marketing today, more than ever before, has to be at the heart of the business strategy. Marketing must be in the boardroom and failing to dois Principal that is like a rudderless ship. Grant Leboff of The Intelligent Sales Club working with companies on effective sales and marketing strategies and lead generation; creating a steady stream of sales opportunities for businesses. For more information email [email protected] or call 0844 478 0044

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Giving it all away We look at the growing trend of the ubber wealthy entrepreneurs who are determined to give away their wealth to help others instead of just handing it on to their future children and future generations

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hat do Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Sir Tom Hunter and Duncan Bannatyne all have in common? The answer, apart from considerable success, is that they're all committed philanthropists, who have pledged to give away the bulk of their fortunes to good causes. And they're not alone as with every month that passes, more and more of the world's wealthy announce their intention to devote their time and their money to making the world a better place. So, what's driving them? Though there are many reasons for giving, the most often cited is that it's an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Victor Hugo once said that "as the purse is emptied, so the heart is filled", and for many, philanthropy does just that. It gives people pleasure and life enrichment by knowing that they're making a difference. It also allows them to achieve a spend/give balance. For instance, while he has had no problem in amassing his fortune, the hedge fund manager Arpad Busson said in a recent Guardian interview that his decision to embrace philanthropy was because he found it impossible to enjoy his wealth, knowing there are people out there who were much less fortunate than himself. For others, philanthropy can be the ideal way of instilling family values and educating their children, as showing the next generation what a difference wealth can make to others can help prepare them for the responsibilities of inheritance. When asked what he would leave his children, Warren Buffet famously remarked: "A very rich person would leave his kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing." Worried about stifling their offsprings' ambitions by giving them everything on

a plate, entrepreneurs in particular are increasingly leaving the majority of their wealth to good causes or charitable foundations that they have created. Dragon's Den star Peter Jones has established a trust fund to reward his children for the good they do, their yearly allowance dictated by their choice of future career. He hopes it will encourage them to consider professions that make a difference to others, such as nursing or teaching, rather than focusing purely on those jobs with the best salaries. Likewise, his co-star, Duncan Bannatyne intends to leave his entire fortune to his Bannatyne Foundation. He fears that leaving his children hundreds of millions of pounds would rob their lives of any purpose.

Having a common goal But as well as allowing children to follow their own path, we have found amongst our clients that philanthropy can also bring families closer together. If you own a successful family business, setting up a charitable foundation can allow those relatives not involved in the day-to-day running of the company to work together for a common goal or purpose. For those that have sold their business or are beginning to take a step back from their profession, but are not quite ready to sit back totally, philanthropy is an opportunity to apply both financial capital and life experience in order to solve social problems. Rather than simply writing out a cheque, creating your own dedicated fund or taking a hands-on approach to the causes you support can ensure that your money and expertise are having the greatest impact. This can often become a career in itself, with similar rewards and the same sense of achievement. When the late Anita Rod-

dick sold The Body Shop, it wasn't so that she could sit back and enjoy the fruits of her labours, it was so she could devote the rest of her life to her charity foundation.

Leaving a lasting legacy In addition to making an impact during your lifetime, philanthropy is also a way of supporting a cause for the long term and creating a lasting legacy. Setting up a trust that will fund organisations or charities in perpetuity will ensure that your work will always make a difference and will remind others of how strongly you felt about a particular cause. For an example look no further than Bill Gates. At the moment he's famous for founding Microsoft, but he hopes that after he's gone, he'll be remembered for his commitment to eradicating disease and ending social inequality in Africa through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But whatever your initial motivation to start giving, knowing how, where and when can prove challenging. With so many deserving causes, choosing the right one is always going to be a tough decision. And once that choice is made there are further difficulties. How much to give; whether to make a single donation or regular payments; how to gauge a specific charity's performance before supporting it and how to monitor the impact your support is having. 
So if you feel that philanthropy could be the key to enriching your life, then Coutts can help you develop your perfect giving strategy. From simple advice and researching potential beneficiaries, to setting up a charitable trust, our dedicated philanthropy team will guide you every step of the way, making it simple for individuals, families and business clients alike to start making a difference. www.angelsmagazine.co.uk • 11

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Telling who you are by the shirt on your back G

reen and Jack’s a custom shirt maker claims to be able to read human personality from their choice of shirts. There have been lots of studies linking colour to personality. Especially the research by Dr. Max Lûscher during the early 1900's is very interesting. He studied the relationship between choices of colour to human behaviour. Dr Lûscher’s study has been used by large companies, doctors and psychologists to analyse human personality. Green and Jack’s a London based custom shirt maker has applied colour research to help their customers project the right image. The colour and fit of the shirt that one chooses gives an insight into one’s personality.

What does your shirt say about you? Crimson – high energy, confident, passionate, sensual and brave leader White – honest, practical and natural.. Pink - confident, naughty and unconventional. Black – powerful, elegant and mysterious. Blue – organised, warm, caring and intuitive personality. Yellow – original, happy and helpful. Grey – a balanced and elegant thinker. Brown – A conventional person who loves the outdoors. A well fitting shirt often conveys a structured mind and an organised personality. Choose the fit and colour that projects and compliments ones personality by visiting the custom shirt store. Green and Jack’s custom shirt maker offer free colour consultations. The perfect fit guarantee makes ordering custom made shirts risk free to customers since alterations are free of charge.

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Backing winners all the way Julie Meyer the founder of Ariadne Capital, First Tuesday and latest Dragon talks to Jon Card. As one of the foremost operators in the UK’s digital space she tells us about the web, who’s going to beat the recession and why being an entrepreneur is the best choice for the 21st century

Confidant Meyer’s business, Ariadne Capital, is, by its most mundane description, an advisory, investment and networking business. Meyer will refer to it also as a ‘marketing machine’, ‘a revenue centre’ and place where

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‘entrepreneurs back entrepreneurs’. Its clients include some of the hottest new properties in the digital, online and media spaces. While its 50 or so founding shareholders are drawn from the best of the UK and European digital world. And, in the middle there’s Meyer and her team joining up the dots. “My strategy with entrepreneurs is to become their confidant and for them never to doubt that I am on their side. Start-ups are such a hot kitchen, you have to be the steady ship that they can lean on.”

Funding Crisis So, in the teeth of the worst recession and financial crisis in years, are the deals still getting done? Apparently so, Ariadne has completed five fundraisings since December, sees about 100 business plans per month and is still hiring staff. Meyer also scoffs at the notion that ‘nobody is getting funded’. “When people say nobody is getting funded, I think they might not be getting funded by the VC community, but there’s a lot of private capital out there; there’s a lot of family offices and entrepreneurs that have made money, and they are looking for opportunities to channel into their money and expertise.” This is where Ariadne fits in, working with the start-ups and emerging businesses, helping entrepreneurs overcome their funding problems and build managerial capital through its network. Meyer describes business development in five main stages: concept, product, validation, scalability and sustainability and/or exit. In order to effectively gauge a company’s valuation, she spots where the entrepreneur is in this cycle, looks at comparable fundraisings and gives the owner-manager the hard truth. “A

lot of entrepreneurs have unrealistic expectations about valuations. But if you have them on your side and they trust you, you can say ‘lets look at the deals done for companies at your stage of development, you’re not worth £10m today, you’re worth £3m, so lets get a deal done’.”

Ideas V Money The UK is no longer home to heavy manufacturing and huge nationalised or state-backed businesses. Its economic future depends on the efforts and ideas of entrepreneurs and small businesses. Meyer believes that on this front we have a lot to offer and sees the next century as a period of ‘mass entrepreneurship’. But she is less than impressed by both statesman and institutional investors, who still don’t seem to have grasped what this really means. “There are lots of great entrepreneurs in this country, but the funding of entrepreneurship has not kept pace with it,” she says. The venture capital community needs to revise how they relate to entrepreneurs and to want to create more world-beaters. Trust between the VCs and entrepreneurs needs to be improved and the former need to look at owner-managers in a more positive light. “Not everybody is a Charles Dunstone (founder of Carphone Warehouse), but there’s more Charles Dunstones in the market than the VC community admits. “I am amazed by the amount of successful entrepreneurs, who have made money and want their next idea to be hit right out of the ballpark, who say, ‘you know what I don’t want anything to do with the VC community’.” Ideas and innovation are essential V

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atching up with Julie Meyer is one thing, keeping up is quite another. The fast-talking American is so full of ideas and energy she reflects the equally dynamic online and digital world she works in. During our 45 minute meeting we cover everything from Martin Luther to the recession and the future of the 21st century. “Do we have enough time?” she asks the start of the interview. I tell her we do, I am certainly wrong.

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MEYER AT A GLANCE Born in the US, Meyer moved to Paris in 1988 and later went to the business school Insead, which despite being in France was ’just dominated by the Brits’. In 1998, she opted to move to London rather than Silicon Valley, as she felt she could play ‘a greater role’ as it seemed almost possible to get to know everybody who was working in the internet. She founded First Tuesday, a now legendary global networking business, which brought entrepreneurs, suppliers and investors together. They wore met green, amber and red name badges respectively to speed up the introductory process. In July 2000, she sold First Tuesday for £50m in cash and shares and the formation of Ariadne Capital followed in December of that year. She now has permanent residency in the UK and is considering citizenship. Although as an American, is not fully taken by the idea of swearing an oath to our Queen.

usiness Matters 0209 B:UK

10/02/09

and always have been, but too much emphasis is placed on the money, she argues. This leads to the two groups ‘fighting for control of the bus’ there’s also many cases of companies being over-capitalised which makes profitable exits unrealistic: “It comes down to the philosophy of the investor. Who’s the hero of the story? When I speak to the investors about who they think are the important ones in the equation they say that ‘we are the ones bringing the money’. But if you look at history it shows that capital follows ideas, it always has and always will.”

Getting to market So what makes a great idea or business, Meyers draws from history to argue the following: “It isn’t the best idea or product that wins the day but the best idea/product with the best distribution. Martin Luther had a radical idea challenging the Catholic Church, but without Gutenberg he would have been a mere footnote of history.”

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Start-ups are ‘front loaded’ needing lots of capital, ideas and talent right at the start to take them out to market. For new technology-based companies this is all the harder as development costs can be high and consumers still

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Meyer speaks highly of SpinVox’s founder Christina Domecq a fellow woman in business that she wants to succeed and believes is great for female entrepreneurship. She is also perplexed about some of the recent negative press coverage that the company has received and asserts that the business will prove its critics wrong. “Its revenues are growing and it has a great IP portfolio. And when you look at her staff they are incredibly devoted to her, she’s create a corporate culture that I have rarely seen. The staff believe they are creating a billion pound company.” Another company she mentions more than once is Monitise, the AIM-listed mobile banking business. “I really think that Monitise is going to go down as one of the most impressive companies in history. Its share price is completely bucking the trend.” Indeed, after a rough year on the markets its share price is growing again which validates is decision to hold firm and stay on AIM, while the financial world regained its composure.

Consumer finance is, in fact, an area which Meyer believes Britain is good at and other growing hopefuls, such as Wonga and Zopa are also worth a look. The Meyer-powered marketing machine is working for its clients, although not everyone she mentions is a client, such as Thunderhead led by Glen Manchester. Meyer just seems excited about hot new companies in general. Innovation and technology has ushered in a new paradigm for business, and Meyer is positive that her portfolio businesses will be among those that replace the ailing old industries. Local media is one likely candidate for the cull. However, Meyer is unsentimental about these changes. “You have dominant newspaper groups and directory services which aren’t particularly interested in making it work for everybody, they just want to make it work for them. People want to spend money locally, but they have failed to animate local businesses to advertise online, even in 2009.” It’s a similar story for the record industry; V

have to learn about them before they will buy. Ariadne offers to find answers to all of these problems, as well as talking up its portfolio companies. As a permanent resident in the UK, Meyer knows all too well about our British reserve, which she admires but admits doesn’t help to get a company’s name out there. Here the unashamedly American ‘marketing machine’ kicks in, as she is only too happy to sing the praises of her portfolio companies. But businesses looking to get adopted by the corporations need more than press coverage. B2Bs need think about the Cs too. The ‘consumerisation of technology’ was a highly significant development of the 20th century and entrepreneurs need to recognise that. Meyer cites SpinVox, the voice to text company, as a great example of a company that used consumer take-up to convince the Blue Chips that it was worth dealing with. “They got 150,000 people signed-up through a great deal with the Carphone Warehouse, and then they went to the big telecommunications companies.”

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DRAGON MEYER

it failed to adapt and to listen to what consumers were telling them. But now new companies in the new media world are taking their place and are getting funded. Look at for example BView, an interactive review of businesses complete with credit scoring, or Slice the Pie, where fans can invest in musicians. There seems to be something so much more democratic about the companies she champi-

ons, compared to the dominant players of the 20th century. It isn’t just about them making money, but about the consumer getting a return too. With this in mind, you start to get a flavour of what she is envisaging when talks about a future of mass entrepreneurship. A future where we are all able to get the information we need, invest in great ideas and depend on ourselves above all.

Alongside Ariadne, Meyer has been investing in companies via the online version of Dragons’ Den. However, it has become so popular that it is now scheduled for TV broadcast this month As the latest addition to the Den, Meyer is a change of direction for the show, as she will not engage in the caustic put-downs and withering looks that has helped to make the show famous. “I am never rude to entrepreneurs, so I told the producers ‘please don’t expect me to do that, as that’s not who I am’.” She wants to help entrepreneurs and to explain why she isn’t investing without burying them. “Apparently this was a major breakthrough. And I was told they liked my strategic insight, I thought I was just being nice to them and explaining why I wasn’t investing.” At the time of writing she has made two investments, one survived due diligence, the other did not.

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It really is that easy! 18 • www.angelsmagazine.co.uk

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Going Clubbing Business networking specialist Andy Lopata looks some of the new crop of business clubs

L

ooking to invest in a film, a new band or an up and coming artist? You could do a lot worse than spend a day in Hospital. Want to meet up and coming entrepreneurs? Perhaps you should head to Adam Street. Big business deals are moving out of the Boardroom and into a range of different venues. From the traditional grandeur of The Arts Club in Mayfair or The London Capital Club in the City, to the more modern surrounds of Soho and Shoreditch House and the aforementioned Hospital Club, private members clubs are thriving both in London and across the country. With the growth in the number of entrepreneurs working from home, fed up with looking for hotel lobbies, coffee shops and bars for meetings, private members clubs have enjoyed a renaissance in recent years. While London has seen an explosion in the popularity of such venues, the trend hasn’t been restricted to the Capital. I’ve enjoyed meetings with members of clubs in Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham among others. A few years ago the network of which I was Managing Director conducted an informal survey of our membership, primarily micro and small businesses. We asked those of our members who had also joined the Institute of Directors the main reason for their membership of the IoD. Over 85% of the respondents joined the IoD because of the availability of their Clubs in Pall Mall. Since that time the IoD has developed a network of ‘Hubs’ similar clubs with meeting space across the UK, available to all members. And it’s not just entrepreneurs. Business leaders looking for a reliable, discreet venue for business lunches, television celebrities hammering out their latest contracts and investors looking for their next great project can all be found enjoying the benefits of club membership. Many members clubs are established to cater for particular industries or professions, encouraging like-minded people to collaborate and support each other. Others boast affiliations with similar establishments abroad, or elsewhere in the country.

The Pool Room & Belini Lounge at The Hospital

While many of the older clubs retain the traditional rules, requiring mobiles to be switched off, insisting on members wearing ties and banning talk of business in many areas, the new breed embrace business. In many you will find members lost in their laptops, with the Club acting as their virtual office, while some, such as One Alfred Place, in Bloomsbury, offer on-site PAs and workstations.

If you are looking to find out where to meet new people, create and develop alliances and discover the next great deal, it might be time to dust off your dancing shoes and go clubbing. Andy Lopata is one of the UK’s leading business networking and referrals strategists. The co-author of two books on networking, Andy works with companies from one-man bands to global names such as NatWest Bank, Merrill Lynch, O2 and Capita to help them realise the full potential from their networks.

www.angelsmagazine.co.uk • 19

The value of a brand A

s new businesses are being established by entrepreneurs across the country, to suit the market looking for more individual service, businesses must focus on creating a brand that can leverage their business financially. Branding is affecting business more and more everyday, so much so that it is taking over larger shares of a business' value and becoming an increasingly important factor when it comes to differentiating yourselves from competitors. Brand is worth the investment – successful brands command premium positions, customers will pay more and economic value will be added to your organisation. A powerful business asset, branding can be used to strengthen customer retention and win new clients and, maybe more importantly for the future of business, good brands attract the right calibre of employee – something that is often overlooked. It’s estimated that 50% of Coca Cola's worth lies in its trademark and we’ve also found this with SME clients who have honed in on creating a brand, not just a business.

Xiros Let's take a look at an example. Xiros, a Yorkshire based medical devices manufacturer, found that potential customers weren’t seeing the business for what it truly was, an innovative medical design house – effectively missing out on business they knew was right for them. After evolving their existing brand and dissecting the product offer, the business recorded a 700% increase in new business generation within 12 months. This has kick-started a period of significant growth over the last two years. Brand plays a significant part in how the company is perceived and how it approaches new business. The existing customer's relationship with a brand As well as attracting new business, a re-brand lets existing customers know that you are evolving with the times and are able to meet their changing needs in the business world. Selling to existing customers is the easiest (and cheapest) way to increase revenue and it is these customers who are most likely to bring you new referrals. Customers form emotional alliances with strong brands, ultimately these brands are able

to command a higher price in the marketplace, providing much stronger financial returns throughout a business’ life cycle.

Attracting new customers The current climate means that new customers are much more cautious when entering into new business relationships. They will be on the lookout for a brand that they can relate to, one that matches the needs and values of their business. This is where brand works most effectively. Creating differentiation is one of the most important attributes to a brand. A valuable perception of quality in the mind of the customer will guarantee you are competing based on your credentials rather than on price. The current climate offers great opportunities for SMEs – larger firms that sub-contract to smaller independents are looking to cut costs. SMEs need a good brand behind them to leverage credibility for bigger contracts.

Interior Surfaces Interior Surfaces, bespoke manufacturers of solid and laminate surface products, decided to invest in their brand as a way of attracting larger contractors. They invested in a re-brand because their existing image was not representative of their capabilities and they wanted to appeal to a larger commercial customer base. They had a 5 year plan in place to double their turnover, but achieved this in 2 after repositioning the business as a complete solutions provider. Turnover rose from £1.2m to £2.4m.

This was put down to the new brand and strong design ideas bringing a sense of what they were able to achieve to the company, both within the business and externally, and have since gone on to successfully win contracts with larger clients, and entered new markets. Design with targets to meet An effective brand strategy should deliver results to the bottom line and therefore should always have targets to meet and be measured for performance. It should tie into your wider marketing strategy and flow consistently within an organisation's internal and external communications. This makes the brand a more powerful tool.

Branding affects business Brand equity is turning into a corporate asset that provides financial return and long term profits, whilst also adding value to the customer. From multinational companies to SMEs the principles are the same - good brands will be reflected in a stronger balance sheet with a higher level of profitability for a given cost of sales – a very attractive proposition to build a business around. But what must be remembered first and foremost is that a brand is not just a logo, it is paying attention to detail to every aspect of communication within an organisation, from stationary to staff. If that is mastered then the reputation of your company should prevail over the competitors', and by word of mouth, you should find yourself with a successful business. www.angelsmagazine.co.uk • 21

Taking over We talk to the British businesses who are leading the charge

Turning ugly Richard Alvin talks to Mark French about opening up his unique brand of agency in the US and America’s facination with UGLY

I

n the late 1960’s there wasn’t the supermodels of the stature of Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, Kate Moss or Naomi Campbell, but there was a glut or normal people who were needed to be in advertising that the buyer could associate with. So in 1969 Mark French founded what was then the first character model agency called Ugly and you could say that he has never looked back as steadily their roster of models grew as did their clients. Its name notwithstanding, Ugly doesn’t just represent the odd and grotesque, but real people. The agency believes it is tapping into a shift in advertising trends, in which advertisers

22 • www.angelsmagazine.co.uk

seek models who look more like customers, on the theory that the customers can better relate to them. The agency now gets up to 100 emailed applications per day. But photos that give a good laugh are filed in a desk drawer. After over thirty years running Ugly in the UK, Mark set about expanding the business away from the UK. There was only really one option as the first venue and that was America. The land of the free, and so French hooked up with Simon Rogers, who after working for more than 20 years as a fashion model knows the business inside and out and had been friends with French since they were teenagers.

‘Whilst it was a struggle at first as the US is very different to the UK as there is a different union for every aspect of the business’ commented French the progression has gone very well and now Ugly NY is perhaps New York City’s only modeling agency specializing in booking non-professionals. A quick look at their casting book highlights models sized zero to 30; little people of four feet and under; and sumo wrestlers, old ladies, drag queens and tattooed bikers, among others. “Other agencies avoid these kinds of people,” said the Shadow casting director, Renée Torrière. “Ugly has made a home for them.” Ugly NY, which opened its doors in

Americanfocus

the summer of 2007 has signed on nearly 500 models so far and the pair hope to expand their brand to other cities, among them Los Angeles and Berlin. French actually decided to launch the New York arm of the business as a franchise which Rogers runs as it was a lot easier using that model he explains. That said he still spends one week every month in New York and feels that the inside of the BA cabin is his home from home as he sees it so often. Ugly NY talent representative Yvette Ulrich says that New York is the best city for this kind of agency. “A lot of New Yorkers, they’re not trying to be anything else: this is it, they show up as is,” she said. “It’s not like they’re getting dressed up in the morning, that’s who they are.” Ugly models can sometimes earn the same rates as runway or other traditional models, though mainly it expects

to offer part-time gigs paying a few hundred dollars a day. “I tell them, you can make money being you, the way that you look, because it’s beautiful,” Ulrich said. Native New Yorker Najwa Moses welcomes the chance to make money from her appearance, whether or not the looks she gets are flattering. “My hair is unusual and I’m pretty tall, so I’m always getting looks,” she said. “Some are positive and some are negative, but they’re looking.” She was booked as an extra for the movie version of Sex in the City because, she said, the directors liked her different but fashionable look. Model Betul Alganatay, featured on Manhattan Storage ad on billboards, says she chose Ugly NY because she didn’t want to get lost in a bigger agency. “Ugly has a different attitude towards the business,” she said. “They

look at it in a human way.” Anyway, there’s really no such thing as ugly, according to Rogers. “There’s boring,” he said. “But not ugly.”

www.angelsmagazine.co.uk • 23

Gaining that competitive edge W

hile the Americans and the British have similar language and culture, the two nations are still quite different when it comes to business. Understanding these idiosyncrasies will ensure you are better equipped to negotiate deals and develop long-term business relationships. There are some primary aspects to consider: •Americans often build relationships through business, not business through relationships. Work out the details of the deal first, the relationships may come later. • Active selling is expected, often to a degree that may be regarded as excessive in the UK. • Time is money, so be well prepared with samples, packaging and sales sheets. Know your return-on investment calculations or sales forecasts, pricing and logistics. Deadlines are real and short; respond quickly or risk losing the business. • Know your competitive advantage over specific US suppliers, as well as your domestic and international track record. • Being direct is a virtue; ask for what you want, say what you mean and do as you say. Being shy and unassertive may be seen as a weakness in the US. Americans won’t take offence to well-phrased, direct questions because they always reserve the right to say no. • Be positive. British tendency to be self-effacing or downplay achievements can clash with Americans’ can-do attitude and tendency to take information at face value.

24 • www.angelsmagazine.co.uk

• Effective follow-up is essential and often involves persistent and repetitive attempts to make contact. If you have called or emailed someone 2–3 times and have not heard back from them, do not assume they are disinterested. Instead, remember that persistence is expected in the US; it may take you as many as 10–12 attempts to get a response, whether positive or negative. • Business conduct in the US is generally conservative, polite and succinct; it is important to clarify benefits for the prospective customer. The key to success is not being large but having a strong product or service offering and being able to clearly articulate your competitive advantage. US buyers are time poor and bombarded with marketing collateral and sales pitches from hundreds of companies. As a result, it is extremely difficult to get their attention. Success in the United States is often based on persistence. It is not uncommon for a buyer to need to hear your message numerous times before they can differentiate it from all the others. You should increase your chances of getting noticed by keeping the message concise and diversifying the channels you use to deliver it, such as email, telephone, publications, third parties and personal visits. Americans were the inventors of the 30-second sales pitch. Whether you like or loathe the idea, the level of marketing noise bombarding buyers and the number of competitors makes it a necessity. You need to be sure you can move a US buyer from passive disinterest to

Use your britishness as an advantage

curious engagement as quickly and effectively as possible – ideally in 30 to 60 seconds. This concise pitch should include the following four elements: • Articulate the problem your product addresses, the solution it provides and why it’s better than its competitors. For example, “My software solves the problem of product tracking in the retail industry and provides a 30 per cent higher savings rate than my two top competitors”. • Use American English. It sounds like common sense, but many UK business people speak in metric units, reference British locations and use British slang in US pitches. • Try to reference companies that are already active in the US when establishing your advantage or credibility. Whether presenting testimonials or claims against competitors, the US buyer needs to quickly understand who you are in context of his or her current environment. • Be specific about the benefits. Avoid using generalities such as improven return-on-investment, productivity or sales. Instead provide specific numbers, data and percentage increases on aspects of business that show you understand the buyer’s concerns.

You know you need a business coach when... You’re facing a transition

Carmelina Lawton Smith, a Senior Lecturer & consultant with Oxford Brookes University Business School looks at how to manage transition of top staff Gordon Brown reputedly waited many years to step into the top job, yet when he eventually did he made the mistake that so many other leaders have made before him. Gordon forgot to leave his old job behind. It is no accident that the only major success of Gordon Brown’s premiership so far has been on the world financial stage. This is a world in which he feels at home and so can use his strengths and experience to full effect. He has had somewhat less success however on the media stage, promoting himself and his government. So many leaders move into a new role and fail to assess and define the priorities of the new job, trying instead to use skills of old that have served them so well on the upward climb. It is this transition that can prove to be the undoing of many a talented star who has risen through the ranks delivering targets and achieving goals. The move into a more senior leader26 • www.angelsmagazine.co.uk

ship role often brings with it new responsibilities, a broader strategic focus and the need to consider every uttered word that may be unpicked and analysed for hidden meaning. Exhausting as it may seem, every decision, every smile and every handshake must be considered. The water-coolers and corridors of offices can spurn discussions just as toxic as those in the corridors of power.

Define priorities It is in this transition that an Executive Coach can prove invaluable. A coach can help the new leader define the priorities of the new job and to distinguish between ‘what I like doing, and what I should be doing’. By challenging the rationale, the coach can bring a unique honesty to task prioritisation, helping to clarify the needs of the new role in the broader organisational context. As a neutral party the coach can also help raise awareness of the

strengths and weaknesses that the leader brings to the role. An authentic appraisal of skills will prove invaluable to achieving results. Only then can the leader begin to shape the new role and appreciate which tasks they should take on, and which should be delegated to better suited or more charismatic lieutenants. Ultimately coaching is about taking action. Priorities and awareness can only yield results if acted on. A coach can provide the support needed by leaders to define appropriate strategies to move forward. As sounding board or confidante the coach provides a unique thinking space which frees the mind from the shackles of fear and indecision. Helping to build an action plan to enable the leader to travel to the edges of their comfort zone but not beyond their realm of competence.

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Interiors Sophie Goodale looks at some of the best new furniture options

Tahiti chair for riva 1920 The Tahiti chair combines the retro chic of a classic mid century design with the organic warmth of solid timber.

Terry Dwain £2,695 www.leighharmer.co.uk

The bespoke approach Bespoke furniture from one of the UK’s leading office storage and furniture providers.

Frem £POA www.frem.co.uk

Cattelan italia zip computer desk Computer desk on wheels with frosted or coloured (red, black or brown) glass top, upper shelf and swivelling shelf. Silver lacquered steel legs. Upper shelf adjustable in height.

Toshiyuki Yoshino £1,025 www.macandmacinteriors.co.uk

Ualtiero solid wood dining table The Gualtiero table is a sleekly handsome addition to any design savvy dining room and makes a great centre piece. We love the sexy combination of walnut and iron. A great investment piece that will stand the test of timemerican Black Walnut or OAK top with oiled iron base.

Leigh Harmer £3,549 www.leighharmer.co.uk

28 • www.angelsmagazine.co.uk

Antonello liko glass & wood table The antonello collection is sheer simplicity of Italian design, where complements are open to contrasts, quality meets practicality and striking designs become features of a contemporary home . A balance between solid wood, polished chrome and bold use of colour and materials.

Man & Mac £2,429 www.macandmacinteriors.co.uk

Cattelan italia bookcase Style in its purest form, the cattelan italia collection is Italian contemporary design at its most aspirational. Metals, glass , marble, crystal and leather make up these interior works of art. Founded in 1979, the design house has since created award-winning products that are recognised and revered worldwide.

Philip Jackson £1,170 www.macandmacinteriors.co.uk

www.angelsmagazine.co.uk • 29

The fame game As we all strive to be famous for more than our five minutes, entrepeneurs are now joining the ranks of David Beckham and gaining world-wide fame.

E

ntrepreneurs have been elevated by the media to become role models, a position once reserved for footballers and film stars. Today’s young people are as likely to aspire to become the next Richard Branson, Peter Jones or Duncan Banatyne as they are to follow in the footsteps of David Beckham or Jude Law. The common factor among all these figures is one-in-a-million talent. They are simply exceptional at what they do. And that rubs off down the scale. Just as Fred Bloggs who plays for Melchester Rovers Reserves reckons he must have that divine talent too, so, it seems, does Joe Soap, who runs a business and sees himself as an entrepreneur. And Mr Soap, at least, may have to rethink. Global business consultancy McKinney Rogers has just carried out a survey of senior business executives and concluded that Britain’s entrepreneurs should watch their backs because they’re not as unique as they thought. There is evidence of a more entrepreneurial generation hot on their heels, particularly from emerging markets, which are embracing a more entrepreneurial approach to business.

Train to be an entrepeneur Coupled with that, a majority of respondents to the McKinney Rogers survey believe entrepreneurship is not an innate gift and can be developed. The survey, which encompassed Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific and the US, was designed to gauge awareness, perceptions and trends surrounding entrepreneurial skills in the corporate environment. While an encouraging two-thirds of respondents (69 per cent) believe that in today’s business environment it is important for large organisations to develop a core competence of entrepreneurship, the emergence of a more entrepreneurial spirit in the boardroom is noticeably different in the UK from how it is in some other regions. The younger emerging markets are ready to embrace entrepreneurship in a large organisation (50 per cent) as opposed to only 27 per cent in Europe including the UK, where markets are more established. This is supported by respondents who see regions such as Africa having a widespread belief (88 per cent) that entrepreneurs can be developed, compared with only 38 per cent of people surveyed in UK and the rest of Europe. Less constrained by tradition, these emerging markets are perhaps more open to risk taking and creating a more flexible environment and culture that can embrace entrepreneurship. Key findings emerged when executives and business leaders were asked to assess the defining characteristics of both CEOs and entrepreneurs. There was a marked difference between the 30 • www.angelsmagazine.co.uk

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two perceptions, with executives seeing more of a blurring of the lines between entrepreneurs and business leaders, heralding the emergence of a more entrepreneurial approach to business from the next generation of business leaders.

Core skill base Executives saw both entrepreneurs and CEOs as strong communicators, energetic, visionary, flexible, decisive, intuitive and not independent operators. Executives also viewed the role of a CEO as including risk taking and flexibility, which CEOs themselves scored low in the survey as core skills for themselves. CEOs see entrepreneurs as passionate, energetic and highly motivated and identified their key qualities as being visionary, driven, persistent and decisive. When respondents were asked which parts of the business were important in achieving corporate entrepreneurship, interestingly, people and behaviour-related objectives, such as encouraging ownership (72 per cent) and developing an entrepreneurial culture (47 per cent), featured more highly than operational focus areas such as creating and developing new ventures (39 per cent). Richard Watts, UK partner at McKinney Rogers, says: “What is interesting about this research in particular is the openness to entrepreneurs by the less established markets and also by newer industries such as technology, where the pace of change necessitates a more maverick, flexible and innovative approach to business. “For older, more established markets to continue to flourish, they need to keep pace and this means adopting what is called intrapreneurship – injecting some of the core qualities of an entrepreneur into a large business and adapting the culture to allow this to sit comfortably.”

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Gain a real understanding McKinney Rogers CEO Damian McKinney says: “These results clearly highlight a real understanding across industry that entrepreneurship has an increasingly important part to play in driving a successful business. What business leaders need to understand is that this isn’t about recruiting a number of entrepreneurs and hoping that they will make changes and expect them to mould to the current culture. “The key is to identifying entrepreneurial qualities in existing employees creating a culture that supports some of the innovation, risk-taking and flexibility that is associated with entrepreneurs empowering people to take ownership for this.”

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Technology Guy Clapperton shows you what you need to create the right impression first time when presenting If Spring is the season of mellow fruitfulness then the Autumn is when the exhibitions start up in earnest. A whole new raft of kit is required to make a company’s exhibition presence fly; this magazine is involved in Business North West and others from late October, and locking everything down with security hardware from Kensington so it doesn’t go walkies; meanwhile you’ll need something for a good display, equipment to help people interact with you in seminars and keep everything charged

Papershow You have an auditorium of people, you’re administering death by PowerPoint and you know you need to do something to engage them. So someone in the audience has an idea and you ask them if they could sketch it as a diagram. You take a pad over and a peculiarly thick pen, they scrawl on the paper – and it appears on screen, in real time, as they draw it. This is because the pen – and the USB key you’ve put into your computer – comprise PaperShow, a system that takes whatever is drawn onto the special paper they provide and puts it onto your laptop screen, and by extension wherever your laptop display is focused. It’s straightforward to use after a slightly fiddly set-up, in which you have to deactivate your computer’s Bluetooth and set up the key as a Bluetooth

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receiver instead; once you’re over that it’s a breeze and audiences love it. One user we spoke to said it turned his presentation into a conversation, which is exactly as he wanted it. Auditorium and keynote speech settings are of course only one possible use of this gadget. Any setting in which you want extra participation will make this work. The interface is a paper pad, so you can pass it around – and unlike a whiteboard with multiple inputs from tablet computers, which could also do the job, this costs £115 per unit. Mac users will have to wait a few months for their release unless they install Bootcamp or one of the other PC emulators and install a copy of Windows, at which point it starts to work beautifully. You can also use the memory/Bluetooth key for storage – for example, storing your presentation.

Presenter Logitech has released two new presenter tools for those auditorium moments when you’ve seen your competitor dashing to and from the computer and prodding away to change to the next slide, or asking a colleague to switch to the next image. Best for larger gatherings is the Presenter R800. This has buttons you can operate to change slides, clearly, and also a timer which vibrates when you’re two minute, a minute and 30 seconds away from whenever you’re due to finish, and when it reaches zero it starts to count the minutes so you know how long you’re overrunning. Its reception range is 100 ft, so you can do a lot of wandering around a pretty substantial room without losing control of your slides, and its laser pointer is equally visible at a distance. This costs £69.99 and has a smaller sibling, the R400, which has a 50 ft range instead and fewer bells and whistles, costs £44.99 and will still control your presentation without say the timing functions. Logitech guarantees only that these devices will be compatible with PCs, presumably because of warranties and suchlike; we tried one with a Mac running Powerpoint for

the Mac and it worked perfectly without any problem at all. Some readers might have tried the PowerPoint controllers which you can find on (for example) the iPhone. Many of these have positive feedback and appear to work; they are third party applications, however, and there is no guarantee they will work when there’s an upgrade since none are officially sanctioned by Microsoft. Logitech has also issued some new mice which are great when you can’t predict what sort of surface will be available. The Performance Mouse MX (£89.99) and the compact Anywhere Mouse MX (£69.99) both work on smooth glass surfaces, which is usually death to a mouse, by detecting tiny scratches and irregularities on the surface.

Laptop & Display The temptation, when there are laptops available for around £300 or small netbooks for under £200, is to go and buy one of those and take that around with you when you’re on the road showing stuff. The problem with that option is that the displays start to let you down – hooked up to a projector the small sub-£200 models often distort the picture and the larger cheap models are heavy and look distinctly non-businesslike. Many people – your correspondent included – opt for Apple for portability, but this is expensive and will require an adapter (under £20 from any Apple store but another layer of fiddling). For easy use with most peripherals like the aforementioned pointers, mice and Papershow products it makes sense to stick with PC for the moment, and MSi’s recent X600 laptop releases are a portable weight and have full spec for a PC. They start at £599 for a model with 320 gigabytes on the disk and no optical drive and move to £799 if you need the CD and 500 gigs of storage as part of the deal. In terms of where to send the output, Apple sells excellent quality large displays from its stores (try to avoid ordering these online or off the page, if you

can go and see one and check for dead pixels it’s better than arranging a product return); many companies offer excellent projectors and recent offerings from Toshiba and Optoma offer full high-definition compatibility. Optoma also offers a pocket projector, the Pico, which fits in the pocket and will take a feed from a portable media player. This is useful for impromptu presentations when there are no obvious facilities around, other than a wall!

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If you had £100,000 what would you invest it in? That was the question that Stephen McDowell, editor in chief of the UK’s number one investor website interactive investor (www.iii.co.uk), asked some of his friends and some of the answers were interesting...

"How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of the world." Cynical bloke, that Hamlet. Personally, I think 2009 has a lot of promise. I’m rather bullish actually. My tracker mortgage has gone down by two-thirds and with the amount of beer I drink, 2.5 per cent off VAT makes for a significant saving. Seriously, money is like water – it always finds its own level. Where it flows out of one asset class and therefore deflating its price, it finds a level in another thus inflating the price. Sounds easy, but the trick of course is finding the new fertile pasture. Of those assets that have been hammered, commodities have been the most battered with the wheels properly falling off the super-cycle. And here is my first one. Less than six months ago the price of oil was $140 a barrel. Way too high. At the time of writing the spot price was less than $38. Way too low and at that level the big producers will simply begin to turn off the taps and artificially inflate the price. Thus a nice big buy on a spread bet on the oil price. Shop around for somewhere with a decent margin. In three months, you may find it will be back towards a more natural price of around $75. One place where our liquid money will flow in my view is Africa. Look for companies like Cussons, which does huge retail business in the more predictable parts of Africa – particularly oil-rich Nigeria – with sensible consumer goods like white goods, non-perishable foods, soap and household cleaning products. Graham Benson, serial chairman & executive chairman, TriNorth Oil that comes from places other than the Gulf , US or former Soviet territories - already slowly moving in the right direction if still a bit volatile. Robbie Burns, professional trader and author – The Naked Trader.

Horse weighing under 10st 10lb to win National Buy Oil price Buy up all non environmental 100w light bulbs left, set up internet site to sell them later in year yielding a massive 3X profit. (20% payable to me, please) Jason Michelow, accountant and amateur diplomat, Essex.

Ignore claims on 'below market values. In fact, ignore values and capital calculations completely. Buy only on yield and rental cover (how much excess income you have to meet your senior debt costs, expressed as a percentage. 125% is the absolute minimum banks will consider). Enter in commercial property at risk. Residential will be where it's at as even the unemployed need somewhere to live, but clearly not an office or shop or factory for the foreseeable future. Peter Nurse, desk editor and serial poker fish, Dow Jones, London I’m old enough to remember Jim Slater’s investment advice for 1974 – shotgun cartridges, baked beans and Krugerrand. But the sensible advice must be corporate bonds – still bombed out, but that’s what I’d do with money I needed. The big play must be inflation proof assets, for when the government’s strategy goes pear shaped – probably next year. £100,000 would probably buy 2 buy-to-let properties from distressed sellers. You may have to wait a bit, but houses can only remain below their building cost – which is what is happening now – for so long. Lucian Camp, advertising guru and chairman, Tangible Financial I'd invest it in some reasonably creative and original form of pure self-indulgence. I loved the thing that guy planned about going to eat at every 3-star Michelin restaurant, although it was a real shame he only got half way before something strange happened to him – chronic gout I imagine. Anyone who can string a few words together ought to be able to make their money back on the book of the adventure, too. If on the other hand the rules of the game insist that I have to look for some sort of investment-style return on the money, then no question that I'd buy land in Iceland. It's really cheap just now - and when that global warming kicks in, it's going to be extremely attractive real estate. Philip Martin, self-styled horse-racing genius and founder and partner, Nucleus Financial, Edinburgh

2009 will show itself to be the year of the dragon.......investor. All the bottom-of-the-cycle basement bargain prices will be achieved this year. As a man of property my advice is "buy any high yielding stock in the UK, USA & Germany.

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L

ord Archer has been quietly ploughing money into theatrical productions since Lord Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera.

He owns 35 per cent of the national tour of Sound of Music starring Connie Fisher who won the part of Maria, the singing nun, in a reality television show. The biggest fish is named after Grease. For good reason. "I put £150,000 into the stage production of Grease and have got back £1.5 million so far. It has been a fantastic success," says Lord Archer. But he has not always had the Midas touch. He lost £400,000 in a US production of Hello Dolly. Lord Archer is working on a series of short stories, writing in long hand with a felt tip pen, in a study in the grounds of the Old Vicarage at Grantchester. The study, with its Pugin furniture, has echoes of his time as an MP which ended in financial ruin in 1974 and his 12 years as a member of the House of Lords. His second parliamentary career may yet be brought to an end if ministers carry out their threat to pass legislation banning convicted criminals from the upper house. On his desk is a new cover for his 1979 thriller Kane and Abel which has been reprinted 84 times, and sold more

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than 33 million copies. Lord Archer has rewritten it to mark the 30th anniversary of its original publication. "I thought I would have another go at it. I gave myself three weeks to read and correct it." Nine months and 500 hours and it was completed. It is now 7,000 words shorter. "It is pacier, faster, as I am now a better craftsman," said Lord Archer. "But the plot and the ending are the same. Kane and Abel changed my whole life. I bought the Old Vicarage with it. I went from nothing to a millionaire in 24 hours." Lord Archer knows he will never win an award from the critics for his prose but if there were a Nobel Prize for storytelling he would have won it years ago. He has sold more than 250 million books and is in the top 10 best selling authors in the world. Lord Archer, by his own admission, has had a roller coaster of a life which could have come straight from the pages of one of his novels. After his writing success Margaret Thatcher made him deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. He stood down when he successfully sued a newspaper which alleged he had paid for sex with a prostitute. He bounced back again to become a confidant of John Major and was the overwhelming choice of the party faithful to become the Tories’ first candidate in the 1999 London

mayoral contest. But Lord Archer, hailed by William Hague as a "man of outstanding integrity," crashed and burned again when he was sentenced to four years in jail for perjury over his liaison with that same prostitute 15 years earlier. Since his release Lord Archer has turned his back on politics and dedicated himself to writing and raising money for charity as an auctioneer – £2.2 million last year. "Now that politics is out of the way I enjoy writing even more," he said. But he is still a member of two Conservative associations, and has regular lunches with members of the shadow cabinet. He hardly knows David Cameron but is not convinced he has what it takes to succeed. "I was shocked by the recent opinion poll in The Daily Telegraph which showed we have made no progress in Scotland or the north of England. When I was deputy chairman I could travel from Glasgow to Edinburgh without leaving Tory land. In a two-week period I covered every constituency in which we had an MP. There were 14. Now we have only one. We appear to have given up." Lord Archer fears that the Tories might scrape into power by winning back Middle England but with no mandate in the north or Scotland. "They will hate us if that happens. It will be terrible. It will not be good for politics. You don’t want a country that votes north or south you have

Lord Archer Jeffrey Archer always breaks at noon from writing to feed his 100 Koi carp, in the pond at his Cambridgeshire home, which have been named after some of the most popular plays to grace the West End and Broadway stage, symbols of his secret investment successes.

to represent the whole of Great Britain." Lord Archer believes that the Tory party fightback – their lead is 14 compared to Tony Blair’s 26 points at the same period in the electoral cycle – was hampered by Mr Cameron’s Old Etonian image. "What have they got, six Old Etonians in his inner circle? It does not worry me because you should choose the best people you can find, But the man in Durham might think we are snooties." Even if the Tories win, Lord Archer was not convinced that they had the team to turn the economy round. "My worry for him is quite simple. With the economy in the state it is in, the pound falling so low, can he [Cameron] or anyone else make a difference in this financial crisis?" Did he expect the Conservatives to win? "I used to think so until I saw that poll. In the last six months the lead will narrow in favour of the Government. We must win but it ain’t over yet." These days Lord Archer is only an occasional visitor to the House of Lords. He professes to be relaxed about moves to change the law to strip convicted criminals of their peerages. "It’s up to the Government," he said. "But I like the answer John Major gave when he was asked if Jeffrey Archer should lose his peerage. He said: ‘Fine, take it off him, but you will have to give it back to him the next day because of all the work he

has done and is doing for charity’." Some of his most controversial charity work, before he went to Belmarsh prison, was his appeal for Kurdish refugees in northern Iraq which raised £57 million. The millionaire novelist then made a highly publicised visit to northern Iraq in 1992 to see the conditions of the Kurds who were fleeing from Saddam Hussein. John Major, the Prime Minister, who was later to back Lord Archer as the Tory mayoral candidate, pledged £10 million from the Government. The Liberal Democrat peer Emma Nicholson alleged money had gone missing from the appeal and challenged Scotland Yard to investigate after Lord Archer’s conviction for perjury in the summer of 2001. He has just received the perfect rebuff to Lady Nicholson. It’s an invitation to visit Iraq from President Jalai Talabani. The letter, which was written by the president’s wife, Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, says: "For many years you have been a

Lord Archer, by his own admission, has had a roller coaster of a life which could have come straight from the pages of one of his novels.

close friend of the Kurdish people, bringing to light the struggles faced by our people in our darkest days. Your efforts on behalf of our people were a clarion call to the world to speak up and notice the horrors that were taking place. "It would be a privilege if you were to accept this invitation on behalf of my husband and myself to visit the Kurd region once again and to see the phenomenal changes that have taken place." Lord Archer, who has just built a house in northern Majorca where he will do much of his writing, said "I am thrilled to be asked back." He refused to discuss the criticisms of Lady Nicholson. "What I have found is that real friends stand by you. Very few people deserted me when I went to prison. They stayed loyal," he said. John Major and Lady Thatcher are still regulars at his garden parties. None though has been more loyal than his wife Mary, a scientist, who is chairman of Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. "Mary is the star," he said. "We are the tortoise and the hare. She overtook me years ago and is still moving steadily ahead. There are two things that matter in marriage: respect and admiration. For us they grow each year. I am proud of everything she does and she is proud of my books."

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angels recommends Keeping organised The Aspinal luxury leather desk set is handmade in a a range of beautiful vegetable dyed leathers and each piece simply oozes quality and handmade luxury from a bygone era. The bases are all hand crafted in fruit wood and then over bound and finished in sumptuous Mock Croc or English Bridle calf leather to an exceptional hand finished standard. pencil and pen pot.

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Bureau hole punch £91 www.dalvey.com 38 • www.angelsmagazine.co.uk

Passport Holder Today's global professional needs accessories that can take them anywhere at a moments notice. The Densworth passport case, in sturdy saddle-stitched calf leather, is hard wearing and style-savvy for today's modern professional on the move. The fresh pumkin colour cover, is classic in looks and functional in design for when organisation, safety and security is your highest priority and style is unquestionable.

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Reflect upon a reflection When water is calm, the reflection becomes clear. Upper elements meet lower elements in a state of perfect balance. This idea is at the heart of hydrohealing, a unique spa and wellness centre where you can escape to rediscover your centre. Each experience is therapeutic and yet luxurious. It’s not rocket science, but it is science. It’s good for you, but it feels so good you’ll forget the science

Hydro Healing £45 www.hydrohealing.com www.angelsmagazine.co.uk • 39

Dress to Impress What to wear to pitch for funding “In an ideal world, appearances shouldn’t count for everything when pitching for funding, but the reality is that appearances do matter, and in many cases, an initial first impression is created before you have even spoken a word.”

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t is important for your first impression to be positive so that the potential backer considers you and your business to be a great investment. How you are dressed will often show how serious you are and Jane Dawson, founder of Business Wardrobe provides us with some some key points to remember when pitching for funding: • Ensure you dress broadly in line with the corporate code for the organisation or take noted of how the investor presents him or herself. • If you are pitching in a formal environment to a conservative investor, a dark coloured suit is a good starting point but if it is a more creative product you’re pitching you can play with fashion a little bit more – add a splash of colour, wear a patterned skirt or a vibrant blouse. • Be comfortable – pitching for funding is often a high pressure situation and it’s important that you feel yourself and can project the qualities and assets that you possess. • Wear clothes which allow you to relax and reflect you and your personality. • Over-dressed vs Under-dressed demonstrate that you mean business and you are ambitious. It is better to be overdressed than underdressed. “Whereas the staple business outfit for men is the suit, there is nothing similar for women, so creating a chic, co-ordinated outfit for a pitch situation can throw up all kinds of dilemmas, not least, how to put together a smart, professional look whilst maintaining an individual, feminine style. “Successful women often find themselves in a position where they are one of only a few females within a male dominated envi-

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ronment. Dressing professionally whilst asserting their femininity and individuality without copying the standard male ‘suit, shirt and tie’ look is key. How can you maintain a feminine but businesslike look as well as show an individual yet socially acceptable style? “There are some key looks for a pitching situation, although it does depend on the environment. “A dark, well-fitted tailored suit will project professionalism, but it doesn’t have to be a plain fabric. Individuality could be added with pin stripe pattern or tweed. This could be teamed with a brighter blouse which will reflect confidence and make you stand out. “Keep your accessories subtle, but still show you've got creativity and flair. A gorgeous wide belt or an unusual pendant necklace will show you've got individuality. “Clothes can make a real difference to your career, as your clothing should reflect your corporate character and position within an organisation but the right clothes will also boost your confidence and allow you to project your own style and personality. “This is where colour can be an important factor. For example, dark colours such as black, navy and purple psychologically denote authority, knowledge and responsibility. Brown shows that you are reliable, white is a good choice for shirts as it conveys a clean, formal look, bright colours such as red reflect power and control and lighter colours suggest femininity and softness. “Dressing the part is not what will secure you the pitch – your presenting skills, competences and experience are what clearly matter most. However, failing to create a good impression through dress can often

negate a good pitch and may leave investors with some doubt. “It is also important not to neglect your personal grooming so that the effect of a crisp outfit is not ruined. Minimal make-up will work best as it will look professional and denote that you take care of your appearance. Women may think: All of this sounds great but how do I find the time to buy new clothes for an important pitch? “Time is a key factor for women in citing why they cannot shop for new smart clothes. The difficulties of balancing a busy working life with the pressures of running a family, coupled with the lack of stylish business clothing on the high street, has led to frustration for many women as they dress for an important pitch meeting. “Our research suggested that a last minute dash to the high street to purchase office wear which lacks personality is a common experience for many modern businesswomen. “As a busy working woman myself, I understand how difficult it is to find the time to put together a stylish contemporary business wardrobe. Successful women are looking for good quality clothes which are easy to source. “This is where shopping online comes into its own, as it becomes a pleasurable experience, by missing out the queues and stress and instead gaining the benefits of boutique shopping but browsing and buying in the comfort of your home or the office. “Investing in a quality business wardrobe is an investment in your professional future and your self confidence.

Is there blood on the streets? "Buy when there's blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own." – Baron Phillipe Rothschild.

Gavin Porritt looks at why now is the best and not worse time to be investing for the future

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hen it comes to investing the quote from Baron Phillipe Rothschild remains as true now as it was in the eighteenth century. The time to invest in property, equities or any other market is when it looks at it’s most unappealing, however this takes a great deal of nerve. Conversely once a “bloke down the pub” tells you that you ought to get into a certain market, then that is almost certainly the time to get out. Looking at this it’s important to consider what happens in a bull market, it can basically be divided into three stages. The early stage is the “Stealth” stage of the bull market, where recriminations from the late stage of the previous bull market still preoccupies the general public.

Living in the past Most people tend to live in the past, and so does the City. The shift is not recognised, widely regarded with skepticism, or even denied outright. It is known as the “Stealth” stage, simply because the majority of investors are not even aware the bull market is present, the opportunity is not even on their horizon. Instead, only a small minority of astute investors realise that a profound shift in the investment environment has occurred and begin to accumulate assets in the new investment class. This group of early investors is usually known as “smart money”. There then follows a mature stage where

the new investment trend gradually becomes recognised by institutional investors and investing in the new investment class becomes acceptable. Generally poor returns of the alternative asset class force institutional investors to look at alternatives, however there is still plenty of skepticism. There is also the realisation that the past returns have been so great, that prices cannot go much higher. Therefore everyone is “worried” that the bull market might soon be over. Every intermediate decline is declared the end of the bull market, during this stage the market climbs the proverbial “Wall of Worry”. Nevertheless, the healthy returns from the early stage convince them that they should jump on board, albeit cautiously and with a relatively small percentage of their funds. In general, institutional investors are known as “Big Money”. They enter the markets slowly and steadily, typically herding tightly with their peers and trying not to deviate too far away from them.

mania, with bursts of panicked buying. Throughout the stage, the buying conviction of the masses drives prices exponentially which feeds back to reinforce their convictions. Asset-based lending becomes the norm, so rising asset prices begets more lending, which further fuels the boom. This stage is usually associated with a major bubble. We have just seen the culmination of this cycle which can take anything from ten to twenty years to come to fruition. At the moment there is a tremendous amount of “value” investments providing that you are looking at a three to five year horizon. So the question now becomes, where is the smart money investing?

If you have any questions or comments e-mail them through to me on: [email protected].

The final stage Finally there is the late or “Mania” stage, the period when the masses enter the bull market in droves. They never saw the first stage, but they have watched the second stage develop. They are finally convinced that the trend is permanent and expect prices to rise forever. Caution is thrown out of the window and greed takes over. Use of borrowing becomes the investment norm. Speculation is rampant, over time greed turns into

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DestinationScotland

Back to Saint Andrews James Spence returns to Scotland’s most famous golf course, the scene of many a triumphant day, to see if the old course has stood the test of time.

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have a lifelong association with Fife, and the university town of St Andrews. It was the location of several family holidays. I started playing the game at age 8 at Elie during a summer in which my family had rented a house on the beach - the same place and age that James Braid started playing golf 95 years earlier. In another summer, we were staying at Kincaple during the hot summer of 1975, my father travelled back with Jack Newton on a hovercraft after he had just lost a playoff to Tom Watson across the bay at Carnoustie. In 1984, I was in the grandstands with my father when Ballesteros holed a curly downhiller to win the Open. In 2001, I made a trip from Hong Kong to play the fabulous Kingsbarns Course near Crail, staying B&B at the house of Baron Erskine on whose land the course was built, and who 15 years previous had been my student landlord at Cambo House. In 1982, armed with the requisite number of Scottish Highers, I chose the University with the highest density of golf courses and spent four years at St. Andrews as a student, graduating with a moderate degree in Philosophy and an immoderate hook shot.

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As a student you became quickly aware of the high and static number of public houses and the small and shrinking number of bookshops. Pubs went in and out of fashion with students and this had nothing whatsoever to do with the beer, service or ambience. In fact it was entirely whimsical. In my first year the Niblick (then just 20 steps from the 18th Green of the Old) was the only place to drink. In my second it was the Castle Tavern at the far end of North Street. The Central on Market Street was popular with students of Arabic Culture. A friend became the drinking buddy of Tip Anderson (Arnold Palmer’s caddie at many Opens) at The Criterion on South Street. The Niblick by the 17th Fairway was an occasional place to go, often after 16 and a half holes. Popular with visiting Americans and their local caddies, I seem to remember the beer prices were a little elevated - elevated at least to those of us that felt that 75p a pint was a natural and immutable ceiling. I made precisely two trips to the Old Course Hotel in my four student years. The hotel was, and remains, the town’s brush with international luxury and therefore a place injurious to the student allowance. One the first occasion a few of us were sitting around somebody’s room at St Salvator’s Hall when one bright spark suggested we go for cocktails at the Road Hole bar at the Hotel. The merit in this idea lay in its contrariness. Each of us ordered a cocktail and I remember the pianist tinking away, just as he does today. The second visit was sponsored by the Champagne house of Laurent-Perrier, motto: Ne Buvez Jamais d’Eau (Never Drink Water). Whether it was extreme farsightedness or a strategic error, LaurentPerrier held a tasting evening of their full range of champagnes to a group of undergraduates. The University Wine Society had been chugging along on Lambrusco and Amontillado for years became a 44 • www.angelsmagazine.co.uk

much more popular society as a result. The Old Course Hotel provided a ballroom for the event and I can distinctly remember the moment when the head representative from the champagne house suggested that, having tasted each variant in turn, we might like to approach one of the tables for a further reconnoitre. We needed no further invitation and paced over to the Vintage table and surrounded the man from L-P. One of our number asked the representative to help demonstrate the elegant pouring technique whereby the thumb of the right hand is positioned in the indent under the bottle. “Mais oui ! ”. Very soon each of us had a bottle in hand and were filling each others’ glasses at will.

Diverse business Since 2004, The Old Course Hotel and Spa has been owned by Kohler Co., the family company whose business is plumbing but who is best known in the golfing world for building the Whistling Straits course on the banks of Lake Michigan. It is 26 years since my last visit, so comparisons are hazy but clearly the Kohler’s have made a substantial investment both in the hotel and in developing the inland course The Duke’s, which is just outside the town. The course is the only non-seaside course at St Andrews and was designed by Peter Thomson and latterly modified by Tim Liddy. The Duke’s offers a great escape from the hullabaloo surrounding the Old and, being on a rural site above town, is serene with some great views. The course can be long but offers a range of tees which measures the course from 7,512 yards down to 5,216 yards. Although the members generally walk it, some transitions betweens greens and tees are lengthy so many visitors will be tempted by the option of a golf-cart.

‘What you might expect of a grand hotel with a strong American connection is excellent service, plumbing and beds, this and the location, are its real claims.’ In the evening prior to playing the Dukes I find myself back on the top floor in the Road Hole bar where we are offered a glass of house champagne, which indeed turns out to be Laurent-Perrier, closing that particular circle. This formed the start of a meal at the Road Hole Restaurant which was simultaneously formal, modern and delicious. Scallops two ways, lamb rump and sweetbreads, almond and apricot cake for my part. Earlier in the day we were also able to have a quick lunch in the downstairs Sands Grill, replacing langoustines with the chicken in a Caesar salad which was not a premeditated move but something that the kitchen were happy to accommodate. Gary, the waiter, asked if we were expecting “my lady”, which we were but she was late returning from shopping in town (shopping opportunities are much improved from the 1980s I note). The wait extended somewhat and in the intervening time Gary and I elevated my wife to Her Ladyship. Graced finally with her presence, salads were delivered, a quick and excellent coffee then off to the course. My breakfast the next morning was of the heroic Scottish variety but there are also lighter options – a wide variety of fruits, breads and cereals, jams and honeycomb and porridge in a multitude of styles, with/without milk, honey, compote. What you might expect of a grand hotel with a strong American connection is excellent service, plumbing and beds, this and the location, are its real claims. There are very few quick or easy rounds of golf in St Andrews in the summer so recovery is the key. The Old Course Hotel provides the key elements of recovery. The Spa is excellent and specialises in water based therapies. The rooms have deep bath tubs, piped with by jets and chromotheraputic lighting based on the ayurvedic belief that certain elemental lights can en-

gender or develop moods and characters. I selected the soothing aspect of blue. The Road Hole Bar stocks over 200 whiskies, the house champagne is Laurent-Perrier as mentioned and the wine list is extensive and particularly strong on French and American reds. The Sands Grill has all the best of Scotland grilled and the Road Hole Restaurant is more formal, with the views you would expect. The views from the sea facing rooms are peerless and there is little better spectator sport than watching successive groups take on the second shot at the 17th. The West Deck, which is a new outdoors perch above the old sheds is a great addition. Finally, sleep. I don’t know what the huge beds are stuffed with, but it works. Tired bodies can recline for a welcome night’s sleep and rise to take on another golfing test. James stayed courtesy of The Old Course Hotel and Spa, rooms from £380 per night, Fairways Suites from £680 per night. Reservations: + 44 (0) 1334 474371 or www.oldcoursehotel.co.uk. Reservations at the Duke’s Course can be made via the hotel’s website or email at [email protected]. Next month in Back to St Andrews – Part II, James writes about the St Andrews Links Trust, the charitable body that looks after seven golf courses at the Home of Golf including the Old Course and the recently opened Castle Course. James Spence is a Managing Partner of Cerno Capital, an independent wealth management firm, and author of: The Finest Golf Courses of Asia & Australasia www.golfcoursesofasia.com. www.angelsmagazine.co.uk • 45

Motoring We focus our attention on the Lexus L6000h L but will it be the cream of our fleet?

T

he Lexus LS600h L is not only the world’s first four-wheel drive hybrid V8 but also the flagship of the luxury brand’s range. It offers a discreet but strong challenge to its better known German rivals, says Dave Sumner Smith,

How comfortable is it? The ‘basic’ models of the LS are large, well-equipped and comfortable. Leather upholstery, heated rear seats, electric sunshades and air conditioned front seats come as standard. The range-topper gets an extra 12cm in length, plus a specification that includes drop-down video screens, air conditioned, electronically adjustable rear seats and a cool box. There is even an optional rear relaxation pack, which adds a massage system to the adjustable Ottoman foot and thigh rest.

What is it like to drive? It may be large in scale and traditional in style, but the LS600h L is no slouch. Far from it. The 375bhp power of the 5.0-litre V8 and the rechargeable batteries generate 520Nm 46 • www.angelsmagazine.co.uk

of torque, delivered to all four wheels through a continuously variable transmission. The net result is a seamless, smooth delivery of huge power: Brains and muscles combined with seemingly effortless ease.

Will it impress? Despite its hybrid status, the Lexus is hardly trendy. But it is quietly (and deservedly) winning custom from high status European brands. The fact its hybrid status wins exemption from London’s Congestion Charge and gives more than 30mpg are minor benefits. More impressive are its comfort, sophistication, space and silken refinement.

What else should I consider? Obviously its main competitors are the BMW 7-series, Mercedes S-Class and Audi A8. The Maserati Quattroporte offers a different flavour of glamour, while the recently announced Jaguar XJ and Porsche Panamera may also be worth considering.

Any toys and gadgets? The LS600h L is a toy-lover’s nirvana. As well as flip down screens to watch DVDs, massage seats and thigh and feet supports, it also has a 19 speaker sound system, four zone climate control, rear parking camera, park assist and a pre-crash safety system. For hardcore gadget-lovers there’s even a Smart Card instead of an ignition key.

Does it make financial sense? The LS is far from cheap. The ‘base model’ starts at £61,540 and the flagship LS600h L cost £87,935. But that is £17k less than a Mercedes S600L, and the Lexus retains its value better, has a superior reputation for reliability and offers superior dealer service. Quotes on contracthireandleasing.com suggest leasing costs only two thirds of the Mercedes’ price at £1300-1400pcm.

What does it say about me? The stretched Lexus is too restrained and understated to be fashionable. Like a finelytailored suit, it isn’t glamorous. It suggests the owner doesn’t need a badge to bolster their ego and is more interested in sophistication and comfort than appearing ‘flash’.

Dining out We visit the Hix Oyster & Chop House in the heart of London’s banking district for some fine dining

Hix Oyster & Chop House is decked out with plain quality: wooden surfaces, clean tiling, copper pans and starched whites. Mark Hix's first eponymous restaurant is straight-talking, reflecting his passion for quality English fare treated with care but not fuss. Menu entries list dishes with a maximum of three ingredients, and there is no need for decoding. When it says the broad beans are "crushed", that's what they are just smacked on the head, not puréed or delivered in a pipette. Nine of the 16 main courses are beef, with seven different cuts, spread between Dexter and Aberdeen Angus.

Enjoying There are some foods I am just not prepared to dislike. Parsnip slips past my guard now and then, but olives gave way relatively easily after a force-feeding regime, and I was relieved, about five years ago, and after detailed research into the workings of my gag reflex, to start properly enjoying oysters. Any food that can automatically change sex during its lifetime has to be eaten. I like oysters creamy, and decide on a couple as a pre-starter starter. Our waiter accurately predicts that I will like the Cumbrae and Maldon. Like all the bits of advice and knowledge he has, such as how Hix cures his salmon in his back garden, it is delivered with the perfect level of smarminess and ceremony, ie none. A hot miniature sourdough loaf arrives, then the oysters and a bowl of peas in the pod - another pre-starter nibble we somehow thought would be a good idea. Oysters full

and creamy; peas in generous quantities, so you could abandon the inevitable duds. We start with Hix's own smoked salmon cure and the red mullet with crushed broad beans on toasted sourdough. The salmon, blood orange-deep in colour, is boldly smoked, but that fire doesn't hang around in your face. It just melts away with the flesh. There's a dryness to the crushed broad beans, which make a slightly claggy combination with the sourdough and mullet, but it's tasty. As soon as the beef flank and oyster pie comes, I realise I am heading for metabolic disaster. I have never had this dish, but what with my recent bivalve excitement, it just seems the right thing to do and the right place to do it. To my horror, I learn that I don't really like cooked oysters, despite the dark, grainy loveliness of the beef in its gelatinous gravy and shortcrust pastry, which is suety but not leaden.

Amazing I can just remember two things before slipping into a food coma: 1) the chips were a really good size (not pencils, not bricks) and 2) the whole John Dory with rosemary was good enough to make my girlfriend loosen her evangelical grip on Anthony Bourdain's "no fish on Monday" rule. Bursts of sharpness and perfume bring me round like smelling salts. The jelly in the perry jelly and elderflower ice-cream is so flawless, it resembles a lens. You could use it as a kind of wobbly magnifying glass. The other thing that wakes us is the crash of glass at the top of the stairs leading from

the kitchen. They've got a new Olympic sport here: climbing with a massive tray of hot pies and then having to navigate a tricky righthand bend with a pillar threatening to take you out. It's entertaining, but go soon or the excellent staff will have it sussed. Three weeks later, having digested that meal, I go back. This strategy has risks: you can't fault further research, but which side to come down on if the experience is totally different from the first visit?

A tough job! Never mind - I have to test a main course I would ordinarily love. In this case it is the hanger steak (not a common cut, but it has great livery flavour) with baked bone marrow, chips and salad. From the charring to the bleeding heart, it is superb, and the marrow a bone halved lengthwise and topped with breadcrumbs, parsley and garlic - is a royal treat. Only a main course this time, with chips and salad, but I still can't quite finish it. That hanger steak costs £13.75; the porterhouse for two costs £54.50; starters from £5.50 to £12; nibbles around £3. An oyster: £1.95. Working-class food at middle-class prices, you could jibe. But it's the ingredients that count, and times change - disease, rarity and desirability all turned the oyster into a fine food in the 19th century, rather than something to bulk up a pie when you ran out of beef. As for the cooking, Hix's food is definitely working, and it's class. Score 8/10 Telephone 020-7017 1930 Address 35-37 Greenhill Rents, Cowcross Street, London EC1 Open All week, lunch noon-3pm (except Saturday, when it's closed for lunch); dinner, 6.11pm

www.angelsmagazine.co.uk • 49

Getting to know you: Rose Lewis What do you currently do? I am a partner at Pembridge Partners LLP. We work with small and medium sized businesses in the marketing and media and technology sector, which includes advertising, DM, film and television, PR and digital media, to name a few. We work with shareholders on building and growing their business. Our ultimate goal and validation of our success for all the businesses we work with is to help them to realise the value that they have built by attracting a buyer or investor. We have worked with about 2,500 businesses since we set up in 2001 helping dozens of companies achieve their objectives, making many of them millionaires in the process! Our philosophy is based around making sure that the businesses our clients work in can help them to achieve their personal objectives. That way they remain focused on what is personally really important to them, rather than being tied to a business and just going through the day-today machinations. To give you an example, one investment we made was through our Extreme Services Fund, which we set up in 2008. Omobono is a marketing services consultancy based in Cambridge and it fitted all the criteria we were looking for in a potential investment cutting-edge services with a motivated, energetic and clear management team. We have a seat on the Board to advise their team through a 3-5 year growth plan. In a nutshell, we aim to add value to this company over and above their core business plan.

50 • www.angelsmagazine.co.uk

I am also lucky enough to work with very early stage businesses which I am passionate about helping. Through a scheme with G2i (www.g2i.org), I work with entrepreneurs to build an investment case for their business ideas which they can take to potential investors. This scheme has helped many entrepreneurs attract funding from angels and private equity firms. It is a great scheme - currently only running in London - but we are keen to see the government back more schemes like it. It’s the new entrepreneurs which will help to get the UK out of recession.

worked with some real heroes over the years – luckily, some I am still in touch with, others I am not. Do think about the long-term, rather than whether they can help you now. LinkedIn, Facebook and the like, have made it all so easy, but you can’t underestimate the power of real, face to face networks – the people you have met, done business with and are

Who is your inspiration in business?

An honest, direct approach – telling people how it is. Our premise at Pembridge is that we have "been there and done it before", and we back our words with our own cash by investing alongside some of the shareholders we work with. We don't talk ‘business gobbledygook’ and we mostly talk about getting the fundamentals right in a business. So many people overlook that. Most of the time it works, but sometimes people just don't want to hear it - I can’t always help those people. Quite simply, our perspective comes from being investors and real-life entrepreneurs.

The guys from Google. They thought big, but they bought in the experts to help build the business. My impression is that they focused on what they were really good at and had fun whilst doing it. So for anyone who is a serial entrepreneur - focus on building something to sell, sell it, and then start again!

Whom do you admire? These change all the time! My current heroes are the two British cyclists in this year's Tour De France. Bradley Wiggins - 4th overall is an amazing achievement for a British cyclist - you have to admire his sheer determination to keep up with the three guys ahead of him, which included Lance Armstrong, winner of seven previous Tours. The other, is the sprinter who won on the Champs Elysee. Both were so humble about their achievements. They didn’t just talk about what they achieved, but what they wanted to achieve in the future. The world is full of too many people who just talk about what they have done, rather what they are going to do.

Looking back, are there things you would do differently? Network, network, network right from the beginning of your career! I have met and

connected to, rather than people you are linked to via a computer network. So get out there and actually talk to people!

What defines your way of doing business?

What would you say to businesses who are worried about tough times ahead? Focus on the fundamentals in your business (see, that again!) Most companies who are growing forget about the fundamentals so when times get tough they just don't have they cushion they need to weather the storm. And focus on the big picture - growing a business isn't easy and it won’t be plain sailing all the way but if you remain focused on a specific objective and end game, you will get through the tough times. The time that takes and the route it takes to get there might change, but the objective won’t. www.pembridges.net

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