Second round Regional Growth Fund recipients

Second round recipients of the Regional Growth Fund have been named.

Cheques checking out?

Many companies are trying to determine what future role traditional cheques will play in everyday business despite the saviour of the payment method.

Balancing austerity

Stephen Chandler, managing partner at venture fund Notion Capital, explains his view on balancing austerity and investment in the face of slower growth.

Tradeshift

Tradeshift to expand further after Russian backing

Electronic invoicing business Tradeshift has accepted an investment of $17 million (£10.6 million) from Russian venture capital firms ru-Net and Kite Ventures as the business eyes further expansion across the Atlantic.

Offensive’ Young returns to favour

Lord Young of Graffham, a former cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher and an active investor in early-stage technology companies, is set to return to his role as a government adviser.

Westminster joins start-up incubator trend

Westminster City Council has added to London’s growing number of start-up incubators, launching a studio space in the West End that will enable up to 1,000 companies and entrepreneurs to access office space.

Business puts £4.65 billion on hold despite inflation

About a quarter of businesses with an annual turnover of £1 million or more hold a total of £4.65 billion in cash despite rising inflation because they have cancelled or postponed business development, new research shows.

Consistent innovators: Investor AllStars 2011

Another year, another remarkable set of success stories has been acknowledged at the ninth annual Investor AllStars.

Know your exit when you enter

The blunt truth is that private equity houses need to understand what the exit strategy is the moment they start talking to potential investee companies. GrowthBusiness blogger Wol Kolade explains.

Fundraising: The first steps

Never mind how you’re going to get funding, what should you be asking for in the first place? We report on how to determine what type – and amount – of finance you need.

BlueBay launch private lending business for SMEs

Fixed income and alternative investment manager BlueBay Asset Management is launching a new private lending business aimed at funding growing European small and medium-sized enterprises.

Bank of England to inject £75 billion into UK economy

The Bank of England has voted to inject an extra £75 billion into the slowing UK economy by increasing the amount of quantitative easing to a total of £275 billion because ‘global expansion has slackened’.

More Balls Than Most by Lara Morgan

Patricia Harriss, business development director of DirectionGroup, reviews More Balls Than Most, written by straight-talking entrepreneur Lara Morgan.

Tax reliefs in finance raising

Whatever your plans for obtaining finance, the important thing is to appreciate what tax relief might be available.

Entrepreneurs using business cash for growth

More than half of entrepreneurs use bottom line cash to fund business growth compared with just one fifth that say they source development capital from the banks, a survey finds.

Boost for businesses with new government scheme

Billions could be directly injected into british businesses through a new scheme called ‘credit easing’ as part of the government’s plans to get the economy moving. 

Palace Capital

Loan conditions tough and to get tougher, says BoE

The terms and conditions being placed on small and medium-sized businesses seeking loans have become ‘more stringent’ in the past quarter, and are expected to become tougher.

Enterprising Britain

The government has introduced a raft of incentives and grants to stimulate start-ups and encourage entrepreneurship in the UK. We examine reactions to the schemes on offer.