All Profile
Four trends that drive eBay’s M&A strategy
Fredrik Ahlberg, head of expansion at eBay, reveals there are four current trends in commerce that underpin the online shopping giant’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) strategy. These are: mobile, local, social and digital.
Cut out the subcontractors
Adrian Maxwell, managing director of coffee machine company Francino, declares that cutting out the subcontractors has been his best decision in expanding his business.
Maria Hatzistefanis: Pay for talent
Maria Hatzistefanis, founder and president of beauty brands Rodial and Nip + Fab, tells GrowthBusiness paying for talent earlier on in her business’s life would have helped it to grow faster.
The even-handed heater
This month's Object of Desire, the Dyson Hot, claims to be the fastest of its kind to heat a room evenly.
Consistent innovators: Investor AllStars 2011
Another year, another remarkable set of success stories has been acknowledged at the ninth annual Investor AllStars.
Hostel boosters
Josh Wyatt, director of hospitality and leisure at Patron Capital, explains why the firm has invested €100 million (£87 million) in the Generator Hostels chain.
Chasing aces: Julie Meyer
Widely credited as a pioneer of the European technology start-up scene, Julie Meyer, who launched her first fund, ACE, this year, argues that entrepreneurs are still broadly underestimated by the financial services industry.
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.
Engineering design: Santiago Matheus
Born in Ecuador, Santiago Matheus started businesses in four continents before co-founding Method Design Lab in London in March this year. He reveals what he'd wish he'd known when he started.
Harvesting human energy
Ever considered how useful it would be to power your mobile phone just by going for a walk? Well, harvesting human energy could be the next big thing.
A wine cellar for Doctor Who
For this month's Object of Desire, Italian Sand & Birch is the design studio behind the space-age Opale Wine Cellar, which looks like it would be perfectly at home on the set of Doctor Who – if the Doctor were a wine connoisseur.
A fine entrepreneur: Mark Bedini
Most people think Mark Bedini, founder of Fine+Rare, is just a rather successful wine buff. But he probably owes most of his success to a deep knowledge of technology and a penchant for bold decision-making.
Risky Business
With corporate M&A on the up, EMC Corporate Finance has closed transactions in excess of £100 million over the past 12 months.
Raising equity its own way
They want to raise about £2.2 million, but instead of asking venture capitalists for funding or floating on AIM, Scottish brewer Brewdog has chosen instead to run its own online initial public offering, Equity for Punks II.
Interview with Capital for Enterprise's Rory Earley
Capital for Enterprise CEO Rory Earley reveals in a Q&A how the LP fits in with the government’s current financial initiatives, how he selects funds to invest in and the plans for the Business Angel Co Investment Fund.
Mark Pearson ‘actively investing’
The founder of online discount business MyVoucherCodes, Mark Pearson, has upped his angel investing activities.
Building your own database
Michael Phillips, managing director of price comparison website ConsumerChoices.co.uk, says developing his database from scratch in-house has been integral in keeping costs down.
In-tune networking: John Dunne
Despite the terrible state of the Irish economy, Intune Networks, co-founded by John Dunne, continues to be a global leader in its field. Dunne reveals to GB how he attracted VC investment while having a complex technology.
Object of desire: Eton Raptor
The Eton Raptor is a gadget for the budding explorer who wants to carry something more technologically advanced than a Swiss army knife.
Leading the way: M&A Awards 2011
With the very best of the UK M&A world assembled at the Millennium Mayfair hotel in London's Grosvenor Square, the M&A Awards 2011 afforded the opportunity to take stock of what was another difficult but prosperous year for many.
More from GrowthBusiness
The Entrepreneur
Space: The final entrepreneurial frontier
Despite it taking until 2013 for the UK to have its first ‘official astronaut’, Britain’s space industry offers many opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Growing A Business
Light touch regulation: Friend or foe?
Sophia Harrison, director of financial and professional services at Grayling, looks at how a new exchange platform out of Sweden could strike the right chord of regulation for SMEs.
Comment & Analysis
Partnering with larger businesses for growth
Building a high-growth business stage three: Choosing to partner with larger firms to collaborate on projects.
Research
The rise of cash shells
New research from GrowthBusiness shows that the number of UK cash shells is climbing. We speak to new entrants to the market and those that have recently closed deals to find out what’s driving shells’ increasing popularity.
