Advisory and corporate finance
EIS is a valuable venture tax relief available to angel investors (with slightly different rules available to early stage companies (SEIS) and also to VCTs). Due to its attractiveness to investors, many investors will seek Advance Approval from HMRC that the relief will be available (although advance assurance is not a qualifying criteria and it … Continue reading Avoid first time EIS pitfalls
We caught up with Marina and Adrian to discuss how founders can deal with difficult relationships in the board room with investors. Marina Traversari is a Board Advisor, Link Stone Advisory who has founded, scaled and exited business as senior executive, Chair and Board Advisor and draws from experience at Spherics, Gapsquare, Sage, Oracle and … Continue reading Managing difficult investors in the Board Room
In 2025, raising equity is no longer just about the “Hockey Stick” growth chart. It is about transparency. Investors—whether VCs or Angels—are demanding a level of data integrity and ESG compliance that most Series A companies simply don’t have. Richard Spilsbury discusses this shift with Marina Traversari. Having moved from scaling Spherics (a carbon accounting … Continue reading The “Glass Box” Business: Why Transparency (and ESG) is Your New Valuation Multiplier
If your financial setup is frustrating you, then you could notice the following warning signs: As businesses grow, their finance needs develop, and common warning signs for earlier-stage to later-stage businesses can be summarised below: For scaling businesses For growth businesses – You only have one salary cost line. – You only prepare accounts for … Continue reading Six Warning Signs About Your Finance Set Up
Financial models are powerful tools used for a variety of purposes to assess forward looking financial information to overcome limitations of relying only historic information Some of the best uses for financial models are: We support clients build financial models for a range of business requirements, from simple forecasts to developed models to support decision-making. … Continue reading How financial modelling can help improve business decision-making
Six common mistakes people often make when performing financial modelling: We support clients build financial models for a range of business requirements, from simple forecasts to developed models to support decision-making like investment appraisal, funding needs, working capital management. If you want to know more, contact us.
If you’ve planned your financial model and started to build it We support clients build financial models for a range of business requirements, from simple forecasts to developed models to support decision-making like investment appraisal, funding needs, working capital management. If you want to expect more from your board and professional advisors, contact us.
Build and buy strategies are where a business acquires other businesses, very often to help increase value ahead of an exit. They are not uncommon for private equity or companies trading on a public exchange and can also work for smaller businesses but are less common. Build and buy strategies can be an attractive way … Continue reading Thinking about Build and Buy?
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast”, someone once said. Based on extensive research, Groysberg, Lee, Price and Cheng reported in the Harvard Business Review that: Their findings are not surprising and are consistent with many other studies. What is more surprising is how little leaders understand about their culture, the values and behaviours that are understood … Continue reading Is your business culture holding you back?
A recent report by Be The Business that compared productivity in the UK compared to other G7 countries noted that the UK fell far behind (sixth!) most other countries when it comes to undertaking employee engagement initiatives. Given the importance and clear benefits of employee engagement, the key issue is why wouldn’t leaders seek to … Continue reading Four barriers to employee engagement