Beauhurst this week launched The Scaleup Index 2019. This report, in partnership with The ScaleUp Institute, examines the 5,456 unique visible scaleup businesses across the UK. It analyses everything from investments, investors and growth rate demographics, to geographical distribution, founders and executives. 

UK small and medium-sized businesses are holding record levels of cash as uncertainty surrounding Brexit persists – and it is costing them billions of pounds a year, new analysis reveals.

HBAN, the all-island organisation responsible for the promotion of business angel investment, and an initiative of Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland and Invest Northern Ireland, has revealed that 43% of female angel investors are eyeing up exits from their investee companies in the next 12 months.

The survey, carried out by HBAN amongst angel investors across the island of Ireland, found that some 83% of female angels are particularly interested in getting involved with start-ups working in the medtech industry. At the moment, 67% of female investors have investments in this sector.

The average small and medium-sized business (SME) in the UK estimates that it will spend £160,000 to fill the skills gap in their organisation in the next 12 months, according to recruitment specialist Robert Half UK.

New research from Nucoro, a B2B fintech providing Wealth Management as a Service Solutions, reveals 57% of wealth managers are having to turn away clients because they fall below their service threshold. The average wealth manager turns away 72 clients every year, with 33% of respondents claiming they have had to turn away more potential clients in the last 12 months than they did three years ago. Just 2% of wealth managers said they are turning away fewer potential clients than in the past, while 49% say that the number hasn’t changed.

New data from leading global insights platform, Atheneum, has revealed that only one in four (25 percent) global finance experts expect consumer confidence in their countries to improve over the next six months, with UK experts highlighting the continuing uncertainty around Brexit as a key factor.

A total of £1.28 billion was raised in October through secondary fundraisings by investment companies, marking an all-time record for the investment company industry.

Fundraisings by existing investment companies reached £1.28b in October 2019, the highest level of secondary fundraising ever seen in a single calendar month according to new data from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). The second-highest month for fundraising by existing investment companies was in June this year (£1.18b).

Despite a cloudy global economic outlook and rising political uncertainty, the venture ecosystem remains robust, according to Silicon Valley Bank’s latest State of the Markets Report. The report found that private markets are buoyant, with VC dry powder close to historic highs, PE fundraising having its own record year and ample private capital stockpiled for years to come.

Some 63% of real estate professionals believe the secured property debt market is currently attractive for investors,  says research commissioned by secured property lender Fitzrovia Finance.

New research ⁽¹⁾ from Nucoro, a B2B fintech providing Wealth Management as a Service solutions, reveals wealth managers estimate that only 55% of companies in the sector will still be around in 10 years’ time - if they fail or choose not to innovate digitally.

KPMG's Q2 Enterprise Venture Pulse report for 2019 has been published and shows European VC deal value reaching record levels, despite a fall in the volume of deals during the period.

Matt Weston, Managing Director of Robert Half UK, looks at the latest ONS Families and the Labour Market statistics.