Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Wales have higher levels of confidence than their UK counterparts, despite challenging business conditions and increasing uncertainty of UK and global economic prospects, according to the first annual report published by Economic Intelligence Wales (EIW).

The new research unit is a collaboration between Cardiff Business School, the Office for National Statistics and the Development Bank of Wales, created to monitor the activity of Welsh SMEs, factors affecting their development and the progress of the regional economy.

The development bank announced in May that it invested £80 million into SMEs in 2018/19 which is an increase of nearly 18% on the previous financial year. This is a strong demonstration of a growing appetite for investment, reflected in the increase in the number of Welsh SMEs using external finance which is 5% higher than the UK average.

In 2018, Enterprise Research found that almost half (45.3%) of startups don't survive beyond three years. Of the 32,200 companies that Beauhurst has tracked due to meeting one of its growth triggers, only 13% have died (15% if you include zombie companies). 7% have gone on to a successful exit, and the remaining 78% are still actively growing. So how do Beauhurst's growth triggers affect the survival and death rate of companies it tracks?

There are ambitious companies at all stages of evolution that are looking for growth capital. Private Equity and Venture Capital houses are most prolific type of fund providing equity in the UK, and so they meet much of this demand. It can be generally observed that Private Equity firms invest in more established, post-profit companies, while venture capital funds have riskier portfolios filled with younger companies. However, even further specialisation can be found across these equity investors. Beauhurst looks at the most active private equity and venture capital funds in 2018, by the number of investments they made into companies at each stage of evolution; seed, venture, growth and established.

As more businesses invest in surveillance technology to monitor and track employees in the workplace, questions are raised around whether the benefits override growing concerns around digital ethics, and if employers truly understand the privacy implications. With new technological developments continuing to transform the world of work, Instant Offices delves into how companies can adapt to make sure these concerns and risk are managed.

France Invest, the French private equity and venture capital association, in partnership with Deloitte, and with the methodological support of Reporting 21, has published its sixth ESG Annual Report - 2018, which describes, quantifies and qualifies the French private equity industry's commitment to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues by investment firms and their portfolio companies.

More than a third of small business owners (38%) say they won’t be having a summer holiday this year – a problem peaking among those with larger families (45%) and young children (45%) - according to a new poll from Hitachi Capital Business Finance.

The investment capacity of the Baby Boomer generation is undeniably the most powerful across the UK. According to the Office for National Statistics in 2016, Baby Boomers owned 36% of the UK's household wealth, with one in five measured to be millionaires. 

Six-in-ten (61%) financial advisers believe there has been insufficient industry focus on decumulation solutions despite an overwhelming majority (86%) expecting exponential growth in the number of clients requiring advice on this area over the next five years.

Beauhurst has analysed every publicly-announced equity fundraising in H1 2019 to spot emerging trends and patterns in the market.

New research⁽¹⁾ from fast growing Shearwater Aero Capital, the global corporate aviation finance specialist, reveals the trend for family offices to pool their investments in order to gain greater exposure to the private debt market, and potentially better terms, is set to increase.

New evidence shows that the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) has increased the availability of finance in the region and this is already making a positive impact on performance of those businesses.

Returns from global venture capital funds reached their highest level since the dotcom era, with Western European funds significantly outperforming the long-term average.