Small Business Advice Week has partnered with British Business Bank to celebrate ambition in smaller businesses, and to encourage them to explore ‘what’s really possible’.

Data released by Beauhurst shows that venture capital funding for this the healthcare sector is on course for a significant drop following 2017.  Should we be worried? And what factors are playing into this lack of funding? Beauhurst explores some of the sector's potential weaknesses. 

Maven Capital Partners has led the £20 million management buyout of UAP Limited, a leading UK supplier and distributor of high specification door and window hardware. The transaction represents Maven’s second investment from its new buyout fund, having earlier this year led an investment in Sc

Foresight Group has invested £2.5 million to support the partial buy-out of Bolton-based community healthcare and wellbeing provider ABL Health Limited.

ABL is a provider of community healthcare and wellbeing services across the North of England. The Company was founded in 2009 by Denise Leslie and Dr Sheena Bedi, as a means of providing a range of innovative, evidence based, healthy lifestyle, behavioural change and wellbeing programmes including weight management, nutrition support and smoking cessation. The business has helped approximately 12,000 clients record weight loss in the North-West region, mainly in Manchester, St Helens, Wigan and Blackpool, and over 5,000 clients have significantly improved their mental health. On the Wirral, over 3,000 people have stopped smoking as a direct response to the ABL program in the last two years.

Valuing and deciding how much equity to sell of a company that you’ve put your heart and soul into is not easy. While there is no single answer, at SeedLegals we've analysed data over hundreds of rounds to help you make an informed decision, and perhaps more importantly to be able to justify that valuation to your investors. 

ghd and Cambridge Wireless have announced a partnership that brings a new form of accelerator to the technology start-up scene. The ghd Innovation Hive will contribute to the design of the next era of beauty and hair electronics, and the call for start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs to enter is now open.

“ghd is the best known hair styling brand in the world whose successful entrepreneurial heritage led to an acquisition by the third largest global beauty company, Coty,” says Abhi Naha, Chief Commercial Officer at CW. “Now, with the support of the CW community and the upcoming generation of technology entrepreneurs, ghd is entering the connected devices market, and they are offering an unmissable opportunity for start-ups to contribute to the next stage of a massively successful product line.”

Countingup, a revolutionary mobile app, allowing small businesses to do their banking, bookkeeping and stay on top of their taxes, has received the backing of leading fintech investors.  The London-based fintech startup has raised a £2.3m seed round led by Forward Partners with participation from Frontline Ventures and JamJar Investments. The investors are backing the company’s vision to be the financial platform for 1m small businesses. Today, Countingup boasts more than four thousand customers.

Funding Circle is rumoured to be planning an initial public offering (IPO) within the next two weeks, according to reports.  The peer-to-peer lender is reported to be gearing up for a stock market listing in the second week of September.

Any business that has to pay trade partners or employees in other countries should give some consideration to currency volatility and unnecessary conversion fees, says Brian Jamieson, CEO and co-founder of FX and payments specialist Centtrip

IP Investment Management (HK) Ltd and Maven Capital Partners have sold a portfolio of two newly developed purpose-built student accommodation assets totaling 360 beds to Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) and 90 North Real Estate Partners. The portfolio consists of The Mill House (Edinburgh) and 800 Bristol Road (Selly Oak, Birmingham). Both assets are fully operational and will offer a day one running yield.

Phrasee, the London-headquartered marketing technology company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to generate optimised marketing copy, has closed a $4m Series A funding round. The investment will fuel Phrasee’s international growth plans, including scaling up its new US operation in San Francisco and the recently announced expansion of its UK team. Albion Capital Group LLP led the round, with follow-on funds from existing investors including global digital communications business Next Fifteen PLC (Next 15) and angel syndicate Galvanise Capital. Next 15 and Galvanise announced their initial investments in 2016.

Cardiff Indoor Market is now home to Smokey Pete and Sam Van Tân as award winning Ffwrnes opened their latest venture earlier this month.  A £30,000 micro loan from the Development Bank of Wales will now fund the opening of a permanent base in Cardiff Indoor Market.