Former football star participating in UK’s biggest horse syndicate
Horserace lovers are being offered the chance to participate alongside Michael Owen in what could be one of the UK’s biggest horse syndicates.
The former Liverpool and England striker, who is now a respected racehorse owner and Qipco British Champion Series Ambassador, has teamed up with City A.M. who will purchase four promising horses, which will be trained by Tom Dascombe, at Michael’s prestigious Manor House Stables. The objective will be to unearth another thoroughbred Classic winner.
Anyone is able to buy equity in the company from as little as £500. A total of £350,000 will be raised. Of this, £200,000 will be spent on the four horses and the rest on the first year’s training and stable fees, veterinary bills and racing costs. The horses will be trained at Owen’s exclusive Manor House Stables in Cheshire. All shareholders will be able to visit the spectacular stables to watch Owen and trainer Tom Dascombe put the horses through their paces.
This opportunity qualifies for EIS status, which means that an investment will have a tax benefit of 30% provided that there is an offsetting income tax liability. Also investments could be capital gains tax except if the shares are held for 3 years.
The first horse chosen by expert trainer Tom Dascombe is a thoroughbred colt sired by champion stallion Exceed and Excel, which during a stellar racing career won over £500,000 in prize money and now earns €40,000 a time in stud fees.
Owen said: “This is an exciting and fun way to get involved in the horse racing industry. The horses we buy will be given the best possible training facilities and I’m looking forward to welcoming fellow owners to my stables and to the races on special hospitality days to watch them run. ”
The City A.M. Horse Alpha Co. EIS is being launched through the crowdfunding platform, InvestDen.
Matt Novak, CEO of InvestDen, said: “This deal demonstrates the democratisation of racehorse ownership, making it available to the majority rather than just the ultra-rich..”
BGF backs leading provider of asbestos management services for buy and build strategy
10 December 2015: Environmental Essentials, one of the UK’s leading asbestos service providers, has received £3.2m in funding from BGF (Business Growth Fund) to pursue continued organic and acquisitive growth.
Based in Stoke-on-Trent and operating from six offices throughout the UK, Environmental Essentials provides asbestos management, training and surveying services to corporates, local authorities and public sector institutions. Clients include Asda, Marks & Spencer, The Co-operative Group and Savills. Richard Powner and James Riley co-founded the business in 2004.
Environmental Essentials has demonstrated consistent growth in recent years and for the year ending 30 September 2015, the company is on track to generate revenues of around £10m.
The management team will use BGF’s funding to open a national asbestos training centre in Stoke-on-Trent and a new office in Aberdeen focused on the oil and gas sector which will create further jobs across the business.
Looking further ahead, BGF funding will support selected acquisitions of businesses in asbestos and complementary health and safety and compliance services in strategically-relevant regions of the UK.
Simon Cashmore, current CEO of TCL Group, the landscape services, estate management and play space services provider which is also backed by BGF, will join the Environmental Essentials’ board as non-executive chairman.
Richard Powner, co-founder and Director at Environmental Essentials: “There is a sizable market opportunity for us to go after in the UK. With BGF’s support we are now in a position to accelerate our growth plans across the UK whilst continuing to deliver first rate customer care to our existing clients.”
Mark Freer, Investor, who joins the Environmental Essentials’ board on behalf of BGF, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for us to back a business that is clearly highly regarded by its customers in a market in which there is enduring demand. “Asbestos is an issue that affects a significant proportion of UK commercial and public sector buildings and Environmental Essentials is one of a handful of operators able to provide a truly national service as demanded by major corporate clients.
“We look forward to working with Richard, James and the rest of the team to help them deliver their ambitions for the business.”
The investment was led for BGF by Mark Freer, Paul Brindley and Saarung Shah.
The advisers to the transaction were:
For Environmental Essentials
Legal and Lead Advisory - Knights (David Williams, Mark Soboljew)
For BGF
Legal - Aaron & Partners LLP (Hugh Strickland, Eve Lakin)
Tax - Whittingham Riddell LLP (Duncan Montgomery, Francesca Hutcheson, Katie Bell)
Financial Due diligence – Mark Harrison
Berlin Sets The Pace For European Business Growth
- Berlin saw a 22% increase in the number of active businesses in operation in the last 18 months
- Brussels sees contraction in the number of active companies in the same period and highest number of business failures
- London has the lowest percentage of business failures in the last 18 months at just 0.39%
New analysis published by Creditsafe, the world’s most used provider of company credit reports, reveals Berlin is significantly outpacing its rivals when it comes to the growth in active companies. Berlin has witnessed an 22% increase in the number of active businesses in the last 18 months, significantly ahead of Paris (14%) and London (9%). While many capital cities are witnessing rapid upsurge in new enterprises, Brussels is struggling for economic growth having witnessed a 0.7% contraction in the number of active companies in the period.
Creditsafe’s analysis highlight the relatively low rate of business failure in London compared to other major European capital cities. In the 18 month period analysed, London had a business failure rate of just 0.39% compared to Berlin’s 0.75% failure rate. Both capitals compare extremely favourably to Paris where business failures reached 2.95% and Brussels at 3.15%. There were 37 fewer active companies operating in Brussels at the end of the first half of 2015 than at the start of 2014. All the metrics point to companies in Brussels operating in a difficult economic climate, as the city lags behind major European capitals that are experiencing rapid growth.
Table one: Business change across major European capital cities
|
City |
Number of start-up enterprises Jan 2014-July 2015 |
Percentage change in number of active business Jan 2014-July 2015 |
Percentage of firms failing over Jan 2014-July 2015 |
|
London |
63,030 |
9% |
0.39% |
|
Berlin |
10,610 |
22% |
0.75% |
|
Paris |
8,695 |
14% |
2.95% |
|
Brussels |
-37 |
-0.7% |
3.15% |
Source: Creditsafe, October 2015
Rachel Mainwaring Operations Director of Creditsafe said: “The analysis points to huge variance in economic recovery and growth across Europe. While London, Berlin and Paris are all successfully incubating new businesses Brussels is going in reverse. However, even in rapidly expanding cities thousands of businesses are still failing each year. It is therefore imperative to check out potential suppliers and partners with a detailed credit report.”
The London business market is dominated by business support services, management consultancies and technology consultancies. Berlin’s biggest industry sector by contrast is real estate, while in Paris it is firms offering professional, scientific and technical activities. Perhaps reflecting the tastes and desires of European diplomats at two, three and four on the list of largest business categories in Brussels are ‘eating-houses with limited service’ ‘eating-houses with full service’ and ‘cafes and bars.’
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