Top tech unicorns sign up to help transform Scotland’s entrepreneurial ambitions

 

Two of Scotland’s top tech entrepreneurial leaders  – and chief executives of Scotland’s only “unicorn” companies (start-ups valued at $1bn+) – will tonight (Thursday, 24th September) sign up to be part of an ambitious global network that aims to make Scotland the most entrepreneurial society in the world.

 

Gareth Williams, co-founder and Chief Executive of Skyscanner, the global travel search engine, and Nigel Eccles, co-founder and Chief Executive of the online fantasy sports company, FanDuel, will take to the stage at Dynamic Earth to share their experiences. The Entrepreneurial Scotland event, hosted by Chairman, Chris van der Kuyl will take place in front of an audience of 300 members of the organisation’s Leaders Exchange.

 

After providing exclusive insights into how they built Skyscanner and FanDuel into global success stories, the high tech duo will sign up to join Entrepreneurial Scotland’s Leaders Exchange in a high profile endorsement of the peer to peer network.  Leaders Exchange (formerly Entrepreneurial Exchange) is a community of ambitious entrepreneurial leaders from diverse backgrounds and provides a platform for them to connect, learn from one another, share experiences, gain knowledge and grow their organisations.

 

Entrepreneurial Scotland was formed by the coming together of the Saltire Foundation and Entrepreneurial Exchange to create an organisation with the capacity and connections to help make Scotland the most entrepreneurial society in the world.

 

The evening at Dynamic Earth provides an opportunity for more people to become part of the network and to take advantage of an exciting programme of inspirational events.

 

Chris van der Kuyl, Chairman of Entrepreneurial Scotland, said:

“Our members value more than anything else being able to access advice from fellow entrepreneurial leaders. Through our Leaders Exchange and Future Leaders networks, members can discover how to attract and manage a talented team, develop leadership, exercise astute financial planning, adapt their business model or develop robust exit strategies. With today’s pace of change, support from those who have been there and done it before is more important than ever.

 

“As part of Entrepreneurial Scotland, we are bigger and stronger than ever before and even better positioned to attract such high profile entrepreneurial leaders as Gareth and Nigel to join us. So, while it’s our 20th year of events, it’s just the beginning of an ambitious new stage for our members, our networks and for Scotland.”

 

Nigel Eccles, co-founder and Chief Executive of FanDuel, said:

“I’m really looking forward to being part of Entrepreneurial Scotland’s Leaders Exchange. In my opinion, peers can be one of the most valuable sources of information and advice when building a company. I hope that by sharing my experiences, including the challenges I’ve faced, I can help others with their own entrepreneurial ambitions.”

 

Gareth Williams, co-founder and Chief Executive of Skyscanner, said:

“As a business made up of over 700 people and nine offices across the world, Skyscanner can attest that there’s every opportunity to build a global business headquartered here in Scotland – and Entrepreneurial Scotland’s Leaders Exchange will no doubt help build even more internet economy businesses of scale in the future.

 

 

“Regardless of what stage a business is at, support and input from others who share your ambition is invaluable.  As such, I’d encourage others to join the Leaders Exchange network, whether as a way to build their own teams, as we have, or to share vital experience and knowledge.”

 

 

Clearwater International advises on 26m sale of Synarbor to Sovereign Capital

 

 

Synarbor plc (Synarbor), a market leading education recruitment business, has been sold to Sovereign Capital Partners LLP. Clearwater International advised the company on the sale.

 

Synarbor, head-quartered in Sheffield, has over 20 years’ experience in placing staff in the state, independent and international education sectors. The business predominantly supplies temporary teachers, teaching assistants and support staff to its clients, which comprise primary and secondary schools (including academies), and also special educational needs schools and nurseries. The business is differentiated in the market by its unique managed service, schools collaborative approach, including added value offerings ranging from consultancy through to fully managed turnaround services. The business engages with approximately 2,000 clients.

 

Sovereign Capital’s directors consider that Synarbor has a number of attractive characteristics including its strength of operational brands, branch network and geographical spread. With expectations to invest in Synarbor through additional consultants and resources in order to deliver continued growth, the business can look forward to an exciting period of its history going forward under Sovereign’s ownership.

 

Clearwater International partner Marcus Archer and associate director Andy Dyer advised Synarbor on the sale. This is the sixth deal that Clearwater’s Business Services team has completed in the education sector, having also advised on the sales of Teaching Personnel (to RJD Partners and then Graphite Capital), ITN Mark, Vision for Education and Sugarman Group.

 

Dennis Hall, Independent Non-Executive Director of Synarbor plc, said:

“Clearwater International did a great job in supporting us through the sale process. They brought their real depth of education recruitment sector knowledge to bear on the transaction, leaving no stone unturned in finding the right buyer to take the business forward on the next stage of its development. Further, the team’s dedication to getting the deal done was unstinting and their negotiation skills came to the fore in delivering a fair deal for the shareholders. I would have no hesitation in recommending Marcus and the team to any businesses looking to transact in this sector.”

 

Marcus Archer, Head of Business Services, Clearwater International commented:

 

 “The sale to Sovereign Capital Partners provides an exit at a fair valuation for a long tail of shareholders, many of whom have held the stock since it de-listed from AIM in 2008. The current board and management team, supported by significant shareholders, Baird Capital Partners and Risk Capital Partners, have done a fantastic job in turning around the business and turning Synarbor into one of the pre-eminent players in the UK education recruitment market. In Sovereign they have found an investor with the appetite to invest in and grow the business on the next phase of its journey. It has been a pleasure working with the Board to realise an exit for the shareholders and we wish the business, its shareholders and employees well on the start of their new journey.”

 

Enterprise Ventures announces appointment to SME Loans team

 

 

Enterprise Ventures has made the first in a series of appointments to expand its lending team following the launch of  Enterprise Ventures SME Loans.

 

 

Chris Pestell, who joins as Investment Director, has over 30 years’ experience in business banking, having worked for NatWest, Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Allied Irish and Yorkshire Bank. Most recently he was Senior Investment Executive with the fund manager FW Capital.

 

Enterprise Ventures SME Loans was launched in June with £40m backing from Santander UK plc and Greater Manchester Pension Fund. Jonathan Diggines, Chief Executive of Enterprise Ventures, said: “Chris’s background in business banking, his experience of working with SMEs and his knowledge of alternative lending structures make him ideally suited to this new role.

 

 

“We have been delighted with the response to the launch of these new loans which represent a significant new source of investment into the SME market. We are now just a matter of weeks away from finalising the first deals having received a very strong level of enquiries during the summer. Whilst a limited number of specialist SME finance providers are entering the market, there are still significant gaps in bank lending.  Enterprise Ventures has occupied this space for over 30 years and will to continue to do so but more must be done by the financial services sector to support SMEs.”

 

 

Digital Barriers - £2.4 million contract awards in Asia Pacific

 

 

- £1.6m sale of ThruVision people screening units for major government agency

- £0.3m immediate supply of initial ISP modules for multi-year border programme

- Two contracts totalling £0.5m for TVI video surveillance into law enforcement agencies

 

The Board of Digital Barriers plc (the “Group”), the specialist provider of advanced surveillance technologies to the security and defence sectors, is pleased to announce four strategically important contract awards in its Asia Pacific region, with a combined initial value of £2.4 million to be delivered in the current financial year. All four contracts are also expected to deliver multi-year revenues, following from their respective initial phases.

 

The first contract of approximately £1.6 million is for the Group’s ThruVision people screening technology for border security and counter-terrorism applications. Won under a proposed multi-year OEM framework agreement with a major government agency, this contract is expected to deliver further follow-on awards in future years. ThruVision is a unique sensing system for people screening that can detect both metallic and non-metallic objects including metal or plastic weapons, explosives, drugs, currency and other contraband. ThruVision has been sold into more than fifteen countries for defence against IEDs, drugs and currency smuggling, concealed weapon detection, counter-terrorism operations, facility protection and commercial loss prevention.

 

The second contract of approximately £0.3 million is for the purchase of the Group’s ISP (Integrated Surveillance Platform) solution by a flagship government defence agency, as part of a significant programme award to the Group and its local system integrator partner. Representing the culmination of more than two years business development, this programme award is expected to deliver material revenues for the Group from 2016 onwards. ISP provides real-time video surveillance and intrusion alerts for remote and inaccessible locations, enabling live video streaming and intrusion data to be securely shared at local, regional and national levels across multiple agencies and supporting a coordinated, timely response to identified threats. Applications for ISP include force and border protection, critical infrastructure, oil and gas installations, maritime security and law enforcement.

 

The Group has also been awarded two TVI video surveillance contracts totalling approximately £0.5 million with major law enforcement agencies. One of these contracts is a further follow-on to the £1.0 million award announced on 1 September 2015. The Group's TVI technology offers secure distribution of real-time video from anywhere to anywhere, featuring end-to-end security, real world resilience and network optimisation that can stream usable live video using 60% less bandwidth than standard technologies. This exceptionally efficient use of available bandwidth enables TVI to deliver significant capability benefits and material cost savings over competing technologies. TVI has already been sold into more than thirty countries, and counts some of the most prominent defence and security agencies in the world as its customers, as well as an increasing number of commercial organisations.

 

 

Zak Doffman, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Barriers commented:

 

“Each of these contract awards is strategically important for Digital Barriers as we continue to develop our business with flagship customers around the world. A further £2.4 million of contracts in Asia Pacific also represents further progress in a key region where our revenues doubled last financial year and are on target to do the same this year.

 

The ThruVision contract is the largest single purchase order in the history of that technology, but more importantly it is the initial award under a proposed multi-year OEM framework agreement and is with a significant government agency in the region. ThruVision enjoyed its best ever year last year, capitalising on significant product and business development over the last few years. The technical strength of ThruVision is evident in its strong sales pipeline, more than half of which is now into repeat customers already using the technology. The award of a multi-year ISP programme to secure one of the highest profile borders in the region follows more than two years of business development and demonstrates that, despite a protracted sales cycle in this industry, we are now in position to secure material programme awards with government agencies around the world.

 

 

Together with developments in other regions, these contracts underpin our confidence in delivering a strong full year performance in line with our plan.”